Friday, October 31, 2014

Pumpkin Carvin' Time!!






Natalia wanted a zebra and Tory wanted the aliens from Toy Story. The baby pumpkin was to commemorate their little brother/sister that we lost in September. Edwin, of course, showed his Real Madrid pride, and I did the crazy face. :)



We have been watching Avatar: the Last Airbender cartoon, so Tory wanted to be Kyoshi, an earth-bending avatar.
Natalia was our little princess, Snow White.


Thursday, October 2, 2014

Auntie Kelly!

We were so excited to spend a whole week with my beautiful, sweet sister! 
My girls kept asking, "Is she coming today?" Here they are working on a puzzle. :)


While she was here, my dad wanted to spin their honey, something he does once a year. He was expecting about 50 pounds of honey, but unfortunately, moths got into his hive, and laid eggs. They overpowered the bees in number. So they lost their honey to moths this year. :( 
Here, Natalia, Kelly, and Mom were sitting in the greenhouse, safe behind the glass, to watch the process of spinning honey.






Natalia keeps finding feathers, and saving them for her "collection".


To celebrate my mom's birthday, and taking advantage of Kelly's visit, we went to Packwood to stay in a cabin for two nights. It was beautiful!! The day we arrived, it was so sunny, the girls got into a tributary and played in the muddy bank. The rest of us actually shed our layers to enjoy some unexpected warmth!














The next day was cloudier, but we still caught a glimpse of Mt. Rainier! 


We stopped at Paradise, where the girls earned their Jr. Ranger badges again. Kelly and my dad braved the winds and hiked around a bit, while the rest of us explored the museum.


PB & J picnic indoors!


Later, we braved the drizzle to hike a beautiful trail which held out the promise of seeing an old log cabin on the way.





And... we found it!!


The cabin we stayed in had an old Atari system, which my girls just thought was the best thing ever! When they woke up at O'Dark:30, it was a great entertainment to keep them quiet for an extra hour. They also enjoyed the blocks. :)



Returning back to Benton City, we had fun baking, riding in my parent's canoe, and enjoying a fire as we roasted marshmallows.