Happy Birthday Spencer

Today our angel would be 3 years old. We love you bubba!

Alex does Seattle

Last week I went to Seattle for my first business trip in years. All of the planets must have been aligned the day the plans were made because it just so happened I got to take Alex with me. My mom was already planning to be in Washington helping my grandparents move and of course jumped at the chance to play nanny for a few days. While I was busy working they were even busier seeing the sights.

The first evening we were there we were lucky enough to meet up with one of my online friends (or as Ben would call her, one of my "imaginary friends") and her son. We had a great time exploring the famous Pike Street Market and some of downtown Seattle. Thanks "Al-Dawg" (this is what her son calls her these days) for the great time!

here's Alex picking his nose in front of the market

and the boys on the pig


just some of the amazing fresh goods available there...
I brought a couple of these babies home and had ourselves one heck of a dinner this weekend!


I also couldn't resist bringing home one of these amazingly beautiful pepper garlands. I know, you're thinking why the heck would someone from Arizona buy peppers in Washington but I have never seen anything like them!


fruits and veggies galore

I seriously think we need to pack up, move to Seattle, and take up residence in the hotel we stayed in. Not only did Alex sleep like an angel while we were there, the view of the traffic kept him entertained for hours!

The second day there was all work for me so Alex and gramma hit the town!


They even took a duck (land/water) tour. My good boy waited so patiently with his duck whistle which he finally figured out how to blow just the other day...


I know you can't tell from this picture but apparently he was so excited to get on the duck he could hardly contain himself. Unfortunately he only lasted about 20 minutes before succumbing to the motion and hum of the motor and drifting off to sleep. Isn't he cute all bundled up?


On day 3 they hit the Children's Museum. Gramma says Alex practically owned the place. They were there for hours and he just kept going and going and going from one "station" to the next. He slid...


and shopped...


and "dined"...

and drove...

and created his own Mr. Potatohead (these pics amaze me because he looks so intent and is even putting the parts in the right places!)...


and painted...


and threw a tantrum or two...


and made music...


...and did so many other things any more pics would blow up my blog! But I think you get the idea. The kid had a pretty good time. He was such a good little traveler too (minus the 20 minute episode on the way home but hey, it was late, he'd had a busy day, and at least the plane was half empty!).

pumpkins and candy and tantrums, oh my!

Apparently fall has arrived though you would never know it from the 90 degree weather around here. But what else is new? As usual, I'm a bit behind on the blogging so this is going to be one full post. I'll try to keep the chit chat to a minimum and get on to what everyone really cares about...the pictures!

We started off the fall festivities with our annual trip to the Schnepf Farms Pumpkin & Chili Festival. This year we went with our fun-loving friends the Browns in the evening when it was cool enough to dress in jeans and long sleeves so we could at least pretend it was cooling off. The kids had a great time stuffing their faces, making friends, riding their first rides (well for Alex at least), dancing to the live music, checking out the animals, and of course watching the choo-choo!

group pic -- Jarad, Ben, Alex, Lindsey, & Peyton
(I of course took the picture)

the boys loved riding in style!


they couldn't wait to get on the choo-choo but it turned out to be a "haunted" ride so I don't think Alex was too impressed


a rare family shot


Alex was so tuckered out by the end of the night this was as close as we could get him to the pumpkins!

Halloween itself proved to be a bit of a challenge considering it was still in the 90's and Alex's costume was all fleece. Oh but what a CUTE costume it was! Here is he is modeling the top half at Addison's first annual Halloween party last week. If you asked him what a monkey says he would proudly reply "ooh ooh ooh!"

Here he is Halloween morning making sure our pumpkin was still out front. Yes it was 90-something that day and he's wearing a long-sleeved shirt but gosh darn it just because a kid lives in warm weather shouldn't mean he can't get into the spirit! Finding a short-sleeved Halloween t-shirt is about as easy as finding a warm weather costume!

Halloween night we went over to the Smiths so Alex and Addie could do some trick-or-treating. He was oh so adorable as he walked up to the first door and said "titoteet", watched a bit perplexed as a mini butterfinger was dropped in his bucket, and replied with a prompt "tay too!" He stood in the driveway pulling his one piece of loot out of his pumpkin, inspecting it, and dropping it back in a few times before we crossed the street to hit the next house...

...and then this happened. Yes Alex has hit the tantrum stage and hit it hard. They come on quick and without warning. Apparently we were done trick-or-treating.

So I picked him up, took him back to the Smith's, stripped off the top half of his costume and he was fine. Who can blame him? It was at least 85 degrees out and he was a sweaty mess in less than 10 minutes. Daddy gave him his first ever sucker and things were even better!


Oh, and as a bonus, here is Ben's brief tutorial on how to carve a pumpkin in 5 minutes or less. Ingenious!

Ben: Here, you try!
Alex: Uh are you nuts?!