outside

I love sunny days with a chill in the air - it's one of my favorite things about fall. Today was one of those days and we enjoyed the heck out of it!

We had lunch with a peacock today (see him in the background?). We actually had to get up and move half way through because he got a little too close to us and I got nervous. : )

{a real smile}

the fair

Ryean and I decided to go the Puyallup Fair with our kids yesterday. It was awful! (In the end, it was probably worth it because the kids had a blast, but mostly, it was awful).

It's way too long of a story to write out here, but it was one thing after another. An hour added to our commute due to traffic, a parking spot a mile or so away from the fair because we needed out of our car, a threat of rain, long bathroom breaks, crazy crowds, multiple dirty diapers, an emergency bathroom stop on the walk back to the car, two trips through the ticket line because we underestimated the number of tickets we needed, entering the exact opposite side of the fair...to name a few.

Once we got out of the car, life was a little better though.

The only ride that Mason was tall enough to ride on was the train. Luckily, he loved it!

Andrew and Kai went on the giant slide on their own. It was cute to watch the two of them. They both wanted to do it again, but we had to go (we wanted to get back to our car before it was dark, plus we were out of tickets, again).

After the rides, we stopped for a snack. I got a bag of scones!! The real reason I go to the fair... : )

How cute are these guys!

The kids did great through it all. I don't think the crowds or the lines really bothered them. They all had a great time. Which of course, makes it worth it. Sort of. : )

fall is in the air...

I love the sunrise and sunset this time of year! Actually, I just love this time of year in general. : )

I'd like my 60 bucks back, please

Mason had his regular eye appt today - the one he has every 6 months to confirm he's fine... I'd much rather go to these appointments and get news that all is fine, of course, but come on! Today Mason was tired and didn't really participate in the games they use to check his eyes. The doctor ended by saying we should come back in 3 -4 months. That freaked me out a little so I asked if it was because of a concern or just because he wasn't really cooperating. "No concern, it's just nice to have a firm report to look back on and we didn't get that this visit". Does she know it costs me $60? If he looks fine, I don't really care about your report. Grrr. But, I have a hard time going against a doctor's suggestion, so we'll be back in January to give her another $60 to (hopefully!) get a report confirming all is fine.

Andrew's view

first day

I don't plan to put up much of our "Andrew Dyk School" time on here, but I will hit milestones and extra fun days. Today was our first official day. I say 'official' because Andrew wanted to start yesterday since we were home sick, so we did a little, but today was the first real day.

And right off the bat, he impressed me. Yesterday we talked a little about how much a little b and little d look alike. I did this for 2 reasons. 1 - "B" is the letter we're starting with and 2 - when he writes his name, he does a lower case d but writes a b. Today when he was writing his name he asked which way it should go and corrected it all on his own.

He loved it! And I really liked having the one-on-one time with him and the chance to see how much he actually knows. He's a smart kid! : )

sick day

Good news... the hat fits him great. : )

We stayed home today to try to recover from a cold that seems to be taking over the family. I would take this day anytime (minus the sick). It was fun to hang out and play and save all my chores for tomorrow.

I love life on the farm

The boys stayed the night with grandma & grandpa while we visited our friends. I don't have any pictures of their slumber party, but they were laughing when we walked in, and there was evidence of McDonalds, so I'm pretty sure they had a good time!

Before we left, we hopped on the 4 wheeler to pick some corn. I love it!

deutschefest

We went to Odessa to join our friends at Deutschefest again this year. It was really fun to be able to visit and stay out past 8:00 since we were both there without our kids. And I scored the raddest winter hat ever! I'm hoping it'll fit Andrew, but it's an adult-sized hat so I'm sure it'll be way too big. There's a good chance you'll be seeing a lot more of me in it. You guys are so lucky!

I seem to like to take the same picture at different times in the day. Wearing my new hat...

bikes

I don't know how I almost let the whole summer go by without a bike ride, but I did. We went on our first/last ride of the summer on Thursday.

Trying to escape... : )

secret recipe

If you've followed my blog for long, you know I have bad luck when it comes to baking. Or maybe it's not bad luck, just a lack of planning. Whatever my problem, it happened again. I could only find a stick and a half of butter (instead of 2) but because Andrew was so excited to make cookies, I just scooped in a little margarine and called it good. They actually taste great, so maybe I'm on to something! : )

it's a time saver, really

Andrew no longer has a child lock on his door! He's so proud to be able to open his door, and on top of that, it's a great time saver. I probably could've done it a long time ago since he's such a rule follower, but I didn't think about it until he told me (very excitedly) he could open his own door when he rode with Kai! : )

thanks, Kai

He's just a little excited about the Batman costume from Kai. : )

11 years of love : )

Happy anniversary to us!

While Alex & Anna enjoy day two of marriage (this picture was taken at their wedding), and Matt and Karee celebrate two years (we had fun celebrating with them at their wedding on our 9th anniversary) Matt and I celebrate 11 years of wedded bliss. : )

Life is good.

a night with gma & gpa

We left the boys with grandma & grandpa while we were at Anna's wedding. But before we did that, we spent the afternoon at Lake Whatcom. I have a lot of memories from there, so it's always fun for me when we're able to make it there.

well, that was fun!

On Saturday (9.10.11) we celebrated with Alex and Anna as they tied the knot! It was a perfect day, a beautiful wedding, a glowing bride and a fantastic party! And, it was great to finally meet Alex...

Anna walked down the isle with her mom and dad. I'm sorry Kay didn't make it in this picture, but it's such a happy picture, I had to include it!

Enjoying the sunset:

A little after 9:00, they had a surprise set up. It ended up being these lanterns and it was the coolest thing!

So much fun!