Lummi Escape and Thanksgiving

Last week I packed up my Tahoe and headed North.....All the way to my favorite escape Lummi Island!
My dad is off working for a few weeks, so that left Mom home in an empty house. My kids were off to visit the other grandparents in SUNNY Palm Desert, so this gave me the perfect excuse to go.
We beach walked, visited family, sewed, ate, hung out with Reid who came down for one night, made some beaded mermaids...and had some really good girl time!

Just a little glimpse into out beach combing adventures.

We ended up with some really stormy weather while I was up on the Island, waves crashing, wind blowing, quite refreshing!
One day I went for a run and along the sea wall the waves were crashing in and over the wall, that was awesome!

My Mama and I on the beach.

Wednesday I headed back home to meet up with Bob and go to his folks place on the coast. Apparently the day before Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year. Super. It took me 8.5 hours to drive home....normally a 5.5 hour drive. Oh and it rained the entire way. Double super!
I did make it and we did make it then to the coast (another 2.5 hour drive).
We had a really nice relaxing time at his folks place. Eating, cooking, shopping, and storm watching!!!

Big Smash

Sunday was the BIG SMASH....bowl game for Caymus' football. His final game....he loved football this year and was very successful. He was a leader to his team and a very focused player. I am so proud of him. He is sad the season is over and cannot wait for next year.

My boy on Offense, number 7.

They got to play in Reser Stadium, OSU, on the turf! A very big deal for these little guys!

His biggest fans!

They won all 3 of their games and only gave up one touchdown.

He will be famous some day......

Thank you Veterans

Thank you to all the service men and woman out there who fight and have fought for our American Freedom. Everyday I am proud to be an American and everyday I am thankful for those people.

My Baby Brother Bryce on the day of his deployment with his daughter Isis. So proud of him.

Getting back to crazy

I could say getting back to normal but that just sounds boring and I would say our lives are more crazy than boring.
The house has been transformed from ghoulish to harvesty. Soccer is over. Football has one more practice with the BIG SMASH on Sunday. Wrestling starts on Monday......
Last week we had 2 days of school because of conferences, both kids teachers had wonderful things to say about them and both are doing great in school. Lucy did spend 2 of those days sick, fortunately we had no school to miss and she was able to get better before the new week began.
Since I have been back from Europe we have been walking to and from school everyday. Its only .4 miles one way, not very far. The kids are really enjoying it. And they are recognizing why it is a good thing for a few reasons....its exercise, we are not wasting gas, its good for the environment, its a great time to have a conversation.

This made me a very happy mama! Lucy sharing her umbrella and them having a conversation!

Fall is in full swing, the leaves are changing and falling, the fog is thick and heavy, the air is crisp and the apples are DELICIOUS!!! I really do love this time of year, it has a refreshing feel to it and there is the hint of holidays in the air, always an exciting time.

Caymus finally lost his top front tooth last night! It has been dangling by a thin thread for weeks now. He claims it was knocked out at football! Isn't he so cute?

Happy Halloween!

What a crazy weekend we had!!!! It started with Friday afternoon.....
Both kids had Harvest Parties in their classrooms. Fortunatnly my friend Jill did all the planning sicne I was outta the country....and she rocks. So both classes were pretty much the same, easy. Then right after school was Harvest Party set up time for our BIG carnival in the evening. We transformed the school in to a giant playground! Lots of games, face painting, photo booth, food and fun! We had an amazing turn out....probably 600 or so people came out. Needless to say we were beat by the end of the day!
Then that brings Saturday. Lazy morning followed by house keeping and then Lucy's last soccer game. Here team went undefeated! So the coach treated them to a party at Chuck E Cheese!!! After that and a quick stop at the grocery store, we got ready for some friends to come over and have a little Halloween party of our own! 
Sunday truely was a day of rest....well accept the 3 hours I speent working in the yard...but for me that is rest. :-)
Monday = Halloween. The kids said they wanted to hand out candy this year and I was happy with that! So we headed to Bob's house, had dinner and then waited for the trick or treaters to start! The kids made a game out of it, they had to say something nice to each kid that came to the door. Anywhere from Happy Halloween to rad mask and sick wounds. It was VERY entertaining!!! We did end up going out for a little trick or treat....just to say we did it I guess!

My little jaguar at his Harvest Party.

And my pumpkin at hers!

Caymus testing out the bean bag toss for the Harvest Party! One of our VERY talented moms painted the board, she is amazing!

The Fierce Jaguars!!! Undefeated!!!! Lucy is on the far right.

Lucy and her friends singing Party in the USA for us at our Halloween party!

Bob, Caymus and Moka watching Sunday Football....I love these boys!

All ready for passing out candy and trick or treating!

Sorting her loot!

Our creepy make up for the Harvest Party!

Picture from the Photo Booth! Thank you www.heatherboylesphotography.com!!!

The fabulous PTC board!!!!

So I guess that explains why we are all beat today! Lucy even came home sick from school today....good thing we have the next 5 days off from school!

Pumpkin carving

I made it back home around 4pm on Tuesday...what a long day. It is so nice to be back and get back into the swing of things! And that means Halloween!!!!

We finally had a free night with no activities so it was PUMPKIN CARVING night! I love seeing each persons creativity and individuality come out with their pumpkins!

The kids and Bob carving away....they were really interested to see what Bob came up with....

Playing with the guts is always a highlight!

My masterpiece!

Lucy's......she got carried way with adding guts....then decided to add the beer. Very clever.

Caymus'....he wanted scary and I think he got it!

Bob's.....he is adorable!

My posers with the final product.

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And after all that hard work we pigged out on home made chicken soup with dumplings....everyone had seconds....some had thirds.... GREAT night with my loves!!!

Amsterdam Part 2...

66 hours in Amsterdam and we accomplished a lot!!!
Full 2nd day for us diehards....we headed out at a decent hour this morning and walked to the Hortis Botanicas, a botanical garden on central Amsterdam. It housed some really old (like 300 hundred years + old!)...Then off to find a canal boat to take us to our next destination, on our way we thought we went the wrong direction but happened to stumble upon the flea market we had been wanting to see. Score!!! Some cool stuff to be seen there. Then we did get the canal boat and enjoyed a nice float on to the Van Gough museum. This was a very wonderful museum with over 200 pieces of his original collection along with hundreds of sketches and letters.
I really enjoyed seeing Van Gough; I had visited a museum in Paris when I was there in 1998, along with a village he had lived in and his grave. So seeing his work again and a photo of his grave, I remembered I had been there and even have a photo of it. Really cool. Plus I remember studying his work when I was in HS.
After all the museum walking....we then headed off to see a few more parts of town and followed by dinner...a wonderful day and a great way to end a very busy week(s).....

Jane, Mom and I on our walk to the Botanical Garden. Beautiful brisk morning!

Interesting cactus......

Mom and I in front of the 300 year old "Oldest potted plant in the world". Its a male and his "girlfriend" is only 200 years old right around the corner....cradle robber..... :-)

We happended to get the honor of watching a crew dredge a part of the canal....they say the canals are 9M deep, 3M water, 3M sludge and 3M bicycles.....I guess they were right!!! Oh and there are about 67 miles of canals in Amsterdam so you can imagine how many bikes that would add up to!

Some super cool buildings we walked passed. This seemed to be a high rent district because the buildings were beautiful, the cars were nice and the streets were clean! The houses in town are only about 20 feet wide and around 5 stories tall. They are all touching and now mostly house many apartments in each one.

At the garden there was a butterfly house, several beautiful butterflies!

Taking a little break while enjoying the view in the garden.

Mom and I enjoying some traditional Dutch dessert....Olibollen!!!

One of the many canals in town.

At city center, in front of some monument.....my brain is overloaded with info so I have no idea what its for or what it means....

Now there is a happy camper!!! Beer in one hand and whiskey in the other....people watching!

Seriously a beautiful city!

Where we had dinner. This used to be over a canal that entered into town and was where you had to pass to pay duties. GREAT food!

The hustle and bustle of the town square. 

Well there you have it, our time here in Amsterdam. Great time and I am so glad we came. Now to pack and prep for out long day tomorrow going home to our loved ones! Cant wait to see them all!!!