How Many Bites?

The way CJ eats her Tootsie Pop, not many more than Mr. Owl...

Trick-or-Treat

CJ had a great time trick-or-treating and wanted to stop at many more houses than the four she had originally mentioned. She declared it her new favorite thing to do!

Pumpkins

Daddy and CJ carved this year's pumpkins just in time for Halloween. Well, mostly Daddy. Of course, Mama was able to roast up a batch of pumpkin seeds. Cinnamon and salt is a good idea Mama came across last year.

Little Tractor, Big Tractor

Nature Girl ended up with a bit of a cold this week so we decided to take it easy on her this weekend, which meant no hike. The weather was too sunny and beautiful to stay indoors so we headed towards Hood River and (as we had hoped) CJ enjoyed a nice nap during the car ride. We stopped at a kid-friendly orchard, where we enjoyed the sun, a kids fort, kiddie tractors and picking apples.

CJ also donned her Halloween costume (it's pink, of course) and we headed to the zoo for the Howloween scavenger hunt.

And Mama celebrated a birthday. CJ decided she should have two candles on her cake (her birthday is some multiple of two) and CJ sang her a great version of Happy Birthday.

Nature Girl

CJ's been walking the puppies since birth, but today we decided to take it out of the neighborhood and see how she fared on an actual "hike". She did great. We walked about 2 miles on an out and back trail in Forest Park. She handled the hills well and was excited to see the stone house at our turnaround destination. Now we just need to figure out how much hiking the puppies can handle.

City Girl

Today we took the light rail downtown to the farmers market. We also made a quick stop at the camera store to check out all the fancy new technology and the cameras that don't require 5 seconds of recording before they are ready to snap a new photo. On the way home, we stopped at Pioneer Courthouse Square for a quick coffee/vanilla milk. Definitely trying to take advantage of the dry NW days, even if the mornings are a bit cool.

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Attire; Tractor-Pulled Hayride; Birds

Muddy; Flower Field; Honey Straw

Cheeeeese

Here she is, hamming it up for the camera while modeling her new dance outfit. It was all she wanted to wear for about 3 days and totally not weather-appropriate.

Mama thinks it made her tap a little bit better!

Bob's in Town

There's a special Bob The Builder exhibit going on at the Children's Museum. CJ has been asking to go to the museum for some time, but since we don't have a membership, we've been waiting to borrow the free pass from the library. This week our friends had the pass and they invited us to meet them there. CJ and K enjoyed the exhibit as well as painting their faces, playing with clay and a short visit to the baby room, which is geared towards children under 2. CJ still enjoys the little slides and climbing through the tubes.

The funny thing is that when we got home Mama checked her computer and found out that our library pass just came in. Maybe we'll head back again soon.

(PS - Mama needs to work on her sign-reading skills. Note the sign next to Bob the Builder! We also missed a "Please don't throw rocks, they scare the fish" sign at the Salmon Festival. Oops!)

Salmon Festival

We've been trying to take advantage of any dry days before winter and rain sets in. Today was a sunny one (although quite cold) so we headed out to the local Salmon Festival.

CJ had fun with her friend, K, and there were many activities to keep the little ones busy. There were costumes for a storytelling event:
We also found salmon samples, salmon viewing, rides on horse-drawn wagons, a playground, a passport with activities to complete for a prize and even CJ's first chance to sit on a horse!

Needless to say, we spent a good portion of the day there, but we were still surprised when CJ fell asleep in the car on the way home. It was her first nap in a LONG time. Guess the fresh air is really good for you.

Say Cheese

Today was picture day at CJ's school. Mama was a bit surprised to find them setting up outside when the forecast was for a high of 53 and rain, rain, rain. When she picked CJ up, she was wearing an old blue sweatshirt over her great polka dot dress. CJ's story changed a few times, so we aren't quite sure what she wore for the photo. I hope she was warm, but this dress is sooo cute, it would have been a shame to cover it up.

Mirror, Mirror

Tonight was our first Tiny Tappers class. Mama hadn't talked about it too much because she thought that it might be cancelled. They only had 3 students, but it went on as scheduled. CJ did fine, but seemed a bit overwhelmed. Maybe she was just tired. They learned to point, tap their toes and heels, stomp and walk. Hopefully she'll be a bit more animated next week.

Look Ma, No Hands

Well, maybe she'll get it right next week. Today was CJ's first soccer class. She learned to trap, dribble, pass and shoot. The teacher did a great job of keeping the dozen or so preschoolers in line and the parents only helped by participating with a little passing drill. Maybe the first lap or two around the gym helped to take the edge off the kids.

Parks Are Fun

We were happy to see the sun come out and when Aunt A suggested a trip to the neighborhood park, we all thought that was a good idea. When she said it was a fun park for adults, we didn't know what that meant, but it really was. CJ enjoyed playing with cousin C and the different swings and slides while the adults had fun trying to figure out the adult equipment. There was a lot of swinging and spinning. Even the puppies got way more exercise than they were used to and Little B ran her tail off in circles trying to keep Daddy in line.

Another Weekend, Another Party

This time CJ enjoyed a car ride with Grandma W to visit cousin C. She did well on the trip and had fun playing with C. She especially liked his loft bed with slide, the blue puppy cake and testing out C's toys, as evidenced by her concentration making music with the guitar/violin.

Oh, yes. And the goody bag! She loved the goody bag. Thanks Uncle S.

Tap Tap

On our way home from preschool, we stopped at a community center to sign up for the Tiny Tappers dance class. We picked up a pair of rental tap shoes and CJ was so excited to try them on she began tapping immediately. She broke into tears when she realized that we didn't actually have a tap class until next week (assuming one more kiddo signs up so the class isn't cancelled). We were told not to wear the shoes outside, so she asked Mama to carry her to the car so she didn't have to take the shoes off.

When we got home, she gave a short performance.