Gourd Puzzles

Last year, after the patch, Zoe wanted nothing to do with the pumpkin carving.  She was more into the big spoon I was using to scoop it out.  Until she got a little guts on her toe.  Then the entire kitchen area was dead to her.

This year she had a totally different mindset:  pumpkin seeds are her friends.  She requested that she have her painting shirt on.  In Sunday School that morning her teacher (aka Grandma) was teaching how we have junk, like pumpkin guts in us when we don't share or hit your friends.  God doesn't want us to have junk, so we have to take it out with His help.  Then you carve a cross in a pumpkin and let the light shine through.  Or something like that.  She's very clever.

Zoe was well prepared for the "junk" as she called it.  Which is reassuring that she's listening in Sunday School and not running around with a ladybug doll and screaming like she was two weeks ago.

We put on her painting shirt and got to work.  We cleaned the dirt off the pumpkins and posed a bit.

Then we decided that we really didn't want to work on the BIG pumpkins yet, just the "teensy" ones.  Since she was already dressed for painting, she thought that's what we should do.  So we did. 

Then she saw me hacking into the BIG pumpkins and wanted in on the action.  It's like buried treasure in there with all them seeds.

Then even seeds couldn't keep her attention.  She ran, got a flashlight and wanted to see the pumpkin all lit up.

It wasn't too long before she saw another opportunity...

...afterall it is just a big, 3-D puzzle waiting to be completed.

The Pumpkin Patch...Or Where We Got Lost For the Better Part of 35 Minutes

This year I decided we could grow our own pumpkins and make special memories that way.  It would be like a pumpkin patch in our backyard.  Then we hit arctic temperatures and the pumpkin vines turned black.  I'm pretty sure we lost our crop this year.

So, in what has now become a family tradition, we went on a trip to the pumpkin patch.  We've had limited success with each visit.  The first year Zoe, while in a Baby Bjorn, puked in the corn maze.  It's actually a memory we all still talk about.  Since I was the one the Baby Bjorn was strapped on to, I have a different memory.

The second year we didn't get to take D & E because of rain.  So N, Zoe and I got lost in the corn maze together.  It was also the year I had great ideas to hollow out small pumpkins to line our walk for the 7 trick-or-treaters we got.  Then I learned you need a hacksaw to get into those "teensy" pumpkins and teenagers really don't care if the walk is lined.  They care about candy.  LOTS of candy.

This year our family was complete.  The sun was shining and the rain had stopped.  Zoe still wanted to bring her umbrella after the whole Oregon Zoo Drench '09.  We apparently didn't learn our whole lesson from Oregon because we came without the umbrella.  And scarves.  It was like -30 degrees with the wind in the pumpkin patch.  We sat the girls down for some food and told them they had 10.6 seconds to find the perfect pumpkin because it was cold, our noses were running and my cheeks chap in the wind.  For good measure I said told them Santa wouldn't come this Halloween if they didn't do as we asked. 

They apparently think I'm full of lies because this is the pumpkin E found:

She can't even lift the darn thing.  Then D found this:

She couldn't lift hers either.  On one hand they did find the perfect pumpkin in less than 10.6 seconds, but it took another 20 to hoist those gourds up in the cart.

Zoe on the other hand was looking for the perfect "teensy" pumpkin.  They have a whole area just for teensy pumpkins.  I made sure they were big enough to carve or at least paint.

With all the pumpkins to be found, we dropped our loot off at the car and went back for some more Patch fun in the corn maze.  We love this particular farm because they have a huge cornmaze that weaves its way to a castle.  Plus it's called a "Safari Maze" because there are huge animals throughout.  We stopped for a family picture shortly after we started on our journey. 

Do you see how happy and hopeful we all are?  This is exactly 25 seconds before we did our first loop and about 35 seconds before we realized we'd see this particular corn before.  It was 40 seconds before both D and I thought we should use the cheater gate to the castle because we both like to be princesses more than explorers.

The whole maze leads you to a castle.  You weave through some corn, then you weave through some bushes, then through some more corn and then to the castle.  It's all very exciting because you can see that castle for almost the entire maze.  Which is also the frustrating part.

At one point we got so lost I started taking pictures of the corn so I could have some visual reference of where we were.  I also thought about what Smoky the Bear said, "hug a tree if you get lost in the woods and there is a forest fire."  Maybe that was McGruff the Crime Dog.  I'm not sure.  I knew that type of advice would come in handy during our 40 minute nature walk through multiple paths in a corn maze.

That was until we came across this beautiful creature of the Pacific Northwest farmland.

Zoe is totally in love.  She growled at this lion, wanted to pet him, name him and bring him home.  She may be the future Steve Irwin.

As I contemplated having to tell her "no" the lion couldn't come home with us, we saw it.  THEE path that led us out of the wild farmland and into a fairytale.

All our princesses took their prince to the top.  They wanted him to find the way out, through the pirate ship.  You know, these farmers don't like to discriminate.

After a few slides down the pirate ship, we said "ahoy" to the patch.

That was, after we bought some Slinkies from a local vendor.  You know, nothing says "pumpkin patch" like a Slinky.

Girls Night Out, Also Known As When You Eat Food As Big As Your Head

After the wedding it was time for more of my people.  I went to college in Salem, made some amazing friends and every 9 1/2 years we get together.

So it had been entirely too long.  I may have been a little excited and began preparation for our night out about 8 weeks in advance. 

These are two ladies I grew to love after 4 years of living in dorms and trying to write papers explaining the Holy Trinity.  Brooke and I were business majors together and Sarah was an education major we grew to love as one of our own.

We had 28 1/2 years to catch up on over dinner, so we ordered food as big as our heads and got down to business.

We chatted about life, love and how the waiter was cute until he forgot to bring Brooke her drink.  It was 5 hours of perfection. 

We all brought our cameras.  Sarah and I have been practicing how to get rid of the double chin in self portraits.  Apparently her praticing totally paid off and mine left something to be desired.

At least until I was standing up and no longer using my go-go gadget arms to get the best shot ev-ah.

Thanks girls for some great conversation, fellowship and sticking with me for the last 9 1/2 years.  It feels like no time at all has passed.  Except that you are both more amazing then I remember. 

Love ya girlies.  Can't wait for the next time.  It'll be before 9 1/2 years.  Promise!

The real reason for our trip

After all the lessons in water, we decided to focus on the real reason of our trip to Portland:  our people. 

First up was Dad B and Sharon, or Opa and Oma as we've been known to call them.  Dad B retired and they moved closer to family in Vancouver.  They have a fancy new house and we had to go check out the guest room because you know we'll be back!

Oma made lunch, while Opa gave us a tour.  It was a little sparce on furniture because they sold their couch to some really aweomse people (us).  As a special surprise, their new furniture arrived while we were havnig lunch.

It was great to see them settled into their own place and starting the next chapter of God's plan for them.  I'm not going to lie, I got a little choked up saying goodbye.  I miss them something fierce.  Fortunately they are only a few hours, a river and a waterfall away.

Not to mention they have lots of stuffed animals and some of them even giggle.  Be prepared Oma and Opa, we will be back!

After we left their house, it was off to the wedding of our cousin Gary.  According to my cousin Don, the groom's dad, we witnessed "history in the making."  We arrived downtown at The Old Church for the ceremony.  I heard from a very reliable source (my friend Jamie) that this place is THEE place to get hitched in Portland.  Apparently it books out years, not months, in advance.  I was a little excited to see this place.  It didn't disappoint.

This was the only picture I got from the wedding.  I can assure this is THEE place to get married.  It is all things gorgeous.  The bridesmaids each wore a different dress in autumn colors, the flowers were bright oranges and yellows, the bride wore a beaded, sparkly, ivory dress and the candlelight made the whole place absolutely romantic.  To say it was gorgeous is an understatement.

Unless you're two.  Zoe stood on the pew and kept asking, "Wiggles coming?"  She thought we were at a Wiggles concert.  When she realized the guys weren't coming to perform The Shimmy Shake, she tried to blow out the candles from the back row.  We ducked out a bit early to roam the church and check things out. 

Then we heard clapping and ran upstairs in time to see the pastor introduce Gary and Sage. 

We got our coat, ran outside to see some family and so Zoe could blow spit bubbles (one of her many talents).  Plus she had her umbrella because after the zoo that morning she was convinced we were going to get stuck in another downpour.

Poor thing.  The zoo scarred her for life.

Maybe that's because she didn't get to see The Wiggles and she needed a new trick.

Three generations of drenched rats

If we had any theme for our trip to Portland it was water.  We threw rocks in the river and saw a waterfall.  We also got to experience God's other water.

On Saturday morning we got up to sunshine.  It was a gorgeous Oregon morning.  We decided to head to the Oregon Zoo to see some animals and to walk around for a bit.  We had plans in the afternoon and decided that some time in the morning, doing something just for Zoe was in order.  Plus she loved the Point Defiance Zoo so we thought we were golden. 

We were!  We dropped off our things in a locker and headed out to see some animals.  We really wanted to see some tigers and elephants.  We got the map and started off toward the Asian Elephants section.  Notice how eager she looks.

On the way we saw two seal lions and a sea otter.  Not to mention an invisible pig.  Can you see him in the picture?  I was there and now can't see him.  They really are invisible.

Since we didn't come to see an animal we didn't even know existed, we decided to head to the elephants.  We felt a little drop of rain, but thought nothing of it.  The sun was shining. 

We were glad we did.  We got to see an elephant, which is my favorite animal ever.  Zoe loved it too.  She kept yelling "rrrreeaaarrrr" like she was one of them.  They stared at us and then went to the pool to water off.

We headed to a little field next to them with statues of animals.  I'm sorry to say, but this is the closest we got to even seeing a hippo.

Because the flood gates of Heaven opened up and we were stuck in a full-on thunder storm.  We ran into a cafe, but the rain never let up.  If you've never been to The Oregon Zoo, then I'll inform you that the elephants are the farthest point from the exit. 

And any shelter. 

We ran over to the sea lions, which were covered.  The rain never let up.  We figured we might as well just run back to the entrance and risk being wet.

At this point it really didn't matter because we had little, black rivers of mascara running down our cheeks that had turned clear. 

That's right, we were so wet our waterproof mascara didn't even stand a chance.  Aren't we lovely? 

About half the way back to the store Zoe saw someone carrying an umbrella.  For the final 500 hours of the jaunt back to the entrance, all we heard was, "there's an umbrella.  We need umbrella.  A blue one!"  It was like she was sent to remind us just how wet we were. 

We made it back to the store and she got her umbrella.  A ladybug one. 

Isn't that the cutest drenched girl with an umbrella? 

We headed back to the hotel for a little recovery and dry clothes. Unfortunately for my mom she stepped in a puddle that went deeper than her foot, she she didn't dry off completely. 

Then it was off to spend time with our people. 

A Waffle No Wait, She's Saying Waterfall

The next stop on the way to Portland involved stretching our legs at Multnomah Falls.

Zoe loved it.  She thought it was "awesome" to see water falling from the top of the mountain.  The whole way to the falls she kept saying "let's do it."  In the picture below, I was blissfully unaware what "let's do it" meant.

Apparently being below the falls wasn't good enough.  We needed to hike up the trail.  While she sat on my shoulders and saw all the leaves.  It's only 0.2 miles to the bridge, but add 32ish pounds on your shoulders and it feels like a hike up Everest.

I had just told her that we couldn't go into the falls.  See how sad she looks?  No going in the river earlier.  No going in the falls now. 

Apparently "let's do it" means swimming in God's pools.  In the middle of October. 

I was able to distract her from her need to dip in the falls with leaves.  They were the size of her head.  We collected several on the hike down. 

She loved them so much she had to sit in a wet pile and play. 

Until we mentioned shopping.  She took the leaf the size of her head and went looking for a shirt to remember our hike.

Since you can't wear your swimming suit!

The Trip Where We Experienced All Kinds of Water.

This weekend my mom, Zoe and I headed out to a wedding in Portland.  Our cousin was getting married on Saturday.  We thought that was a great excuse for a road trip and, what ended up being, packing in almost a dozen people within 48 hours.  We like to stay busy!

The first stop was in Richland so my mom could see her friend Sandy.  They met in high school during their secretarial class.  It has been over 30 years since they've seen each other.

She offered to meet us at a great, local restaurant in Richland called Sterlings.  If you're ever in town, it's a great place for some grub.

Zoe wolfed down a waffle, some ice from her water and a piece of toast.  Then she was ready for a change of scenary.  We headed to the waiting area and saw these.

Zoe had to take a picture of the pumpkins she loved to kiss. 

I preferred a picture of her with the pumpkins.  Well, I love to kiss her, so I see where she gets her picture subjects from.

You can only have so much fun with a pumpkin before you get bored.  Fortunately the restaurant was a block away from some water.  The Columbia River to be exact.

Zoe grabbed her Diego binoculars and we were off.  You never know when you're going to have to rescue a condor or a whale shark in the Tri-Cities.

With the season turning, we had a great view of God's creation.  I think I could've sat there all morning just in awe of His paintbrush. 

A toddler has a different kind of appreciation for His creation.  She preferred to sit on the bench swing and look at all the puppies walking by.

I can only sit and swing and look at puppies for a short time and asked if she wanted to throw rocks in the water.  Zoe wanted to get her swimsuit, get in that big pool and play.  We had a quick lesson on the difference between a pool and a river.  Then we headed down to the water.

We spent hours finding a "good one" and chucking it into the pool river. 

That was until grandma and Sandy came to get us.  It was time to head onto the next leg of our trip.  The waterfall.

Mainly how you can't actually get in it, but you can get some pretty cool leaves.