Family day filled with downtown & gingerbread.

The 2011 Gingerbread Village at the Sheraton, followed by strolling through Pike Place Market, eating-our-hearts-out at DragonfisH & strolling downtown.  Capping off the evening decorating our own GB house & having story-time with Gram.

Sheraton Gingerbread Village theme:  Holiday Express (with Polar Express playing in the background).

Know how to tell if someone is an out-of-towner?  They say, "Pike's Market".  
Tisk.  Tisk.  

Mesmerized by the Beechers Flagship curds separating from the liquid
(my mouth is watering as I type.)    This pic is dedicated to you MJ!  

We all equally enjoyed DragonfisH.  They do not disappoint.  

wa-la!  

Teach every child about food.

This Jamie Oliver clip is about 20 minutes & well worth your time.  Are you are a parent & need a little kick-in-the-pants to get your family eating healthy?  I know this video will inspire you to eat & cook REAL food; cut out fast food & school-made lunches; as well as make time to teach your kids about veggies, cooking, avoiding obesity etc.  All such vital life lessons.  If you know me, you know that I struggle with fun, healthy food ideas for my children.  However, seeing a clip like this reminds me of it's importance.   I will press-on!  

Life Lately.

Every now & then I fall behind with blogging so I have a "Life Lately" catch-up.  Fall has been a busy time for us.  It's involved good things like ballet, MOPS, beautiful fall leaves, girl nights & play dates.  It's also involved 2 very bad things:  L has been sick for over a month (we think allergies) & I was rear-ended.  Lame.

Mowin'

knock, knock, knock  - HOUSEKEEPING!  
I came upstairs to find my son in my room helping with the chores...
(oh what uncle Jeff would have said if he saw this...)  :) 

He rear-ended her, she rear-ended me, I rear-ended a guy in front of me...   all because a high schooler (who just got his license) was driving his Land Rover way too fast.  Now 2 of us have whip-lash & all of us have crunched up cars...

We had the ol' high chair out from a dinner party the night before so, L jumped in & they ate their entire b-fast  holding hands... 

N rocking the soccer field.  

B, L, D rocking the sidelines.   

Fun day with Ellanor at an IMAX & Science Center.

My MOPS table from 2 years ago!  We still meet a few times a year.
This hangout was so good for my soul.  

To see Halloween pics scroll on down to October 31st.  Speaking of Halloween... have you seen what my sister created???  

Ballet

Before L walked in to her new (& very first ever) ballet class she said that she was hoping a boy was in the class that could "lift her up" (I suppose like she's seen in TV ballet shows) .  Alas, there were no boys but, she LOVED the class & as you can see was a total dolly.  Yay for fun classes at our local community centers!

All the other girls had skirts to hold with their curtsies, L improvised with her leotard... 

Her form was consistently right-on with her teacher's.  Atta girl.  

Halloween x 3.

Celebration #1 at a local church with the twins.

Celebration #2 Family dinner at 13's the day before Halloween.  Dave, Lee, Jason, Andy.  These guys worked together for over 8 years.  It was rough seeing both Dave & Lee leave.  However, both guys were able to make it back for a special evening together.   I feel like it's such a cliche saying how special it was having everyone together again.  But, it was.  We don't take anything for granted these days.  They are our Station 13 family.   We enjoyed every minute of it.

Our version of "Raggedy Ann & Andy".  

Laila was so happy to see her buddy back.
She often asks to speak with him when calling daddy at work.  We miss Lee terribly.   

Celebration #3 Various neighborhood quick visits.

It's become a tradition to trick or treat at Gina's.   

When it was all said & done, I had a very tired lion & dolly.

Seattle memorial.

We were out of town for the Seattle memorial ceremony so, we headed downtown today to see it.   I wanted to be there before the rain clouds moved in for the day & before the last of the leaves fell for the year.  It was perfect.  As sketchy as Pioneer Square is, the city sure picked a lovely place to come, remember & honor the fallen.

We miss you so, Jeff.  

Too many names on this slab of stone.  

Before getting to the memorial we bumped into Ladder 4, Jeff's truck.  It wasn't Jeff's crew but, it was special to get to see them & 

show my kids where uncle Jeff sat.  

It's a Seattle kind of a day...

The Farm.

We tried out a different pumpkin patch this year, The Farm.  

Megan joined the kids & I for the fun-filled day away.  

Hay ride! 

We loved this place & both agreed this was the best one we had ever been to.  After arriving home, I read a friend's blog & apparently we missed the corn pit & duck races - shoot!  

We'll for sure have to go back next year.