Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Prep

Since my last post, we have been eyeball deep in holidays... what feels like non-stop holidays!

HALLOWEEN
To gear up for Halloween, we made our annual pilgrimage to Fairbank Family Farm to pick out our pumpkins and say "howdy" to the various farm animals. Just like in years past, the piglets and goats were our favorite critters to see.... followed closely by the newly-hatched chicks and baby rabbits. We timed our trip to the pumpkin patch perfectly and escaped being rained on. (Insert a collective cheer and sign of relief here!)

A couple of days before Halloween, we pulled out our carving tools (aka knife and whatever pointy things we can get our hands on), covered the kitchen table with paper bags, and went to work creating our pumpkin masterpieces. Eric, once again, took on the role of artistic director (thank goodness that doesn't fall on my shoulders... it would be all sorts of "unfortunate pumpkins" if it did!) and coached the kids through the process of designing their pumpkins and making their ideas a reality. This was the first year Annika carved her pumpkin solo, which was a HUGE deal for her. One more "getting grown up" item checked off in her list! The kids were thrilled with their final results ... I was especially thrilled that everyone had all of their fingers at the end of the project and no one required a trip to the ER!

On Halloween, the kids were beyond excited to go to school because they got to wear their costumes instead of their uniforms. This was one of the rare mornings that they were up and ready to go WELL before our usual departure time. (I love Halloween because of this phenomenon, I have to admit!) Both kid had classroom parties to mark the day, so I offered to make cookies for them to take as our family's contribution. (I treated myself to the candy corn cookie cutter this year and am so happy I did!)

Annika dressed up as a vampire princess this year (complete with fancy new fangs!) and Conor was Spiderman. Both kids loved their costumes and I loved that they were super easy this year! We went trick-or-treating around our neighborhood with a couple of our neighbors and another CKS family (Annika's pal Maddy and her family). We expected to get drenched with the predicted rain, but lucked out and stayed dry the whole time. I can't even guess how much distance we covered, but it was enough that all of the kids had overflowing candy bags by the end of the night! The kids thought the houses that gave out the full-size candy bars were THE BEST and excitedly shouted "FULL SIZE HOUSE" after discovering a new one!

THANKSGIVING

We made our annual trek up to Whidbey for Thanksgiving, but this year, we had a few spins on the traditional visit. First of all, instead of going up Thursday morning, the kids and I went up Tuesday morning because they didn't have school which meant I needed to work remotely, so why not work remotely from the island?? (Duh!) Eric joined us Wednesday evening after work; he took a Lyft car from work and was able to walk on the ferry, avoiding the insane "rush hour the night before a holiday" ferry line. The second twist on our usual approach to Thanksgiving is we had my brother's dog Kirby with us. Kirby spent 10 days with us while the floors were refinished at my brother's house, so Kirby spent quite a bit of time on the island with us, too. Saying that he loved playing with my in-law's dogs would be the understatement of the year!

In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, I worked during the days while the kids played outside (exhausting themselves and the dogs). We also worked on puzzles with Bestemor, went on a nice walk up to the meadow, and played lots of card/dice games. Conor's big accomplishment this year was helping Bestefar smoke the turkey ... and being the one who picked out the type of wood to use in the smoker (spoiler: he chose cherry).

In an effort to encourage the kids to make better use of the great room, I bought a 1/2-size ping pong table (thanks, pre-Black Friday sales) and got my hands on a free tabletop-size air hockey game. We also had some fun making the animal heads on the wall a bit less "I'm staring at you" for the kids (thanks, dollar store!). The games were a huge hit with everyone and did the trick of getting us to use more of the house. WIN!!

Troy and his family joined us on Thanksgiving after their week in Whistler, BC and spent the night on the island with us. I know they were happy to see us, but the Nelsons were over the moon to be reunited with Kirby for a night. That is one loved pup, let me tell you!

CHRISTMAS PREP

Each year as we drive away from Eric's parents house after Thanksgiving, we signal the start of the Christmas season by tuning the car radio to the local station that plays Christmas music 100% of the time during the holidays. Since then, we've put up the tree and gotten it decorated (complete with our annual Starbucks cup tree topper ... this year, with lights as an added bonus!), gone to Swanson's Nursery to see the reindeer (with our friend Valeria), gotten the cards mailed, visited Santa, and started on our holiday baking to-do list -- Annika and I made pizelles this past weekend (YUM)!

We still have a lot to do to get ready for Christmas, but we're getting there. The kids will start their break from school soon and they couldn't be more excited. Eric and I will take time off from work to celebrate the holidays, too... some staggered to accommodate the kids' school break days, but most at the same time. It'll be nice to be home for an extended time without the rush of regular life keeping us on our toes. Sleeping in? Yes please!!!!

Catching up: Fall 2018 (so far)

This morning, I realized that my last blog post covered Annika's birthday. Needless to say, it has been a whirlwind since then and I'll do my best to recap our patiently awaiting readers. (Well, I'm assuming your patient, considering no one has submitted any complaints ... and I think you for that!)

The weekend after Annika's birthday, the Olson Four piled into the car and headed down to Portland, OR for a family wedding. My cousin Terri's daughter (Kirstee) got married at a gorgeous location about 45-minutes outside of Portland. One of my other cousins (Tammy) invited us to crash at her house with a few other family members, so it turned into quite a family reunion/slumber party. I'm pretty sure there were seven kiddos who slept in the basement while their respective adults found beds upstairs. Talk about a full house! We drove down to Portland the day of the wedding and found ourselves in the middle of a decent bout of hot weather. We unloaded the car, said a quick hello to everyone in the house, changed into our fancy-schmancy clothes, and headed out to the wedding. It was a lovely ceremony at a gorgeous vineyard.

The wedding itself was fun and personable. It was great to catch up with so many of our extended family members and reconnect with some we haven't seen in a few years.

Kirstee

Annika and Eric 

Conor and Annika at the "post ceremony, fingers foods" portion of the reception

"OK, now walk away from me and hold hands and avoid the bees!" 

Kirstee's grandmothers were the two flower girls.
This is my Aunt Marie in her glower girl attire. How cute is this????

Married!

Hoehn Bend Farm
If you heard a few random shrieks of delight near the end of August, that was probably me expressing my excitement about returning to the farm we visited last summer. Yes, I really was THAT excited about being surrounded by the farm's critter and enjoying the open space that I could barely contain myself. Last year before we visited the farm, I was excited. This year, I was a combination of excitement and contentment. Knowing what to expect and the calmness I feel at the farm made the anticipation of this year's trip even that much better. As soon as we arrived, I could feel my heart rate slow and my smile get bigger. Farmer Terry was there to greet us, as were Maggie and Sadie, the farmers' dogs. Eric barely parked the car before the kids were high-tailing it to reacquainting themselves with the goats, pig, chickens, and miniature donkeys. They knew right where to go, where things were, and what to do.

Because we were repeat visitors, we already had a good idea of the farm's tasks and how to complete them. I quickly found myself in the barn (pitchfork in hand) feeding the cows and transporting the chickens from the barn to the chicken run. The kids were johnny-on-the-spot any time an egg was ready to be collected or chickens needed to be fed.

When we visited the farm last summer, we were on calf patrol, but sadly we were a few weeks too early and missed out on the babies. This year, there were LOTS of calves there for us to enjoy... 13 to be exact! Three more calves were expected to drop, so each morning and evening, we would wander out into the cow pasture and count the calves and lay eyes on the three remaining expectant mamas.

The kids loved jumping on the marshmallows of hay in the barn, and considering the wet weather we had, it was a great indoor activity that helped them burn off some energy! The outdoor marshmallows proved to be great climbing structures, too.... although a bit more worrisome for me because they were wet and more likely to cause a fall (which they didn't).

A few more farm photos from our weekend on the farm.....

Conor playing frisbee with me

Heading out to visit (and count) the cows with Farmer Terry

Putting the kids to work

Feeding the cows is hard work!

Conor and Farmer Terry taking hay to the donkeys

A little R&R on the farm

Game night at the farm

Uncle Dave joined us for our 2nd night on the farm

Eric communing with one of the cows ... MOO!

First Day of School
On September 4th, the kids said goodbye to summer break and hello to school. Annika started 5th grade (Ms. Adler's class) and Conor started 3rd grade (Ms. Fairbanks' class).

Fall = Soccer Season
Both of our kids signed up to play on their class soccer teams. I've said this before and I'll say it again, I have a true love/hate relationship with soccer season. I love the exercise and the team atmosphere for the kids. What I am less keen on is the pressure on our schedule and all of the driving to/from soccer fields.

Annika was her teams' goalie again this year and LOVED it. She is one tough cookie and took more than one ball in the gut to save a goal. She thrives in the goal. Over the summer, her coach helped her fine-tune some skills knowing that Annika would be in the goal the majority of the season.

Conor was on a team that was comprised of boys from three different schools. His team had rotating positions, but he did get to  play goalie during one or two games this season. He says that he likes to play goalie, but REALLY likes to be a forward because there's more running involved with that position.

Annika had practices (at two different fields) Monday and Wednesday evenings. Conor had practices on Wednesday evenings ... at an overlapping time as Annika's practice and at a completely different field (of course). Both kids also had games on Saturdays... never at the same place! So, Eric and I put on our "tag team soccer parents" hats and took turns taking each kiddo to his/her soccer game. It worked out well, but (in all honesty) it will be nice to have a bit more breathing room in terms of our schedule for a bit. (Annika will play volleyball this winter, so I may be back to driving all over before I know it!)

*I don't have any of Conor's soccer photos on my phone, but will post some from my real camera soon!!


Time for Tears
The definite low point for our fall was the passing of our sweet Buca. We've known for a few years that he'd been experiencing neurological decay (as the vet put it) that impacted his hind legs ... and that was in addition to his ACL issues. On September 22, Buca tried to stand up, yelped, and simply couldn't use his hind legs. We knew it was time to let him go. It was a terrible choice to make, but we knew anything different would have been selfish on our part. Each of us had a chance to say goodbye. There have been plenty of tears since that day, but we are slowly finding a new normal. My eyes still dart over to where his water bowl was to see if it needs to be refilled. The funny thing is we hear sounds in the house that we attributed to him .... and now are realizing maybe they weren't him... or maybe it was and this is his way of saying "hi" from Dog Heaven.

Buca Olson
March 14, 2005- September 22, 2018

Bite of Broadview
Just like every other year, we have participated in BOB, but as planners and as participants. This year, however, was a bit different because I also took on the job of Espresso Cart chair. There was a STEEEEEEEP learning curve and plenty of "what have I gotten myself into??" moments leading up to the 3-day event, but it all turned out great. The weather cooperated, the kids had a great time, and I survived being in charge of the espresso cart (barely). The kids rode rides to their hearts content, we got henna tattoos, and enjoyed the various musical performers. All-in-all, a winner of a weekend!

Conor's Pokemon henna

My orca henna

Annika's flower henna

Annika and Conor on the ferris wheel

Hello from the fun house

Of course we stopped for ice cream along the way!

Wheeeeeeee

New couch
We (finally) upgraded the old couch Eric and I got sometime around circa 2002. It had been destroyed by time, kids, and good ol' Smudge. We picked out the new couch last spring, but waited until late summer so we could take advantage of the store's annual upholstery/furniture sale. I love, love, love our new couch! It is super comfy and looks great in the TV room. (Like my "FAMILY" photo collage on the wall? Yeah, me too!)

Annika the Lab Rat
If you have your kids at UWMC, they ask if you'd be interested in signing up for periodic research studies that UW does. Of course, we did! Over the years, the kids have been called on to participate in studies, but usually associated with the softer science: behavioral, emotional, empathy, etc. This time, Annika was selected to participate in a study that the Brain Research Institute is conducting. It was a 3-session commitment and it was beyond cool! During one of the sessions, they recorded her brain waves while she performed tasks on a computer. During the final session, they did 75 minutes of MRI scans on her (while she watched the Lego movie).

Annika's neuropathways

Annika's beautiful, bumpy brain

Whidbey Visit
The kids didn't have school one day in October due to a teacher in-service day, so we opted to hop on the ferry and visit Eric's parents for part of the day... and I am so glad we did!! In all honesty, it was probably the perfect way for us to spend the day. The only thing that would have made it more perfect was if Eric has been able to join us. We did Halloween crafts, played games, spent time outside with the dogs (a much-needed thing!), and caught up with Eric's parents.

Heading to Whidbey

Conor being goofy on the ferry

Annika modeling Bestemor's old dress-up wig and glasses

Annika and her yarn spider

Lots of yarn spiders

Our silly boy!