October Madness

October was a very busy month for us.  It was a blur....but we did manage to capture a few memories!

A trip to the pumpkin patch was required.  The kids couldn't wait to find their own pumpkins.   We love the farm we go to in Frederick, Bloomfield Farm.  The day included a hay ride, tractors, animals, and loads of pumpkins and squash.

 We spent two weeks out in Washington State visiting Josh's family.  It had been four years since we had been able to venture west.  So this trip was so special.  Nathan and Kate loved the time with their cousins.  I just loved being with family.  I think we ended up with just shy of 300 pictures from this trip.    Here are some favorites:

Nathan and Alex horsing around  

Kate loved the time with her girl cousins (as she is usually surrounded by boy cousins out East.  She wasn't feeling well in this photo (hence the odd expression on her face) but Bri and Hannah were such a big part of her experience that I wanted to share this photo.  We miss them all so much!

And of course, we spent a lot of time with Papa Dan and Grandma Ann.  My kids ask daily if we can go on an airplane to see Papa Dan and Grandma - as if it were as easy as that.  We loved the time we had with the family.

 On our last day, we ventured out to Snowqualamie Falls.  It was a crisp fall day, and the views were amazing.

 

A special addition to our trip was a visit with good friends Paul and Peggy Wilkinson.  They happened to be in Oregon at the same time we were in Washington.  So considering they usually live in L.A. and we live 5000 miles east of them, we couldn't pass up a chance to drive 2.5 hours to spend a precious 24 hours with friends that really are more like family!   It was great to catch up, but it was even more precious to watch the kids jump right back into each others worlds.

The Final Days of Vacation

Manteo is a little town just south of Nags Head on Roanoke Island.  It's one of our favorite places to go in the Outer Banks.  So we decided to spend our last morning in this quaint waterfront town and enjoy the final day of summer.   We started our morning with a stop at our favorite coffee house.  Josh took his cup of coffee black, but the kids preferred sharing a lemonade smoothly and some ginger snap cookies.   I love the picture of the two kids drinking together, it gives me hope that they might stop fighting long enough to grow up and like one another.

After our morning snack we spent some time exploring the Marshes Island Light house. The light house is on pylons out in the water.  It was unique and offered a spectacular view of the sound.  The kids weren't too impressed and argued that we should return to the playground pronto.   

Kate spotted a number of sea gulls chilling out on piers. A few of them were talented and standing on one leg. Below is Kate's interpretation of a sea gull.

Another common sight on our vacation were these little frogs.  Kate finally had the guts to touch one, and Nathan thought it was hilarious to watch them hop around.  A few of them kept trying to sneak into our van and catch a ride home.  But I thought having three adult turtles, six baby turtles, and a dog waiting for us at home was enough for right now.  

 

So it is with much saddness that we say good bye to the Outer Banks.  We are happy to head home, but we are already thinking about what fun adventures await us next summer.

 

A BIG Adventure for some Little Folk

Today was a lot of fun!  After a stop at Currituck Lighthouse (which Kate climbed up each step all by herself), we transferred the kids' car seats into our friend's Jeep and hit the open beach in search for wild horses.   Unfortunately, we only saw one horse off in the distance, but the ride itself was a lot of fun.  Of course Kate loved every minute - she never turns down an adventure.  But Nathan, who can be a little cautious at times, let loose and squealed and laughed for most of the ride.  He loved the bumps and the wind.

Next year we'll do it again and hope for better luck with the horses.

Sailing at Sunset

One of the first of our Outer Banks adventures was a sunset sail on the Downeast Rover, a 55ft topsail schooner.   This sail was very special on numerous levels:  it was Josh's birthday, Kate really wanted to go on a boat ride, Dan was in the Navy years ago and was thrilled at the idea of a sail, and Ann had really never done anything like this before. I love being out on the water, myself, so I was game.  The only one in question was our little man, Nathan.  He flipped out on a paddle boat, so we weren't sure how he'd handle the big sea.  He did great though, until we hit a bit of rain mid-trip and the I had to hold him a little tighter, well the poor fellow didn't appreciate his mobility limited. All in all - it was a very special evening

 

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Captain Eric let Kate take a spin at the wheel - boy oh boy was she happy!

 

 

We even were blessed with a rainbow after our bout of wet weather

  

Not a bad way to see a sunset!

Highlights from the Outer Banks

Josh' dad came with us to the Outer Banks. It was a lot of fun showing him around a part of the East Coast he had never been to. One place we had to visit was the Wright Brother's Monument. Josh and his dad are big fans of aviation - they once had their pilot's licenses. Here are some pictures from their visit.

Lighthouses and ...

We ventured out to Bodie Island Lighthouse on Friday. It was pretty overcast as you can tell by the photos. It was still nice to go though. Kate really like the light house. She keeps asking to see light houses. We were going to make the hike down to the Cape Hatteras light house, but it was closed for the season. So we'll do next year, maybe. :) Shawna and Bri climbed the Currituck lighthouse in Corolla later that afternoon. It was very windy and rainy, but they were glad to make it to the top!

A family photo: My preggo belly seemed to pop this week while we were away!

Kate was in a silly mood. She seems to be making lots of funny faces today! Here she is with her cousin Bri. Kate is really going to miss Gabriella when she leaves on Monday!