'Tis the Season...

for riding Santa Trains, admiring outdoor light displays, visiting Christmas tree farms, hosting family, adopting puppies, playing Jenga, and cooking/sharing/eating awesome food.

Our annual Santa Train adventure begins with meeting the conductor.



Peering in for a glimpse of Santa.



Riding the train. I thought Anders was having a good time.



Botanical Garden lights -- an incredible display in an already spectacular setting.



Our Christmas Tree farm adventure begins.



"Our" tree has been found.



Gary takes the sawing lead.



Cuteness.



Jorja staking claim to "her" tree.



Comet -- our new family addition!



Jorja is a Jenga extraordinaire. Check out the faces of the other players.



Anders in the midst of his assorted new toys.



Our Christmas crew.



Family time.



A Christmas day bike ride...

Sunset

Recently we've had spectacular (dry!) weather -- with equally notable sunsets. Taking advantage of this, we spent a late afternoon playing at the beach. Despite the chilliness and looming darkness, we had a great time.












Also:



They call themselves "The Underwear Heads".

Alrighty then.

Quiet Time Cuteness

There are afternoons when the kiddos drive me insane with their "Quiet Time" antics (i.e. running in and out the room to go the bathroom, to pick out one more library book, to ask if quiet time is over, to go the bathroom again, to ask for water, to request my presence in their bedroom, to go the bathroom again, and so and so forth), but this during today's "Quiet Time" I found Lil' Miss Jorja absolutely adorable. I opened her bedroom door to find this...

A girl wearing a new, hand-selected outfit (thanks for the headband Lori!) reading to her animals.



Celebrating Meg's birthday -- and Anders' first time with a lighter (certainly a sign of attentive parenting on my part, jeez).



Basking in the glow of candles and yummy, homemade cake deliciousness.

China

Meg and I spent a bit of time in China recently -- Beijing followed by a 3 hour flight south to Guilin -- thanks to her job, our fabulous co-parents, my new knee, and the ease of Skype for "seeing" the kiddos every day.

Travel is such an effective way to gain perspective. I'm looking forward to including Anders and Jorja on upcoming international trips -- once they've established a solid nighttime potty routine, a more diverse array of "approved" edibles, and a consistent willingness to sleep past 6am without the assistance of their "It's Okay to Wake" clock. It shouldn't be too long...

Pumpkins

This morning we trekked east for our annual pumpkin picking adventure. We weren't able to hop on a hay ride or feast on donut holes, but we certainly had a great time zooming around the fields, zipping through the hay maze, sucking on honey sticks, and checking out the farm animals.






Admiring the already picked pumpkins.



Straw bale seats.



Anders, Jorja, Nicholas, and Raleigh exploring the farm stand.



I love Fall City Farm.



Beautiful pumpkins...









Eric lovin' the cow.



Scouting for edibles.



Wheeling down to the fields.



Meg in the midst of the kiddos.



Raleigh finds his perfect pumpkin.



Jorja finds her perfect pumpkin.



Meg's workout for the day.



Post-pumpkin picking puddle jumping.