fall city farms

We went to one of our favorite little farms today (along with everyone else in Washington) for our first pumpkin patch visit of the season. It was Mason's first real trip, so I was excited to see how he liked it. He really likes being able to wonder free, so he loved it.

Here he is enjoying his freedom. I love this picture - I think it looks like he's reading a funny sign - but it wasn't funny and he can't read. I guess life is just that rad when you're one and able to go where you please.

Even though there was a crazy amount of people there, we somehow got a great parking spot and a chair near the band! We enjoyed a few songs before heading into the patch.

One of the reasons Fall City Farms is on my list of favorites is because they have delicious fresh cider and donuts!

The line to buy pumpkins was way too long (plus they're 45 cents a pound) so we decided we'd just do some window shopping today and pick out our pumpkins another time.

Have I mentioned I love pumpkin farms?!

happy birthday, Bev

Andrew started off his day with some cereal in the biggest bowl he could find (he's very excited about Halloween this year). Then we packed up and headed to Eburg to celebrate Matt's cousin's birthday.

Our first stop was to pick up aunt Melissa who was lucky enough to sit in the back seat with the boys. She bought them treats as a peace offering. :)

The party was a surprise. It was fun - haven't been to a surprise party in about 20 years!

Melanie made these delicious cake pops. The coolest part was the personalized M&M's!! They also had some with her picture on them - they were very cool!

She's a teacher, so part of her gift was to do some layouts for her classroom bulletin board (apparently a task she doesn't really enjoy). Luckily she has some crafty people in her life, and when you get us all together, really good stuff happens. :) She ended up leaving with a good handful of fun layouts. My team did a bowling theme - "good writing is right down our alley". Yep, I probably should've been a teacher. :)

Then we headed home. We need to make sure the boys get a good night sleep so they're ready for our first trip to a pumpkin patch tomorrow!! Fall City Farms - here we come!!

secret garden

Mason spent a lot of time exploring our fence gates today. Andrew never tried to escape the backyard - I wonder if that will be the case with Mason...? Luckily the locks are up too high for them to reach. And if I'm being honest, it's even a little tricky for me to open, so I think we're okay!

Here they are trying to peek into our secret garden. We have high hopes for this area for next year! It has it's own little gate and everything - it just needs a little TLC and it will be the coolest! Right now it's where all our extra grass clippings, etc go. The door doesn't open very easily into that area either, but they were giving it their best shot.

Andrew enjoying the beautiful fall afternoon. Being cute.

This is the only picture I took of Mason's face today... He just shoved a cracker in his mouth, but I think he looks guilty! I seriously think he's planning his escape.

we're pretty cool

Update: his levels came back normal!! It's only the second time in his life. On top of the obvious good news, it also means we don't have to see the doctor or get a blood draw for three whole months!!

Yesterday was Mason's regular hypothyroidism checkup. It was the first time we've had an evening appointment and the first time I've gone without Matt so it felt a bit weird, but we made it!

Instead of going home and then right back to Seattle, Matt picked Andrew up and went home and I picked Mason up and headed to University Village to waste some time. Mason had a lot of fun wandering around. We walked, played with umbrellas, had dinner, window shopped at Land of Nod, had some Starbucks... basically we were rad and fit right in with all the cool people that hang out at U Village. :)

When I made the appointment, Mason was going to bed around 8. His bedtime is now 7:00, so our 6:45 appointment was a little tricky. He is usually calm and has fun playing with the nurse and doctor, but this time he cried anytime they even looked at him. After the doctor checked him out, we were off to get a blood draw. He wanted his shoes on, and he wanted out! Poor guy.

Overall he's still doing great. His growth was a little off the growth arch he's been following but they're not concerned yet. We'll check next time to see if it's a trend or if it was just a one time deal. Growth is a big part of what they watch, so hopefully he checks out okay next time so we can mark this one as just the normal up and down of toddler growth!

feet

Mason has always loved his feet. And, unlike Andrew, he loves shoes & socks. Andrew would go barefoot all day if he could; Mason sometimes brings me his shoes after he's in his pj's and really, really insists on wearing them. Maybe that's why these pictures are so cute to me - I get to enjoy his cute little toes!!

it should be a celebration

32 years ago, my dad was in motorcycle accident that left him paralyzed. Because of that, he has earned himself an extra day every year to celebrate! :)

No celebration would be complete without sharing a bottle of water,

doing a little beatboxin', and

working on some tricks on my dad's extra chair.

Happy 32 years of still being alive! Love ya.

cheers

I got really excited when (I thought) Andrew asked Mason to say cheese. Turns out he said "cheers". He wanted to cheers their helmets. :)

Mason wanted to wear a helmet - there was no way Andrew was wearing one if he didn't get one too. Even after our walk he kept it on for quite a while. If Andrew does it, it must be cool...

today = puke

Mason had a tough day today full of puke and more puke. He spent most of the day relaxing, reading books and practicing with a real cup. Andrew got sick too, but his was a one time deal and he was done (thankfully!). Other than the extra laundry and puke breaks, somehow we ended up having a really nice day. Maybe we all just needed to take a day to relax!

We had planned to visit grandpa to 'celebrate' his 32nd wheelchair anniversary, but decided he'd probably rather celebrate without us this time. Sorry, dad - hopefully we can celebrate 32 years and a few days...

for me

Andrew grew up some more. I'm sure it's connected to the fact that he moved up to the new class, but it's amazing how different he is, all of a sudden.

The main change is with his imagination. He can finally play by himself! If he's playing superheros, he has his guys talk to each other about saving someone or explaining what their power is. He talks about good guys and bad guys and throwing bad guys in jail. If he's playing cars he has some that can disappear, some that are super-fast, some that have shooters, and everything is awesome. When he plays legos he builds boats that can fly and rocket ships.

Today we threw a bunch of beans in a tub to play with. Andrew stepped in and in a very serious voice said "I'm superhero bean man. I never die!". It's the perfect example of how he plays.

Another thing that seems to have all of a sudden taken a big jump, is how well he counts and recognizes numbers and letters. We played a game the other day that we've played many times before, but this time he immediately recognized the number on the dice and then actually moved his guy the right amount of squares! It was crazy. He can count to 13 (although in his mind he can count to 14 because he always says "next-teen" as 14 and then just says a bunch of random numbers that he knows after that). It's funny every time.

He's also working on some new words. He says things are a "couple" hot, meaning their a little hot or he'll find something and say he's been looking for it for "weeks" when maybe he asked for the day before.

A few of his favorite things... His favorite thing to play/watch/talk about right now is superheros. He asked for a superhero birthday party months ago and it looks like that might be what we do because he is still really into them. He loves to be outside, mostly to swing or ride his scooter. He learned how to swing by himself the other day and was very excited about it (but quickly let me know that he still likes me to push him). And he loves suckers and gum. If I ever need to guarantee that something gets done, all I have to do is offer him either of those things and he's on it! His favorite show is Phineas and Ferb. Luckily it's a funny show so we're okay watching every night. And best of all, he loves Mason.

Another thing that has been fun to watch lately is how literal he takes things. Any time I use slang he always stops me and asks me what I mean (glad to know he's paying attention!). The other day he was separating his Cars cars from his regular cars and he left one in the box. I told him that was a Cars one and I showed him the eyes. I told him he could tell it was a Cars car because it has eyes. He looked at me and said "they have eyes and wheels. I have eyes but I'm not a Cars car". True - got me there...

He's cute and funny and totally knows how to make us laugh. He's the coolest almost 4 year old I know!

round one

We visited aunt Melanie and all her leaves today! She posted some cute pictures of her girls playing in a huge pile of leaves and when I told her I was jealous, she invited us over! Andrew was really excited, but once we got there he remembered about the trampoline and all the other cool stuff they have, so he only played in the leaves for a bit. Long enough to get some fun pictures though! Mason wasn't quite sure what to do, but he had fun just being outside.

Thanks for a fun afternoon, Melanie! We'll have to do that more often!

they both love the trampoline

we'll have a lazy Sunday to make up for it

Yesterday was a busy day for us.

A TRIP TO GEORGETOWN:

While Matt was busy working on replacing his fuel pump, the boys and I had to return the keg so we wouldn't be charged for it. Andrew went with Matt to pick it up and knew he'd get a sucker from them, so he was actually excited to come along. Suckers hold a lot of power!!

This is why I have me camera with me at all times. On the way back home, Mason was putting his crackers on his face and it was making Andrew laugh. When Andrew laughs, it makes Mason laugh, so they were having a great time. I love this picture! (that I snapped while driving...). And I'd like you all to believe that we always have this much fun in the car! :o)

A DOUBLE BIRTHDAY PARTY:

Then Andrew and I headed to celebrate Cameron and Logan's birthday. Since Mason isn't quite ready for the McDonalds playland, plus the party was during his nap, it worked out great for the two of us to go. He had a blast! And I had fun having a little time with just Andrew.

AND A WEDDING:

A friend of mine from work got married last night. It was a beautiful wedding and it was a perfect mix of things that fit him and things that fit her.

He's Italian so they decided to serve authentic Italian pizza from a woodfire pizza oven as their main course. It was delicious! I'm pretty sure I could've had a whole pizza by myself, but decided to save room for the meatballs, bread sticks, salad and wine instead...

Sorry, no pictures of the bride and groom - just the food and my two dates. Trust me though, they are a good lookin' couple. Congratulations to Mr & Mrs Victor!!

Thank you Melissa, for watching the boys for us! Even though I'm pretty sure Mason would've picked up his future wife there, I bet they both had more fun playing with you. :)