A Number of October Moments

Jack usually does the blogging, but this has just been a week of good blogging material, plus I just reviewed how to log on! First, Cian has started taking responsibility for picking out his own clothing. He prefers "busy" or colorful items, so technically his shirt and pants are not meant to go together. However, I am happy that he is taking the initiative, and we will tackle "busy with non-busy" in the not too distant future.

Last night, we attended our annual family concert, performed by the NW Symphony Orchestra, starring Uncle Kyle, as always. Actually, Kyle is one of several second violins, but he is the star we go to see. The conductor tries to select music appropriate for a younger audience (i.e., lively, not overly legato), and many of the performers and people in the audience dress in costume. Kyle wore silky p.j.'s with hearts on them, which I had certainly never seen before. Colin went as Darth Vader - and some of his enemies were also in the line that paraded across the stage. Emma went as a basketball player, Caleb as a superhero, Rilla as a fairy princess, and Cian was a furry green dragon.


Rilla later swapped for the dragon on the way home, and fell asleep wearing it. This was not easy to remove when we put her into bed.

One other big event this week was the arrival of chocolates from Dean's Sweets in Portland, Maine. We ordered them online as the souvenir of choice from the state of Maine during our homeschool tour of all 50 states. We'll also be getting a lobster trivet as soon as the potters from Cabin Pottery can fill our order. Wonder what we'll find in New Hampshire??!!

Lauritzen Pumpkin Party

Each year we try to attend an annual Pumpkin Party hosted by Pam & Jane Lauritzen. The idea is to come with pumpkins, carve them, then put them out along the sidewalk where a passer-by can objectively judge them. Here is this year's creations.

Pumpkin Patch 10.27.07

Salmon Dance

In the Northwest, the fall salmon run is an amazing event and this year we got to see it when the run was in full swing (thanks to Gail for having a dentist appointment in Issaquah). The Issaquah Fish Hatchery is located right downtown and is a State Hatchery, where as the Leavenworth Fish Hatchery we visited in May is a National Hatchery. Here is a live SalmonCam of the creek and hatchery.

It started to really pour while we were there so here are some wet shots of kids. Unfortunately we didn’t get any pictures of salmon – wet or dry. Emma was most entertaining with her damp Salmon Dance.