Apples, and Jellyfish, and Pumpkins Oh My!

We had quite an adventurous day on Saturday! First we ventured out to the Jones Creek Farm in the Skagit Valley to go apple picking and join in their cute little harvest celebration. They had cider, a little band, animals to say "hi" to, a hay ride, snacks, toy tractors, a mini haunted house, a tire swing and more! 

We met our pals Rebecca, Matt and Olea there, and ran into the Roberts clan too! Though since he's a rock star hubby who installs nasty insulation to make our home warm and cozy, Todd was not with us (sad face).

 

It was another gorgeous fall day (this fall is without a doubt making up for the summer we had here), and we soaked up the scenery around us. 

Plus we took home some tasty apples, and some not-so-tasty-until-you-bake-with-them-apples too.

 

Q helping H load up her purse (an essential for every fancy pants farmer girl)

After a full morning we headed west and since H had napped on the way too the farm in the morn (as did Q for a bit) I knew we could adventure on. 

So we headed to Camano Island. We went all the way down to the Camano Island State Park and hit the beach! There the kids were quickly at home and happy to climb on the logs, 

 

and squish Mama's face,

 make sand birthday cakes (and as requested by H, sing endless renditions of "Happy Birthday" to all we know), then make a jellyfish birthday cake and sing happy birthday to it,

 (don't worry we avoided it's underside)

and there was play in a beach fort,

time to pretend to be paleontologists excavating,

 and more log sitting.

 It was lovely down there at the beach, and I did a loop around the campsites there to pick out my favorite for next year!

Then, cause we didn't pick out pumpkins at the apple farm, I stopped at the pumpkin patch we'd passed on the way to the island, and as the sun set we gathered up some for our growing collection.

 

 

The icing on the cake for kids was a trip to Burger King where I let them play on the slide after dinner (a first for H I think!). Of course the icing on the cake for me was when they both fell asleep on the way home. It was an incredible day and I'm so thankful my kiddos love adventuring as much as I do!

Night Life

It would be unlike me not to document some recent super fun times I've been spoiled with, so here goes. I swear I'm not trying to evoke jealously or anything, though it might well happen, so sorry, but I got to have 3 nights in a row of going out fun!!! Seriously, this NEVER happens in the daily life of a Mom, well not this Mom anyhow. So, Thursday night, after a stunning afternoon in the sunshine at the beach with Gigi and the kids, and an-oh-so-fun Blood Brown Pathogens class (Shoreline required for FH), I got to head downtown to the 5th Ave Theater to see In the Heights. The bonus: no cost tickets from my awesome friend Trez who works there as an usher! I was a bit early so I dawdled alone! at the market and watched the sunset:

 Then I was off to the show, and it was spectacular! I am a ginormous fan of musicals, but this one is really pretty amazing!

If you happen to want to see it, let me know and I can get you a ticket deal from Trez. It was a Tony award winning show, and I can see why, I'm so glad I got to see it live and on opening night. Which was an extra bonus cause Trez also gets to go to the cast parties at Palimino's. So, we were her dates and yum was that ever tasty and fun too! It was exciting to see the cast in person a bit, they were so fancy looking (can you say "Makeup!") and short. 

Well that would have been thrilling enough, but then on Friday night, after another fun afternoon/evening picnicking and playing at Carkeek, I helped get the kids to bed, and went out to Gameworks (a spot I have actually never been to before), to see my WWU pal Spencer! It was fun to see him and the rest of the gang down there in what has become a once every few years gathering of old Spencer pals. It felt pretty silly to watch the guys playing games:

But also, wonderful to visit and catch up a teensy bit and feel like a kid all over. 

THEN, last night Todd and I got to go out to dinner! We went to the Lake Forest Bar and Grill and had some tasty (albeit took-forever-to-get-to-us) dinner. And after the kids were in bed, we had movie night to see Adventureland (cute!). Ending those 3 nights with a movie at home with my cutie was just about perfect! Thank goodness Gigi is in town to help with the kids, and hurray for the revived feeling one gets after having adult time to play. I highly recommend it!

Back to School for Mama!

Q and I in our "Back to School FH" outfits

Froggy Holler Outdoor Preschool opened it's "doors" this week! I am so thrilled to be back in the "classroom", I don't even know where to begin. Though of course setting up a "school" (really it's just a class through the Shoreline Park dept) is work, it feels so great to be back at it. Getting all the supplies ready, folders organized, books chosen, themes and coordinating poems and songs lined up etc. And the very best, the kiddos all to myself to be teaching for a chunk of time. They listen when you're the teacher, they ask questions, they share, they tell stories, and it seems like so much more so than when you're Mom. Well, perhaps it's more that when you are around other kids and your own, you also have other adults to chat with, and without that, the kids are so much more likely to really interact with you. Ok, I'm going off on a tangent I know, but I really do have my heart in teaching and I've missed it. This seems to be just the right step for me, 2 classes, meeting 2 hours each. Though after this first week I sure wish I more time each day with the kids, it goes by so fast in the woods!

Growing Up

As is always the case when I sit back and realize the kids are really growing up, I stop and think of how much our lives have changed in the past few short years. It doesn't seem all that long ago that I first became the nursing, diaper changing guru I am now.

Well, I should say "was" actually.

Last week, the night before my amazing trip to Leavenworth I nursed Hazel for one last time. Not really realizing it would really be the end of my 4 and 1/2 year career as a nurser. I have to say that while for some this may seem like an awfully long time to have given oneself quite literally to her children, I wouldn't have traded that close time with my little ones for anything. There is a certain sense of loss now that I know it's over. Hazel does feel like such a bigger girl this week, being done with nursing and simultaneously working on the potty training this week.

And Quin, well, he's learned how to whistle.

Yep, they are certainly growing up, and so am I. 

Sleeping Lady Resort Weekend, Year 1: HOORAY!

 "das Western Tanagers of das Rookery"

(that's our Bavarian, WWUers, shout out to the local birds camp name ;))

It was an incredible weekend, Thea, Till, Taj, Anna and I got to have a weekend away at the Sleeping Lady Resort in Leavenworth, and it was ideal. The weather was perfect for poolside lounging and swimming, book and silly magazine reading, ice cream and tasty food eating + tasty drink drinking, gossiping and chatting, late night hot tubbing and shooting star gazing, and on and on. The environment of this relaxing resort was just what we all needed. It certainly will be an annual event for all of us we enjoyed ourselves SO much. The cabin we stayed in was a fun bunkhouse with comfy beds, and a mini kitchen etc. The food at the resort restaurant was gourmet (breakfast came with our stay), and the night life in Leavenworth was actually hopping! Really, I could go on and on about how awesome that place is, how relaxed I feel, how lucky I feel to have had Todd and Gigi home to help with the kids, and Thea for thinking of the adventure. I'll share a few pictures to tell a little more!

A Little Alone Time

I used a dump run as an excuse to have a little solo adventure on our last full day on Whidbey. The transfer station that was open was near Coupeville and I'd never actually been there, and I thought it would be a fun little outing. So, I did my obligatory job, and proceeded to dawdle around in the shops and on the pier in Coupeville.

It's a cute little town, and lovely to take in at my own pace. I slowly fingered fabrics at a fancy little fabric shop, relaxed on the dock (playing Soule Mama here ;)),

and even went to the toy store for some little items. On my way home I couldn't pass up a roadside raspberry farm so I stopped off, and picked a whole big container full, yum! 

(taken by Mile Post 19 Farm Farmer Jerry)

It was a lovely way to spend the sunny afternoon.

Whidbey Visit

Since it's annual "Todd gets to watch heaps of Lacrosse" weekend, the kids and I went over to the beach  house on Whidbey for low tide. It's a pretty amazing place to be for a low tide, the beach stretches so far, the creatures are plentiful, and the sand is soft for digging.

 

Grey weather and a little rain never slows down the Zackeys

 

In the hole he quickly dug

  

a happy sand man

In the afternoon we had a great visit to the "Castle Playground" on the island. Seeing as it was still drizzly, the kids practically had the place to themselves,

so there was lots of swinging: 

and fake sleeping while "flying":

and lots of climbing and sliding and craziness with another little boy over a the skate park:

 

I had a hard time catching any of the sliding action, it was pretty killer though!

My aunts and their families arrived later and we got to visit with them a bit, the big cousins are always fun to read with and show off for.

Now we're really looking forward to our vacation there with summer!