Pumpkin Patch

This fall has been a busy time what with soccer and water polo and Brownies and school and debate team, etc.  And then of course, Stevie has been studying like mad to take the oral board exams in November.  So this weekend Stevie had the idea of putting down the books for an afternoon to do something fun, like a pumpkin patch!

We bundled up and stuffed everyone and the dog in the car and headed to a place I'd read about online, a cute little family farm that had pumpkins, gourds, and tractor rides.  Perfect.

I'm not sure why they're running.  Perhaps they thought everyone would take all the pumpkins before they could pick one???

On the pumpkin swing

 Since our neighbors had already indulged us in their pumpkin patch we really didn't need pumpkins, but how can you resist these brightly colored orbs?  Of course we had to pick some!

Emmy loved the tree swing.  I think she should have lived on a farm...

Down to business - picking the perfect pie pumpkin.

Playing on the little kid toys while we waited in line to pay for our pumpkins.

Taking our stash to the car.

E & L on their hay ride.

Can you tell I made them sit together for this one?

 And what better way to end a trip to the pumpkin patch than a pumpkin pie blizzard from Dairy Queen???

Apple Pickin'

Our good friend Kelly introduced me to another new friend, Jillian, by way of association.  Turns out Kelly knew Jillian when she lived in the same town in northern Washington and then Jillian and her family ended up moving to Gig Harbor.  The coincidences get weirder - like Jillian bought the house that I was seriously considering buying on Fox Island when we moved here.  And then her son and Cannon played water polo together.  It's a small world, isn't it?

Anyways, Jillian is one of those super mom types that we all aspire to be but fall dreadfully short of.  Like she makes her own bread (which I sometimes do), but first she grinds the wheat to make the flour (which I don't do).  I think she stops short of actually growing her own wheat, but that could come next summer...

Anyways, she was most fascinated by all the apple trees growing around the area here this fall and decided to harvest all the apples instead of let them go to waste.  Well, maybe she didn't hit up every apple tree, but she did clear the trees of several of her neighbors!  One morning she invited Kelly to come down from LaConner and me to come over and we attacked some more trees.

Heading down the drive with apple pickin' equipment

Our first method was to shake the branches - you got wet from the dew!

 Then we got serious and got ladder and pole-thingy and pulled down tons of apples.

A small part of the stash...

 Once we had knocked off all the apples we could, we hauled the stash back to Jillians to make some apple cider.  Jillian has a professional juicer which made quick work of it.

Jillian and Kelly

Making the juice

 Jillian has perfected this art so we boiled the juice to 160 degrees to pasturize it.  It was delicious!!!  Jillian's next pursuit is to turn some of this kid-friendly cider into adult-friendly cider...

Nature pics from Hilton Head

Yes, I can't help it, here are a few shots of Hilton Head's natural beauty...

Sadie

This is not fake.

Sunday morning at Dolphin Head

Unfortunately, although I only flew in last night, my niece Hailey and my brother-in-law Brian have to leave today.  I only got a short time with them but we did manage a quick trip to Dolphin Head playground.

Zipin' through the jungle

Since I had a limited time to spend with my nieces, I wanted to make sure we did something fun and since Nicole and the girls are always up for adventure it wasn't too hard of a sell.  We were considering several options including wave runners, kayaking or parasailing, but the girls decided on zip lining.  Count me in!  I've done this twice before in Okinawa and it is fun!

Of course, the zip lining I had experienced wasn't quite like the safety conscious (or rather liability consious) companies in the States.  In Japan we were given 5 minutes of instruction in broken English and then sent out on the course - alone.  In Hilton Head we were given a lengthier training and then were escorted by two guides through the course.  Still, it's a fun time.

Hannah, Nicole and Sydney

Nicole coming in for a landing

An elegant landing!

Hannah

Sydney

Looking cute even in her safety gear.

 

Me and the girls

That's me coming across with one of the guides - you got a faster ride that way!!!

 After finishing the course, we went over to a little restaurant for a bite to eat and to enjoy the beautiful Hilton Head scenery.

Sisters

Surprise trip to Hilton Head

On September 25th my mom turned the magical age of 70.  She celebrated the occassion with a trip to England and Hungary (to see my cousin Robert).  We had tried really hard to find a way to all be together on this side of the pond, but since the kids are all in school it was really difficult.  So when I found out that my sister and her family were going to Hilton Head for their fall break, I decided to join them - as a surprise to Grammie!  Unfortunately we all couldn't go, so it was just me who escaped for 5 days.

The plan went off without a hitch and my dad and brother-in-law picked me up at Savannah airport and drove me straight to the restaurant where they were going to have a celebratory dinner.  We actually beat my mom, Nicole and the girls there so I went and hid in the bathroom when my mom came in.  Brian texted me when it was time to come out and I walked up behind her and surprised her!

Hailey, Sydney and Hannah

Nicole and Fam

Messing around with the party hats

Surprising mom again - with cupcakes!

For a present I had made a "word cloud" photo.  I had asked all the grandkids and Nicole to give me 10 words to describe Grammie.  It was great to see all the ways to describe her.  I think she was pleased!

London goes double digits

Yes, the second child has now crossed the line into the double digits... Happy 10th birthday, London!  I tell you, you've never seen a kid so excited about having a birthday.  I think because he comes last in the line of birthdays in our family (2 in August, 2 in September and then London in October), he gets a lot of time to choose what he wants for a gift, what he wants to do and what he wants to eat.  Anyways, this year his "real" birthday fell on a Tuesday, so he planned to celebrate on the Sunday before, what he creatively called his "false" birthday.

 

London really wanted to go to a raptor center to see birds of prey and I found a super cool sounding one out on the Olympic Peninsula, but when I called to make a reservation I was told they were closed for the entire month of October.  Bummer.

 

So plan B was to take two friends to the movies and then to have them back to the house to play.  The kids has simple tastes.  Here they are going into the Galaxy theatre.

 

 

Birthday boy, Ian and Grant

 

We went to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2

Afterwards we went to Panera for a treat of their choice (London doesn't like ice cream)

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For London's "real" birthday, he started the morning with a few presents.

Legos were the popular present this year!

Stevie and I were able to have lunch with him at school (Stevie was off post-call).  All the other kids were coveting his Burger King!

After school we had more presents then his choice of dinner (stuffed shells) and Mr. Joe's apple dump cake.  We really need to invest in the right candles...  (pretend it's a math problem with addition signs between the numbers!)

 

Happy Birthday, sweet London!