Gerald and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary this weekend. On Friday Izzy spent the day & night with my parents and on Saturday my sisters took her to the Seattle Children's Museum and then stayed with her at our house. Gerald & I had almost 48 hours to ourselves! We did miss Izzy - it's going to be hard to leave her for over a week in the Spring when we go to the Caribbean (but we'll manage ;-) ).

We treated ourselves to a night at Willows Lodge in Woodinville. It's surprisingly close to our house but really felt like getting away. We went over early and couldn't check in to our room right away so we headed over to Molbak's and had fun shopping and getting into the Christmas spirit a bit early. When we did get checked-in, we relaxed and then headed over to Barking Frog for a fabulous meal. In the morning we explored the gardens - they grow much of their own produce for Barking Frog and neighboring Herb Farm on site - and they raise chickens and pigs for Herb Farm there too! The gardens are really cool - lots of nice artwork mixed in - they're functional and beautiful. I can only imagine what they look like in the Summer when they're fully alive. If you get a chance to escape, Gerald & I highly recommend Willows Lodge!

Trick or Treating

We ventured down to Mill Creek Town Center for their annual Main Street trick-or-treating event for the kids - it was packed! Most of the merchants come out in front of their stores and pass out candy and coupons - kids can really pack-in a lot of loot there! Our favorite stop was Top Pot Doughnuts outside of the UW Bookstore - they gave out doughnuts (we snuck an extra one to share!). It was raining pretty hard so we only made it up and down a couple blocks, but that was enough for Izzy. She had fun and was tired by the time we were done. We headed into Starbucks to warm up with coffee and hot cocoa and eat our doughnuts. Yep .... I let my child have a doughnut for dinner ;-)

When we got home, Izzy dug through the loot and I let her have one piece of candy - it was her first. And she was wired between the doughnut & the candy, but she stayed up late and helped me answer the door for our swarm of neighborhood trick-or-treaters, so it worked out!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween at A Place To Grow!

Izzy and her friends at school had a Halloween party on Friday afternoon. I was able to sneak out of work early so I could see all the kidos in their costumes and help out. It was a fun afternoon - at this age they're not really into it, but it was nice to hang out at school for a bit and visit with the other parents and teachers. My little girl is growing up so fast!!

Izzy, Pasha, Trey, Maliah, and Roxy in their costumes.

Trey - the monkey

Maliah - the jaguar

Izzy - the bumblebee

Pasha - the fireman

Roxy - the ladybug

Ben - just Ben


Craft time - the mom's helped out with stickers and pumpkins


Snack time - the older kids with teachers Angel & Savannah


Roxy & her mom, Rachel

Pasha and his mom, Alecia

Izzy & me!

Bumblebee

Izzy dressed-up as a bumblebee for Halloween this year. The night before her party at school we tried the costume on. These turned out to be the best photos of her in her costume!

Pumpkin Carving

We carved pumpkins with Izzy last weekend. I got her started on cleaning out the small pumpkins and then set her free - she had so much fun and loved reaching into the pumpkins with her hands. My plan to make her love Fall as much as me is in full effect!

Trains and Leaves

Izzy loves trains, planes, and automobiles right now, so I broke down and bought a small wooden train set for her from Target for her. She loves it - she says choo-choo as she pushes the train along the track - pretty cute!



We had a bit of sun the weekend before last so we took a little walk in the neighborhood for fresh air - Izzy likes to pick-up leaves!

Fall City Farms Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we headed to Fall City to meet up with friends Mitch, Khaisy, and little Sienna (who isn't so little anymore - she's 3-1/2!). It was the first time we've been able to get together since Izzy was born, so it was a really fun day. While it was sunny, it was breezy and cold and we didn't spend that much time out in the fields - it was much nicer closer to the barns where there was fresh cooked doughnuts, apple cider, cows, and a sand box for the kids. Truthfully, the girls would have rather just spent the whole time in the sand!