august 6

 

we had a full day, soaking up seattle.  we headed downtown early, checking out a modern art park, the new  great wheel and, of course, pike place market.  we sure do love this city!  brooke, hannah and gavin have so much fun together.  hudson is definitely the odd one out.  tonight we went to giuliana, rundeep and jay's new house for dinner and had a great time catching up with them.  i miss our seattle friends.

august 5

 

back in snoqualmie for a pool day!  the pool is a new addition to the ridge, so it was fun to check it out.  it was packed, and the kids had a lot of fun in the pool.

august 4

we started our day at knead and feed - the cutest little bakery and breakfast shop in coupeville.  it was a beautiful morning, so we strolled along the wharf before heading back to seattle.  

august 3

 

it was a beautiful day on whidbey.  we had happy hour down at the water.  brooke, hannah and gavin played for hours in the cold water.  we stayed out long enough to catch the prettiest shades of the sunset.

october 31

i love halloween.  but this year it's been hard for me to get into the spirit with all we have going on.  i wasn't even up for making or buying costumes this year.  brooke and gavin both had cute michigan uniforms, and i talked them into wearing them for halloween.  they were pretty darn cute if you ask me!!  the weather couldn't have been worse for trick-or-treating though.  it was very cold and rainy and windy.  we braved the elements with coats and umbrellas, but we were all ready to call it a night after a quick round of treats in our neighborhood.  come next year, i don't think we'll have to worry about cold or rain on halloween!

october 30

it snowed today.  for real.  a dusting of snow before halloween!  crazy, crazy.  we spent the day gathered inside in front of the fireplace, and i prepared for my last "official" day as an employee of P&G.  due to the terms of my voluntary separation package, i have to turn in all of my work equipment and my badge tomorrow.  i pulled out my work bag that i haven't touched in 3.5 years and booted up my computer to clean up some files and save some documents before handing it over.  i was surprised how the simple act of opening up that computer took me right back to my working days in an instant.  i'm so far removed from those days, yet it all came flooding back.  tomorrow will be bittersweet, but definitely more sweet than bitter.  there is no job better in the world than being a full-time, stay at home mother to my two children.

october 29

i looked outside tonight, and the sky was on fire!  i grabbed my camera and ran out the door to capture this...