Pumpkin Picking

We picked pumpkins at a local farm with a couple of friends.

We arrived right when the farm was opening and basically had the place to ourselves for a little while.  It was great!  

Colden and his friends immediately took off to explore every last inch of the enormous pumpkin patch. They got out some energy running around, going through corn tunnels, riding horses and going on train rides (Mike and I had to divide and conquer - hence me not having a lot of pictures of him):

 Colden and his buddies tried to pick up the biggest pumpkin they could find

The three musketeers going for a wagon ride

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Reese, on the other hand, took a different approach to the pumpkin patch.  

Like Colden, she enjoyed spending time with her friend:

But she also enjoyed some quiet time - taking in the scenery and finding her Zen amongst the pumpkins

 Both Reese and Colden successfully picked out their own pumpkins:

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Different ways of approaching the pumpkin-picking experience; same end result.  Big smiles!

Reese: 1st Bike Ride

Colden is such a bike-riding animal!  He can ride standing up on the pedals…or with only one hand on the handlebars…

He rides his bike every chance he gets.  The other day, Reese decided that she wanted to join her big brother on the path and pulled the tricycle out of the shed.  She went on her very first bike ride!

She was so excited and proud of herself.  She kept telling me that she was a "big girl".

(What a little ham for the camera!)

She couldn't quite reach the pedals, so she "rode" the bike by walking on her tippy toes.

(Next time, I think we are going to try her on the balance bike)

Reese's 1st Haircut

Colden needed a haircut today, and Reese was starting to look a little unkept, so I decided it was time for her first haircut.

Colden decided to get his hair cut first so that he could show Reese how it was done.  I plopped her in the car next to him and told her to take notes:

Apparently, she didn't watch closely enough.  (Pay attention, Reese!)

By the time it was her turn, she was done sitting in the car (lesson learned), so she sat on my lap instead.  Therefore, there are no "during" pictures.  :-(  

But, she was super well behaved and sat nicely the whole time.

Her "before" look:

Her "after" look:

Not much of a difference; just a little trim and taming of the wild flyaways.  And a cute little barrette. 

 Ah yes, the best part…

Decisions, decisions

 Enjoy.  You survived your first haircut!

WA Trip

Reese's first plane ride was to Washington state, where we spent a week visiting family and friends and doing fun touristy-type things.

We took the red-eye flight hoping that the kids would sleep most of the 5.5 hour plane ride...

Reese had a little trouble falling asleep, but eventually managed.  The boys had no trouble at all.  I, on the other hand, had a little trouble getting comfortable on my one square inch of seat space (one of those seats was supposed to be mine)...

Once in Washington, Colden was very excited to see and hike next to a volcano (Mount Baker).  Perhaps the most fun thing about it was that it was 80+ degrees out, we were wearing shorts and t-shirts and…we were playing in the snow!  

Mount Shuksan in the background.  

(FYI - Mount Shuksan is one of the most photographed mountains in the world).

(Colden checking out the ice caves)

(Reese testing out the snow before venturing out onto it)

(Seems sturdy enough…)

(She did manage to venture out, but after falling in the snow and getting quite wet/cold, she decided to stick to playing with the rocks)

Colden, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of the snow.  Unless of course he was testing his rock-climbing skills.  This boy was in heaven!

Colden = King of the Mountains!

And how could you not be in heaven with views like these?!?

Not too shabby of a lunch spot...

Continuing on our hike (with Mount Baker in the background)... 

 (Mike wanted to make sure that I mentioned that he was standing on the downslope side of the trail in this picture.)  :-)

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After visiting family, we headed up to Bellingham to see friends.  We also had to stop for this photo-op at the place where Mike used to work, and (more importantly) where I saw Mike for the first time.  

(I think that was the very spot where I was sitting when he first called my name)  

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Between the time difference and all of the activities that we squeezed into our one week in Washington,  the kids were wiped out by the end (or middle) of the day.

Our flight back home was so early in the morning that we stayed in a hotel right next to the airport the night before.  Colden had a pull-out couch to himself.  With no crib, Mike and I had to share a king-sized bed with Reese.  King-size, no problem - right?  This is how Reese fell asleep.  Notice that her legs are draped over my head.  

My sleeping beauty with the incredibly long eyelashes!
(I guess I will forgive her for taking my sleeping spot on the plane and in the bed)

We had such an amazing trip, we can't wait to do it again!

Sibling Love

Colden is just starting to learn how to push Reese's buttons…

And Reese has mastered the skill of screaming at the top of her lungs when Colden is doing 'whatever it is that he is doing' to set her off.

To bring me back to my "happy place", I found some cute pictures of the kids loving each other (these pictures span the last few months).

Exercising (doing push-ups) together

 Eating an apple together

(Click here to see video of Reese feeding Colden applesauce)

Note that in this video, taken back in March, she says:

 "here, Colgie" (she still calls Colden, "Colgie")

and then she says "Eat it, eat it"

Wearing hats together

Reading books together

Watching daddy mow the lawn together

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And because my posts have become few and far between, I'll throw in some recent cute pictures of the family:

After eating ice cream cake for my birthday…

Me and my girl:

And while I have pretty much given up hope that all four of us will be looking at the camera at the same time…these didn't turn out too badly:

Fun pictures: