The past few weeks were pretty cold and rainy, but the sun came out this past weekend and we decided to take advantage of it! We planned to go on a hike Saturday morning, but I decided to sleep in until 10:15 (getting almost 12 1/2 hours of sleep!) so it turned into an afternoon hike! Kim, Thane and the boys met us at the base of Vedder Mountain and we headed out for a chilly but pretty hike. Haleigh led the way, leading us up a winding path nearly 2 miles to the top. From the top, there were amazing views out towards Mount Baker, looking into Canada, and even a glimpse of Bellingham Bay! There was a really cold breeze at the top, so we grabbed a quick snap and then headed back down.
The U.S.-Canada border is basically right down the middle of this picture!
Mount Baker is behind those clouds.
Trying to get a picture of these kiddos...
Nothing like peeing outside for the first time!
On Sunday, we went to Kim's house for a family lunch, along with Mom and Dad and Kelsey and Ben. It was another beautiful day so we planned on lunch, a run, and some pumpkin carving. It turned into lunch, a short run at Berthusen Park complicated by Kim spraining her ankle, and none of the kids being that interested in carving pumpkins. So instead we played soccer in the backyard, jumped on the trampoline, and painted pumpkins.
Annaliese and Elias talked Auntie Kelsey and Grandpa into carving their pumpkins for them!
I really like fall. I like the changing colors on the trees, wearing my boots, wearing sweaters, pumpkin spice, and apple cider. And I love all of the little fall festivals that happen this time of the year. We started our fall celebrations with a trip to a local pumpkin patch/fall harvest festival. We went to Mama's Garden, a little place that I came across on my search for something fun to do for the day. They had face-painting, a few little games, a corn maze, and hayrides! It was a good start to this fantastic time of year.
With school starting at the beginning of the month, we've spent the past few weeks settling into a new routine of school, gymnastics, and dance in addition to the normal things like going to work. We had some really nice sunny days and now have transitioned into rainy fall weather. School is off to a great start! Haleigh is in Kindergarten and loves it! She runs to her class as soon as we walk in the door, grabs her pencil box and sits down right away. If it were up to her, I would just drop her off and not even come inside! It is such a change from preschool when she was so timid and cried the first few weeks of school. Her Spanish is improving significantly as well and she loves to throw in a Spanish word here and there when she's talking to me, followed by "Mom, that's Spanish for ________." Annaliese is in second grade. She wants me to walk her all the way into her classroom, wants to talk to everyone on the way in and could care less if it's 8:30 and class is starting. There are only 4 2nd graders, so her class is a combined 1st/2nd grade class which means she gets to be in the same classroom as Elias this year! So far, it seems that math is her favorite subject, followed closely by P.E. (which Grandpa teaches) and art.
Annaliese said the opening prayer (in English and Spanish!) at the Welcome Back School Potluck.
With Haleigh and Annaliese back in school, Lydia and I have started running again which also means so playtime at the park if it's not raining. Lydia also really likes to play games, so we've spent a lot of time playing Candy Land, Sorry, Spot-it and Uno!
Lunchtime...she's eating a cucumber!
Checking out the goats at Hovander.
We've had so many sunny days that we typically hang out at school in the afternoon when we go to pick up the girls and will stay and play on the playground there. We've also made it to a new park in town, Waypoint Park, and Kyle took the girls down to the Nooksack River at Hovander Park one day while I was sleeping.
Waypoint Park
This is the playground at school.
And then there's our time spent at home, playing in the backyard, reading books, coloring and working on getting Lydia potty-trained (hence all the pictures of panties and no pants!)
Just doing a little sweeping...cleaning up Haleigh's mess!
On the way home from our run at Lake Padden...Lydia and Shelby were both pretty tired!
Annaliese bought this Hatchimal from the store at church. Each week she earned $1 or $2 for things like memorizing the Bible verse or bringing her Bible to church. This cost $50 and she's been saving for a long time!
Eager anticipation!
Movie and Popcorn night
We ended the month with a date night! Kyle and I went the Demolition Derby in Lynden at the Fairgrounds. It was cold and windy but we had so much fun! It is such a crazy thing for people to do! Watching the tractors come in and tow out all the cars was also quite entertaining. Thanks Mom and Dad for babysitting!
