Operation Christmas Child

This weekend, my Mom came up from Portland to watch Chris's fall play. It has become a tradition over the last several years that when she is here for the play, we go shopping for Operation Christmas Child and gather all the supplies we need to pack two boxes. Never heard of Operation Christmas Child? It is a Christian ministry organized by Billy Graham's son and it gives toys and hygiene supplies to children for Christmas. Each child receives a shoe-box sized package stuffed with goodies. This year, Leila really seemed to understand that we were buying for others. She helped Mom and me choose which baby dolls, what color toothbrushes, and which Disney character puzzles along with lots of other important decisions. She had an even better time once we got home and started helping us unwrap packages and begin packing the boxes. There is still time if you would like to pack one too!

Pumpkin Patch

Chris and I had Friday off from work, so we took the extra day to visit Spooner's Pumpkin Patch in Orting. The three of us headed out mid-morning and had perfect pumpkin patch weather! When we walked in, Leila was handed a spider ring, which she quickly named her "Pooky Pider Ring" (spooky is her word of choice lately). She had a blast showing her spider ring to the large hay bail spiders throughout the patch. She was also tickled with the slide and the rope maze (we opted for it instead of the corn maze). We came home with three nice pumpkins for our front porch. Leila's is shaped just like Mr. Potato Head...which is what she is dressing up as this year. What a fun day!

Let's go find our pumpkins...

Checkin' out the scarecrow.

Leila was more interested in her spider ring than smiling for the camera.

How about this one, D?

Our treasures: Chris's is laying on its side, mine is the round one on the left and L's is the tall one on the right.

Loading up the car.

Returning the wheel barrow with Daddy.

Doin' the Puyallup!

Last weekend, we headed on down to the Puyallup Fair for the second time this fall. This time around, I remembered to bring the camera and it was a good thing I did as Leila ventured on a couple rides that she had never gone on before. First stop though was the carousel...which she has been in love with since our trip to Disneyland this summer. While she is an experienced rider, she still enjoys it every time!

The "Ninie (pony) Ride" with Daddy.

This was L's second time on the canoes. What a difference a week makes...Last week, she wasn't too sure about it, but was thrilled this time....laughing and smiling the whole sail.


Check out her soggy bottom....the seats in the canoes were wet. Luckily, with the sun, she was dry in no time at all.
New adventure....riding the cars! She was a tad bit too short, but the man said she would be fine. I was really hoping she would choose this purple car as is looked a little safer to me....Luckily, we convinced her to do this one instead of the motor-bikes she was eyeing. It didn't take much once we mentioned that Jeff from the Wiggles wears purple.

Toot, toot. Chugga, chugga big PURPLE car.
Oh my! Look at how tall that is. L and Daddy were all game for the big slide.

Getting their gunny sacks...

Climbing the 2oo steps ( I think that was the number??)...

Getting into position to begin the descent.

Yahoo!
We ended our day at the Fair with The Coats. Anyone from Puyallup knows how fabulous these four guys are! We love to take in a concert or two of theirs each year...in fact, we often end up planning our fair trips with their concert schedule in mind. This year, Chris was chosen to come sing with the guys on Elvira. The crowd went crazy after he sang...let's just say the other volunteers weren't quite as big of hams as Christopher. He knows how to play an audience, that's for sure.

Listening to directions.
Riding his horse. Notice even Doug is cracking up.

Singing his solo.

And hitting the

LOW

note at the end of the song.

Wait, I thought I married a tenor, not a bass.
The Fair ends today. So once again, we will have to say goodbye to the scones, the crowds, the traffic and the baby animals. Looking forward to next year...

Hockey Night in Kent

This Saturday marked the start of Thunderbird Hockey for the Taverns. While this was the second game for the team, it was our first of the season. Let's hope this game was not indicative of what the season holds for the T-birds! Sloppy passes and a weak offense was all Seattle had to offer. Unfortunately, the Thunderbirds lost....to Portland no less (their biggest rivals)! We did manage to have fun though, despite the poor efforts of the team. When we parked, it started to rain (although some may classify the light drops as POURING, right Shawn??), so we hitched a ride with the "Bicycle Guys". There are several men who offer bicycle rides from the lot to the arena. So we got to ride in the fancy bike trailer in the back. Leila loved it...well actually, so did I. And we stayed dry!

Leila and Cool Bird. We didn't realize that it was free hat night for kids under 14. Right on!

In the second period, a puck came over the glass. The man right in front of us caught it and then let Leila have it. Here she is showing off her official puck. It is all beat up and everything.
Stretching during an intermission.
The fam.
Another intermission shot...watching the Zambonis fix the ice.

Hoping that the next game won't be so tragic....

New Gadget

Check out our stick family at the bottom of the blog. A friend of mine found this site where you can create your family in stick figures. Too cute.

Thanks Jenni for the link!

Farewell to Summer

This past Monday, we drove out to Brown's Point for a picnic. We wanted to spend our last evening of the summer together and since the weather was beautiful, we decided on a picnic. We grabbed some Subway sandwiches and motored to the water.

Leila enjoying some Cheetos. She discovered them this summer at a pool party.

Leila and Daddy checking out the water. There were MANY fisherman hanging out on the shore. We saw probably 10 catches in the two hours we were there. The fisherman in the background of this shot is truly hanging out....I thought about cropping him out, BUTT is CRACKS me up, so I left it.

This seal pup came right on the shore in the midst of all the fishing poles. He was not afraid one bit! I think his back flipper was injured. I am not even zoomed in on these shots. He might have even let us pet him, if we had tried.




Running down the hillside of the park.

It was the perfect way to say good-bye to a WONDERFUL summer.