80* in October!

The first half of October was warm and lovely.  Temps have fallen as the month has progressed.  It is much cooler today than it was October 7th.  The Saturday started out with swimming lessons and a trip to Home Depot and rain.  We were planning to meet friends and do some hiking, but we were worried the rain would prevent our fun.  Luckily we had a perfectly timed rain free window and we were able to get out and hike.  Because of the rainy and chilly morning AND because we were hiking near the Lake, the kids had warm clothes on.  We realized very soon that they were way over dressed.    Even though it was October it was the warmest we have ever seen it at this park!  

Our friends T and Z brought three dogs with them on the hike.  They were dog sitting little S and the kids just loved her.  Their other dogs, G and G were rescue dogs that don't love new people very much, but our kids loved them no matter what.  It was special to see them together. 

M: I love walking S!

A very sweet crew!

Three kids and three dogs!

In aww of the view!

T: This is my little leaf friend. 

M: It was so warm I had to take off my shirt. 

The dog looks happy too. 

T: The water was really cold so we kept running away from it. 

M: I did get wet a few times!

T: Look at my rocks!  M: This is SO MUCH FUN!

The wet crew ready to hike back. 

The hike back was interesting.  M's pants were so soaked that we ended up taking them off and having him wear his shirt as pants.  It was quite a sight.  I guess this proves yet again that every.single.time the kids go to the Lake, they WILL get wet!

Since we still had plenty of afternoon left we invited them back to our house.  The boys played in the yard for a bit, but the grass was very wet and M had a big slip.

M: It is fun to play football with Z!

The dogs were IN OUR HOUSE!  I know this is a shocking to some of you.  We put up and gate and I tried to relax!

T: I wanted them to drink water. 

M: This little girl felt safe in the corner and I just loved her so much. 

Great friends!

T enjoys playing with Z too!

We are so thankful to have adoptive family friends who live close to us.  It is fun to do life together, and fun for the moms to chat too!  Hopefully we can plan another playdate day again soon!

Little Lego Lover

Our sweet T loves her Legos!  She loves to start with a base of something and enhance it over and over and over again.  Her ship/mansion/school/gym etc etc is pretty amazing.  She has rooms of every sort.  I love to see her using her imagination in this way. 

Do you like my ship? 

T: Check out all my rooms!

T:  This is my cool castle and car. 

As you can see she has added many fancy features!

It is fun to see her combining sets and being creative.   She and Brandon can play together for a long time!

Fire Station Open House and more!

October is Fire Prevention Month!  On October 1st our fire station had their annual open house.  As family and friends know, it is one of the top days at our house, right up there with Birthday, Christmas, and F!sh Day!  

Amazingly, this post is going up IN October.  I am slowing but surely catching up.  I have been blogging every day since September 12th and I am finally posting about an event in the month it happened!  Since there are not many days left in October and many October posts I will get behind again, but today feels like a tiny blog catch up victory.  OK, on with the post!

We raced out of church and headed downtown.  We immediately got in line for the fire truck ride.  After the firetruck ride we went up in the lift.  While the adults waited for the lift the kids explored a near by firetruck.  We had our friend J with us which made both kids thrilled. 

Cruising in the firetruck with friends!

After going up in the lift the kids got to be the very last kids to do the obstacle course.  It was a new addition this year and I think the kids enjoyed it.

T: The pounding was hard!

T: I put out a fake fire. 

T: I finished by rescuing a bear. 

M: The hose was sort of heavy!

M: The hammer thing was easy for me. 

M: The fire went right down. 

M: I raced to the finish line with the bear. 

After the open house we brought M and J over to J's house for M's Sunday time with them.  They were able to go mountain biking on a trail not too far away.  M LOVED it!

M: I wish I could do this every day. 

I went on a long walk with my dear friend Charissa and T worked on a project for M.  She truly loves him so much.

T: I hope M likes it!

Sunday Gifts!

The day after Super Saturday is always pretty low key around our house.  I am very drained and I think everyone else is too.  M went to a soccer tournament with our dear friends.  He gets to spend time with them almost every Wednesday and many Sundays too.  They have been an incredible blessing to all of us.  While at the tournament they were able to purchase jerseys.  The family got one for M and M couldn't believe it.  He loves it and wears it all the time.  

M:  I love being with K and J!

While M was with our dear friends we enjoyed a beautiful day with T.  I am pretty sure this was the day we biked the long way to the Lake and back.  We took the trail the long way each way to avoid the steep inclines so it was over 5 miles.  T did so great!  She collected many rocks at the beach and we headed home.

Once home T and Brandon gathered tomatoes in the garden.  T LOVES to garden and squeals with delight every time she finds a tomato.  We thought we were not going to get any tomatoes this year, but then were surprised with a small crop in late Sept and October.  They were a surprise gift in our garden!

T: My little arms can reach way in there. 

T: Look at all our tomatoes! 

This Saturday was SUPER!

Every September we have one day that is a bit more Super than the rest.  We have our huge adoption grant/orphan care fundraiser complete with a silent auction, bake sale, run/walk, and kid obstacle course. The third Saturday after Labor Day is always a special day for us... but let me back up.  

We were so blessed to have Tom and Judy join us for Super Saturday weekend!  The kids had off of school on Friday which is pretty tricky since that is our big set-up day.  Tom and Judy were able to come up very late on Thursday night and spend the whole day with the kids on Friday.  The kids were so surprised to see them as this was their sixth time seeing them since June.  For some families this wouldn't sound like much, but for our family, that is a lot!  

Tom and Judy and the kids started the day with time at the Y!  Then they went down to Chick-Fil-A for lunch.  After lunch they went to a special GF/DF bakery to get dessert and special treats to eat during the Super weekend!  After the bakery the kids played at a park near the Lake and then went to T's OT and a local University.  They didn't get home until supper time. 

I was a bit overly ambitious and decided to make mashed potatoes, Grandma's corn, ham and gravy for dinner.  I prepped everything early in the morning and then just needed to watch my timers to get things going.  The meat was a little dry, but still great and such a blessing to have good leftovers! 

I was at church until very late Friday night and didn't sleep much, but I still slept more than some on the team.  It always feels like no matter how much you prepare there are so many last minute details to deal with. 

Saturday was BEAUTIFUL in every way.  It was the first Super Saturday that I can remember where the weather was amazing.   80* and sunny! So lovely to be outside and enjoying the day. 

The whole crew before the 5K/2K

I was the only one who did the 5K this year.  Everyone else opted for the shorter 2K.  They get bored easily and the 2K was their speed!  There are two water stops along the route.  The amazing homeowner at this stop (who doesn't go to our church) offered to hook up a mister to cool everyone off!  Wow!  Such beautiful generosity!

These guys LOVE working the water stop!

The brilliant mister. 

M: I ran almost the whole time!

How sweet are they!

Here we come!

Leaping across the finish line!

This year we added a new event to the morning.  We introduced a kids fun course that was well received by our kids and many many others!

T: I was rocking those things!

T: This is just like gymnastics!

M: I loved the wall!

M: Going under the nets took focus.

Making it look easy!

The silent auction and bake sale are held indoors.  This was our biggest and best year ever with each event!  It was so encouraging to see more and more community members participate in the event.

Lots of awesome bidding going on!

Brandon's parents had to head home at 2:00pm.  I walked in the doors at about 1:57.  We are so thankful for their help with the kids and also of the chance they had to see the events in action.  This was their first time.  So special!

What a beautiful crew!

Once Tom and Judy left and I got a bite to eat we headed to a splash pad to cool off.  I must confess with such lovely weather in September we went there twice in two days!  I don't know which pictures are from which day so I put them all together here.  It was such a gift that they kept the splash pad open beyond Labor Day!  We are so thankful for Charissa and her kids.  They helped morale stay highish after Tom and Judy left!

M: Sometimes I hold my breath.

Lots of kids in action!

The perfect place to cool off!

After we got home T spent a lot of time admiring her silent auction victory.  Well, there is actually more to the story.  My sweet friend knew how much T wanted this gum-ball machine and she bought it for T as a gift.  T was so very beyond thrilled!

T: It is mine!

T: I don't have any gum yet, but I already put some money in the slot!

We ended the day with some card games and any other attempts to stay awake that I could think of!

T: Mommy and I played War.  I think she was pretty sleepy! 

It was a full, full, full Friday and Saturday.  With the help of many many people we were able to raise a lot of money for adoption grants and orphan care.  It is a beautiful thing to be a part of!