Xmas-ing

A little late but we got our house decorated for the holidays. My in-laws were in town and it was fun to share in the festivities with them.
Grams and Arlie take a cart for a spin while on the hunt for our perfect Christmas tree.

The tree ended up being the perfect height.

This is what happens when you let your husband go to the store alone to buy a tree stand. You end up wearing purchased reindeer antlers, he's got a new Santa hat, and there's a few more flashlights running around.

Andrew was our lighting technician. And garland placer.

Arlie watching Andrew and Poppy take the tree off the car.

Arlie "helping" daddy but getting caught with her hand in the glass ball jar.

Coloring

Arlie's graduated from Tadoodles so I bought her these cute crayons.

I got her "big girl" crayons because she likes to hold them so precisely as you can see in the photo. She wants to do everything the way the adults do.

But luckily sometimes she forgets and lets herself just be a kid!

Thanksgiving 2009

So, I'm a little behind on the blog. I haven't been feeling well and my work schedule is only conducive for. . . working.
Wii representations of Don and my mom (She-Who-Shall-Not-Be-In-A-Photograph-Online)

Our friend Alana came and spent the evening with us too. Andrew whipped up some gourmet fixings while Mom and Alana contributed yummy side dishes and desserts. I got home at 5 and had to be in bed by 8 so it was kind of an eat-and-run (to bed) for me!

Snuggles

Arlie's definitely a daddy's girl. She likes snuggling inside his sweatshirts and jackets.

My Sweet Flamingo

It was hard to edit it down to just this handful of pictures of the 60 I took!

I love that this picture accentuates her round little face.

Shy flamingo.
It almost looks like she on an Easter egg hunt!!

Candy's great and all. . . but there's nothing like pea gravel.


Checking out the "loot".

It Happened In Sun Valley

After Craters of the Moon, I took Andrew to Sun Valley/Ketchum. I loved this area when I lived in Idaho and was so happy to see it hadn't changed much. Fun stores, beautiful scenery, and friendly people. I've come to the realization I'm a resort town kind of gal. Easy access to outdoor activities + fabulous shopping? Sign me up!

Arlie and Carriebear walk around Sun Valley Lodge.

There's still mounds of snow in the lodge parking lot. Arlie of course wanted to climb them.

We bought a fun little tricycle for Arlie at a toy store in town. We've got the steering locked and the parent handle on it right now but it'll grow as she does! She likes to pretend she's pedalling but she's not quite coordinated enough for it yet.

Being a tourist is fun.

Bailey James enjoying the high desert air.

Arlie starting her day off with a muffin and tea. I like that Ketchum (like Gig Harbor) is a town where people sit at a coffee shop and out on the sidewalks.

Anytime we see a picture opportunity to have Andrew look as pretentious as possible we take it. I really don't know why but it cracks us up. He could really use a smoking jacket and velvet slippers in this one.

Craters Of The Moon

This is a loooong post. It would be even longer if I knew for sure that my father-in-law Ed hadn't been to COTM before because we took a lot of pictures of cool rocks and geologic formations. Anyways, Craters of the Moon is one of my favorite places in Idaho. That might be because I'm such a volcano geek but it is really pretty even if you're not a rock nut.

The path up to the top of the cinder cone. That white speck is a person about 3/4 of the way up the cone.

This is at the end of the day. Arlie was pooped from all the climbing and hiking. We were so lucky to have such perfect weather.

I've never been anywhere like this, with just miles and miles of lava fields. Hawaii is the only other place I can think of that would have the same kind of basaltic eruptions.

Arlie popping out of a lava tunnel. I'm below pushing her up and out. I was happy that she had so much fun but I think to a toddler the whole world is a playground.

"Skylight" in one of the lava tunnels.

Arlie squishing herself into a crevice.

Family portrait in the neck of a spatter cone.

Looking down into the spatter cone. Despite ground temperatures of 150 degrees during the summer some snow does survive!

Andrew and Arlie walking down the cinder cone.

Arlie and I checking out some cinders and pahoehoe.

A close up of some of the Blue Dragon lava.

Soccer Mom

My friends have been playing on a soccer league and I invited myself to play in a game. I haven't played in years but I think I did pretty good. Our team lost but I had a blast! My mom and Arlie came to cheer me on!
Arlie really wanted out of her stroller at that moment. She kept trying to run onto the field.

She's actually dribbling right here. She did a good job of keeping it close and under control. I'm so proud! We practiced kicking the ball when we got back to Grandma's too.

Friendly doggies!

Tooths

This is Arlie showing off all her teeth after getting cleaned up after the make-up incident. She really likes wearing her hat.

Making Up

I was so busy getting us ready I didn't pay attention to the fact that I hadn't heard from Arlie in a while. She had gotten up onto the dining room chair and into my makeup (I do my makeup at the dining room table because it's got the best light). We were already kind of running late so pinning her to the floor and using a cotton ball and make-up remover was the last thing we really needed to be doing but I couldn't send her to daycare like this! I was pretty impressed that she knew where the products were supposed to go even though the placement was a little approximate.

Snuggle Bug

Arlie's just started becoming attached to her toys. This is her and Shannonbear spooning. She definitely favors the bears. There's Lurillabear, Carriebear, and Gramsbear. She likes to put them to bed and give them sippy cups to drink out of. It's pretty cute.

Fall Is Coming!

Fall is in the air here on the Key Peninsula!
Under the telephone wire in front of our house the birds have planted (hee!) sunflowers and a grain of some sort. It's pretty and kind of unexpected so we left it there.

I maaaay have overplanted the spaghetti squash.

I love these bushes. They're actually kind of ugly and scraggly as a whole but the blooms smell EXACTLY like honey. Which is why you have to check for bees (see above) prior to taking a big sniff. It's also put me on a so far fruitless quest for honey-scented candles and/or lotions. You can find a lot of milk-and-honey or fruit-and-honey but nothing just honey-scented.

I found this "pumpkin-tree" at Trader Joe's. I should have gotten a better picture. It looks like wee pumpkins on a branch but it's actually an ornamental eggplant.

Andrew with some of the spaghetti squash. We've harvested 5 already with 17+ more on the vine. It's started to grow into the neighboring field and trying to get into the other raised bed. It's out of control.

Me and Arlie in front of our ornamental grass for scale. Each season brings so many new things!

This is a weird plant. In the winter it has large, glossy green leaves. In the spring it gets these pitcher-like flowers. And in the fall the leaves and flowers wither away leaving these bright red berrys on stalks.

This fall also brought a yard mystery. We had a madrona tree completely disappear. Like, without a trace. One day we had a 7-ft tree in our backyard, the next day nothing. There's a few dead leaves left on the ground so we know that we didn't imagine having a madrona for the year and half we've lived here. The ground hasn't been disturbed, there's no sawdust. Nothing.