Sun and fun

If you were expecting a Halloween post, you're gonna have to wait a little bit longer (or a lot longer, knowing me).  I still have to catch you up on the fun and hot trip we took to see Grandma and Grandpa de Jong in California.  And brace yourselves...there are a TON of pictures.

This was Sydney's first airplane ride.  She was really excited.

Mom was exhausted before we even got to California.  If you look closely at the picture below, you'll see that Sydney'd arms and feet are blurry.  That's because she didn't stop moving almost the whole flight.  And Dad didn't come with us, so Mom never got a break.

My Aunt Kari and Aunt Denise came from Arizona for a couple of days.  And while they were there, Syd decided that she could walk sometimes holding onto only one of someone's hands instead of clutching both in a death grip all the time.

We went to the park and there was a skate park there.  Of course, I didn't have a skateboard or a scooter with me, but I had fun watching the other kids and trying out some creative moves of my own.  (FYI...it's much easier to slide down the slippery sides on your bum than to walk back up in your sandals.)

Baby Sis decided to get a little workout in while we were there.  She sure is strong!

When I was getting off the plane, I told the flight attendant (and anyone else who would listen) that I was visiting my Grandma and Grandpa.  She asked if they had a pool (because everyone in Palm Springs does), and I told her YES!  It was really hot so I was very excited to go swimming again.  But I remembered the pool being a little bigger last time.

Of course, it was just the right size for Sydney, who loved splashing in it.

Once the weather cooled off (after dark when it got down to about 85 degrees), we went mini golfing.  Check out my skills:

And Mom and I teamed up against Aunt Kari on the bumper boats.

We went to a Fall Festival at the school where Grandma works and I got some Laffy Taffy for a prize.  Now I've eaten my fair share of Laffy Taffy in my time but I've never seen it do this to my tongue.

To beat the heat, Grandpa took us to the Children's Museum.  Gotta love the AC when it's 90 degrees outside (in October!!!).

On the last (and hottest) day, we went to the Living Desert, which is like a zoo for desert animals.  We found a few buildings that gave us a break with some AC.  Once stop had this fun sand dune model that kids could climb up and down--or run, in my case.  It was also great for throwing stuffed animals when you got to the top.  Mom didn't like that idea so much.

Grandpa and Syd in front of a mural--it looks real, doesn't it?



It was at least 92 degrees while we were there, probably hotter, so I got a tad grumpy.  I can't believe Mom grew up there.  It is soooo hot!  But then I saw....the trains!  They were just as magical as the last time I saw them, and suddenly it didn't seem so hot anymore.



Oh yeah, and we saw a few animals too.

One thing I love about the desert are all of the cactuses.  There are so many different kinds!  So, of course, we had to have a picture with one.

I love visiting Grandma and Grandpa.  Next time we go there, maybe we'll try for a time when it's not so hot.  But it sure was nice to have a break from the rain and cold in Seattle.

Picking Pumpkins

Mom, Baby Sis, and I went to a little pumpkin patch to pick out some pumpkins.  Every time we went to the grocery store, I kept seeing these signs with a pumpkin and an arrow on them on the side of the road.  So one Saturday we decided to follow them and ended up at this pumpkin patch.

I picked out three pumpkins--one for each of the kids in our family.

Mom wanted to get a cool picture of me and Syd in the cool pumpkin patch, but had to settle for this.  Syd's not so great at smiling on demand for the camera. 

I decorated one of the pumpkins for Cooper all by myself.

Then we took it to him.

And had some fun playing on his statue.  Oh, look!  A smile from Sissy!

We carved my pumpkin for Family Home Evening, but didn't get a picture of it yet.  Poor Sydney's pumpkin was attacked by slugs and ended up with a rotten spot before we got to carve it.  Oh well, she can have one next year.

Fox Farm

I went with my friend Logan to a fun place called Fox Hollow Farm.  The weather was perfect and there was almost no one there, so we got to play on everything for as long as we wanted.

I got to drive a tractor that was just my size:

And go down a little car roller coaster that went so far I kept driving into the bushes!

We ate lunch around a nice warm fire pit and ended up smelling like campfire afterward.  Sydney liked it because she got to get out of the stroller and walk around for a bit.

Mom attempted to get lots of pictures, but I was in a silly mood that day.  Apparently Syd didn't want to sit around waiting for the camera to click either.

In the hayloft there were some really pretty parrots.

And a rope swing.  That was soooo fun!

I also got to run around and hide behind the hay bales.

Mom managed to take one decent picture of me and Sissy.

Maybe two.

There was also a Bouncy House.  Those are my favorite!  And who could resist playing around in all that mud???  (Too bad Mom never remembers to have me wear my rainboots whenever we go out to places where there might be puddles or mud.)

Before going home, I got to go on a pony ride!  Like my helmet?

What a fun place!  I love this time of year when we can visit fun places like this!

Playtime

Sydney is finally getting big enough for me to play with.  We both had fun when I pushed her around in this train:

And she likes to follow me around and try to do what I'm doing.

We've also played with her blanket that she loves.  Here's a video mom took of us. 

She's way more fun now that she can move around and play.  I can't wait until she can start playing Legos instead of just trying to eat them.