I had a grandparent request for Halloween pictures a while ago...and here they are.

Olympic Game Farm

On Ezra's birthday, we went to the Olympic Game Farm. It's in Sequim, about an hour and half drive from here. We spend a lot of time driving since there's not much shopping here and I refuse to support the local grocery store. Their prices are ridiculous. So we drive to Port Angeles and the Costco in Sequim quite frequently. It is one of the toughest things about living here. It's a 6-8 hour ordeal between driving and doing Walmart and Costco. And I always have to feed them a meal, no matter when we leave. Things have improved since Audrey's older. She used to scream the whole way driving home which my frayed nerves couldn't handle. Yes, things have gotten better!

This is what the kids look like when we're driving.

The drive is pretty, especially along Lake Crescent. This was the first time I've stopped to take pictures.

Back to the game farm. Corey went to the game farm when he was young and had fond memories of it. It was founded by a man who wanted to work with wild animals and filming. Some of the old Disney movies used animals from this place. After that dried up the farm was opened to the public and you drive through in your car. There are yaks, llamas, bears, wolves, cougars, bison, and elk. I felt bad for the rhino.

It's gone downhill since, as you can tell by the photos but it was amazing (and a little scary) to get this close to the animals. This is a Kodiak bear, and you can see the fence isn't very substantial. We skipped seeing the bison since we heard they get aggressive and scratch cars. They had a little petting zoo with an irate llama that spat at me. I have decided I don't care much for llamas.

Birthday Extravaganza

October is our birthday month.

We celebrated Audrey's first with some cupcakes.

Audrey really enjoyed that cupcake.

A few days later, it was Ezra's turn.

It was a "Jungle Safari" party.

The kids dressed up with safari clothes, went on a safari and found plastic animals with flashlights, and on a treasure hunt for their goody bags.

Ezra's favorite part was his cake. He ended up adding a few more animals to the cake.

Ezra's friend, Fern came for the party.

One of the best things about moving to Forks has been becoming friends with the Knobles. Julie and the kids attend our ward and live the next block over. Corey and Justin have quite a few common interests. They are some of the neatest people I know. They're moving later this month, and we will miss them.

So Corey, Ezra, Justin, and Fern went fishing in the morning. After that, we all had dinner together and did some games with the kids. Corey was called out to find some hunters spotlighting and Justin (who works as a supervisor for the timber company whose land the hunters were trespassing on) came with him. So the dads were gone when we had cake, hence not many pictures. That is one of the tough things about having a game warden for a husband, but Corey found them and I was proud of him.

One Year Ago

One year ago, Audrey joined our family.

What was life like before we were four? It feels like she has been a part of our family for so long, yet I can still remember her as our brand new baby.

It was a wonderful birth. She was so beautiful, pink and chubby. My huge squeal was captured on video when Corey announced she was a girl. Love at first sight. I'll always remember that moment.

As a newborn, Audrey loved being close to us. She still does today.

Determined. Captivating. Will not be ignored.

Knows how to charm strangers.

Audrey at 1:44 p.m October 22, 2009

Exactly one year old

On to something good

Here he is- our big preschooler. Ezra had his first day of preschool yesterday. It was interesting, really. Ezra was excited as can be and on the way there, I began feeling a little anxious. Like it was my first day of school. It took me by surprise, I had had no qualms before. When went inside, he plopped down in front of a Tonka truck, and that was it. "I'll be back to pick you up in a little bit." No reply. Not wanting to be a hover mother, I bravely walked out. He didn't even say goodbye. Didn't look at me, for a matter of fact.
I drove home, smiling ruefully. Audrey went down for a nap, and I realized I have free time! I weeded the front garden bed and thought, hey, this isn't so bad. This is going to be great.
Then, picking him up, some of the trepidation I felt resurfaced. He was excited and told me some random details and I was happy he was happy.
These feelings took me by surprise; I'm fine leaving him with babysitters. I have no worries about the preschool. I can hardly say I'm sending him into the world. Today I heard him calling Audrey "stupid." That really flipped my switch. I asked him where he heard that word. I'm not sure where he heard it, but it really bothered me and prompted a mini lecture.
I just hope that we can teach him how to stand on his own two feet and make the right decision for himself. I didn't know how scary this aspect of parenthood would be, but I guess that's why God saved the best spirits for last.

At the teddy bear picnic.

It has happened.

My son ate more than me at breakfast today. I'm not a huge breakfast eater, but still. On the other end of things, Ezra used his potty chair for the first time. I took a picture but I won't post it here, don't worry! Now if only we can get a repeat....

"It Buns Calories, Not Gas!"

So says Corey, of his beloved push mower.

And it's better than TV watching him use it. You see, the house we're renting has an enormous yard. I pointed out some reasons why he might want a gas mower but he was adamant about going green. Besides, you can mow at 6:00 am or 10:00 at night without bothering the neighbors. Which is a good thing because that's how long it takes to mow the dang yard!

First he mows in one direction. Then he has to go over it in the opposite direction or else it looks like a bad haircut. And then, there are the weeds. They just fall over instead of getting cut, so we have this scythe thing we swing that cuts it. That was what we used to cut our little patch of grass in Newport, so I guess a push mower is a step up from that.

While it takes all evening to get the job done, it does give him a lot of exercise.