Happy Halloween!

Spelunking!

This last weekend, Kevin and I headed down to Vancouver to visit our friends Taylor and Nate.  We wanted to get our scare on to prepare for Halloween next week, and so we decided to watch scary movies and head to the Ape Caves near Mt St Helens!  The movies were good, but the caves were even better!  I didn't think that I would do very well in the pitch black in a loooooooong tunnel, but I had a ton of fun and only freaked myself out 6 or 7 times seeing things in my headlamp that weren't really there! 

 Short tunnel on an interpretive trail that probably scared me and Taylor the most!  We had to crawl on hands and knees the whole way!

 Really dark in there!  Hi Taylor!

 Kevin examines "the meatball" and considers whether it would still be good on top of spaghetti.

 Kevin was definitely in his element, he loved crawling down scary passages and finding little rooms where there could be treasure!  A mouse ran past him right here, and I still managed to follow him despite my best judgement.

 Note my incredibly wide eyes.  I was really not cool with the mice.

 Nate found a great perch to listen to his own breathing and the dripping of the caves while the rest of us were down a tunnel.

 I call this "The birth of a geologist."

 That is one good looking couple.

 Had no idea it was so red there!

 Nate being slightly creepy!

 Our only group shot, a little dark, but you know, it was a cave.

 We emerge!  It was amazing how vivid all the fall foliage looked to us after being in the dark for a few hours!  It was beautiful!

Taylor ponders returning to become a mole person.

It was another fabulous weekend with two of our favorite people.  It's fun having friends who like adventures, even if they live farther away than we'd like.  Oh, and we had Burgerville pumpkin milkshakes.  Get yourself one. You'll thank me later!

Jackson Time!

Matt and Jackson came over for a visit on Sunday.  It has been quite some time since we got to hang with the little guy for more than an hour, and we had a great time playing in the sunshine, visiting with the hens, and going on a hayride at the grocery store!

 Can you believe this kid's hair?!  Out of control, but so cute!  :)

 Aaahhhh, dirt!

 King of the mountain!

 My little pumpkin with the big pumpkin!

 Yes, it was a hayride in the parking lot of our grocery store, but Jackson loved it!  Every corner we took, he would say "weeeeeeeeee!"  

 He also thought the tractor driver was pretty funny!

He cried when we had to get off!  2 year olds are funny!

We also enjoyed some pumpkin bratwursts and hot apple cider!  Love visiting with my little guy!

Lamar Hunt US Open Cup 2010

Last Tuesday, the Seattle Sounders made history by becoming the first MLS team to win back to back Open Cup championships, and I was there to see it happen!  It was an incredibly fun game, made all the more excellent by our insanely good seats.  It's such a rarity to get to see your team win a trophy at home, and we were all so happy to be there for the game.  Some highlights from the match:

Second row on a gorgeous Seattle evening

Adam and Mark get their game faces on!

We are the Blue, We are the Green!

The Emerald City Supporters always bring great banners!

James Riley's stellar defense

My boyfriend Osvaldo Alonso.  I love him.  Sorry Kevin!  :)

Nathan Sturgis takes a corner kick...right next to us!

Sounders defeat the Crew 2-1!!!!

Celebration Time!!!!

Now the Sounders have made the MLS playoffs, starting sometime at the end of the month, so soccer love continues for us!  Huzzah!  Go Sounders!!!!

Cider Pressing!

We had a late pressing this year for cider do to an insanely busy summer, apples not being ready at the same time, and the family with the most apples to press having late ripening apples!  Kevin and I have two apple trees, but the big one was pretty much spent in July!  Mark and Susan didn't have many apples this year, so Adam and Erin were our big providers with about 15 bags.  Susan and Mark added another couple coolers and some bags.  We missed the "H" family this year, but their harvest was meager as well.

So with a much smaller pressing party than usual, we got to work on Saturday morning!  We were only 5 in number plus Corbin!  Erin and Eliza had to fly back East for her grandfather's funeral, and Neal was probably hitchhiking his way across Wales or something.

Grandpa and Corbin gather the last of the apples out front

The cutest apple of them all!

Umm, does it get any cuter than this!  Playing high five with Uncle Kevin

He got him!

Hard at work!  I don't think we had any cuts this year!  Corbin was a big help!

All told we pressed 16 gallons!

Knit, Niece, and Nephew!

I've been getting a lot of knitting done in the last couple of weeks!  I think I finally gave up on summer and picked up my needles to get some work done.  I've been wanting to knit up some baby leggings since Corbin was born and Erin told me about them, but I just never got around to it for him.  So with a new excuse in my darling niece Eliza, I plunged into knitting some up with some great cotton yarn I picked up earlier this summer. 

 Eliza decided to go and grow some very chubby legs, however, and my first effort does not fit my little lady!  I also knitted a little hat to match, and that, too, was entirely too small for her!  I couldn't believe it!  Luckily, I had a third option for her!  I found a cute pattern for a berry hat, and modified it how I knitted it up a little, and it turned out very cute!  I am calling it the "Patty Pan Squash" hat. 

 The baby leggings and green hat went to a baby shower today for a friend's baby due in November.  We expect her to be small, so hopefully they will fit, and I can get working on a new pair for Ellie later this week!

We went to the island this weekend to see the family.  We were celebrating Adam's birthday and a little send-off for Neal, who is off on a great European adventure with a buddy!  He leaves early Tuesday morning for London, and we are very excited to see what they end up doing there!  They don't have a plan really, but they are hoping to do some working and travel to as many places as possible!  I'm excited for them!  If anyone has someone for them to stay with, let me know!  :)

We got in lots of time with Corbin and Eliza!  Corbin is learning how to use his glider he got for his 2nd birthday in June, and he was getting to be a pro by the end of the day!  Susan and Mark have a great long driveway to ride on.

 Who's the cutest little bike rider ever?

Eliza is growing into her own little person every day!  We love how much we've been getting to see her, and getting to see her new tricks!  She's getting cuter by the second too!

 Corbin is a very good helper in the kitchen!

 Uh oh, husband looking cute with a baby again!  

Corbin trying on Grammie's glasses.  I love what a goof he is!

We get to see everyone next weekend, sans Neal, for some more fun and a soccer game!  Huzzah!