Fall is Here!

Now that Summer is over, our family takes a 200% dive into fall and specifically pumpkin farms.  Kim seems to get so much joy about dolling the girls up in orange and black and soaking in the fall.  The leaves changing, pumpkins, donuts, apples, cider, gourds - you name it - we're into it.  Here is one visit to a favorite farm, Goebbert's near Kim's parents house. This one even included an exotic petting zoo.  Titi (Kristin) and Milo participated as well.    

Nice to see Lila finally getting some hair...

Can't Move on From Summer Just Yet

I admit it's hard to move into fall after such a fun summer.  My last entry (I promise) is of all our good times at the local Oak Park pools.  By the end of the summer Lucy was brave enough to swim on her own and loved playing; Lila of course loved to splash as well.  We also enjoyed spending time on a hot day with our family, including "P" and "M" Pederson, Kristin and Eric and the lovable Milo.

 

 

 

 

So Long, Summer!

As Fall is upon us and before we get to all the entries about Pumpkin Farms and Thanksgiving feasts, I wanted to look back on our Summer and say "good-bye" to many great memories.  Lucy, Lila, Kim and I had a wonderful summer and look forward to the next one.  There were days at the pool, birthday parties, a trip out west, many wonderful visitors, outdoor musical events, and fun excursions.  Ciao, Summer!

Happy Birthday like a Fish

Bird's Birthday

There's alot of catching up to do since we had such a fun filled yet busy summer.  The most important topic is Lila's birthday celebrations (there were many).  Appropriately, Kim made Lila a Big Bird cake, I think her best cake yet.  As usual, Lila was all smiles. 

It's amazing how fast kids grow up. It seemed like yesterday when we were getting ready for her to be born.  We love you, our sweet little Bird!

PNW Part 4: Hat Island

The last part of our trip was spent at my Sister and Brother-in-law's place on Hat Island.  Hat is located among the Orcas Islands and was a beautiful location to end our wonderful trip. 

We had to take a sailboat ride out there, and here is Kim and Bird in her little life vest.

Steve used the leftover salmon parts as crab bait, and the crab sure loved that.  We ate fresh crab all weekend (I'm allergic but Kim said it was wonderful).

The view from their deck.

Walking along the beach with Susie and Grandpa.

Here is my sister Leslie with Lucas and Lila. 

Grandma reading Lucy a book before bedtime.

My cousin Josh and my sister Leslie on the sailboat.

Doug, Lucas, Asher, and Susie on the boat.  What a pretty family!

 

 

 

 

PNW Part 3: Hiking and Boating

Another fun aspect of our trip to Washington was the hiking and boating experiences.  We don't get to do much of either in Chicago, so we and the kids greatly enjoyed them.  

Here we hiked around Winthrop with the kids in our back-packs. 

  

Here we had Lila bird on Steve and Leslie's Sailboat.  As always she was having a blast.

My cousin Josh and my sister Leslie also enjoying the sailboat ride. 

 

Here are most of us before one of our hikes. 

On our way back from Winthrop Washington we stopped to do a beautiful hike up into the Cascade mountains to discover this gorgeous lake nestled way up in the mountains.  I didn't make it as I sprained my ankle on the way up, but fortunately Kim took some stunning pictures. 

I was impressed by how well all the younger kids did on the hike.  They were real troopers and enjoyed it too.