I ♥ Fall Leaves!

I fell in love with Fall leaves while living in Ohio. I love the changing colors and how they crunch under your feet when you walk. I'm so glad that we still get to experience the changing of the seasons here in Washington mixed in with the beauty of all the evergreens.

We have plenty of leaves to rake up here at our house. Hannah likes to "help."

With all the rain, the leaves are more soggy than crunchy, so Hannah headed straight to the bath after this.

Patterson Farm

The Patterson Farm Fall Fun Fest (say that five times fast!) is something I look forward to all year. It just isn't fall without a trip to the farm! Is this place gorgeous or what?!

Hay ride to the fun fest.
Posing on the tractor.

Silly Hannah!

Racing tractors.

Logan wins!

Treehouse in the forest.

Tire swings.

Pumpkins!

Patterson Farm is something I will dearly miss when we leave Ohio. I'm pretty sure there's just no place like it on earth. I will definitely miss the delicious apple cider and pumpkin doughnuts too - YUM!

Strawberry Pickin'

Picking strawberries at Patterson Fruit Farm.

Logan was the best strawberry picker! He was very careful to look for big red ones without brown or mushy spots. Whenever he picked a berry, he would hold it up and shout, "Hey Mom, can I pick this one?!" Funny guy!

Hannah was shoveling the berries in her mouth as fast as she could. She didn't care if they were still green on the plant or mushy and moldy on the ground. Mmmm!Hannah looking so cute and matchy-matchy with her friends Maddie and Bella. (We didn't even plan this!)

Playground and Pigtails!

Another big milestone for Hannah today - REAL pigtails! As in, ALL her hair in pigtails! My baby is growing up! She looked so stinkin' cute this morning that I just followed her around the playground , taking pictures.
Someone needs to tell this girl that she is only 15 months old, cause she thinks she OWNS the playground. She tries to climb everything (especially the slides) and runs around with all the "big kids" fearlessly. I even caught her pushing Logan out of the way when he tried to take the tic-tac-toe spot away from her yesterday. Oh boy!

Untitled from Summer Anderson on Vimeo.

Out of Hibernation

Christmas Fun With the Andersons

Our Christmas time with Bryan's family was short, but action-packed! We headed first to Bryan's hometown, Delta. There we stayed a night and then enjoyed a day outdoors tubing and four-wheeling at the sand...er...snow dunes. We built a campfire to keep warm and roast hotdogs and marshmallows for lunch. Andrew was very good on the four-wheelers and was able to ride them all by himself! Logan also had a great time. While taking him for a ride, I asked him if he liked four-wheelers. He shouted, "They're the BEST!!!"

Aunt Chris and Logan being pulled on a tube by...

...Daddy on a four-wheeler!

Andrew and Aunt Deb

Andrew, Bryan, Grandma (Nancy) Anderson, and Grandpa (Carl) Anderson
Hannah and Grandma

From the cold and snow, we headed to the sunny, blue skies in St. George. We all enjoyed a dip in the heated pool and the hot tub, but only the bravest of souls (Andrew and Logan) dared to venture into the icy cold kiddie pool! Thanks so much for the great condo, Uncle Kelly!

Logan and Grandpa Anderson

Logan taking a flying leap to Aunt Chris

Chris, Paiton, Grandma, Andrew, Logan, and Grandpa

Hannah loved splashing in the pool!

We even took a little day trip down to Las Vegas and found some good (and some kooky) deals at the Swap Meet. Back at the condo, we had a fun homemade "Cafe Rio" dinner and even our old friends Kevin and Laura and their kids were able to stop by. Aunt Chris ended the night with a Christmas pinata for the kids before we had to jump in the car and head North to take Bryan to the airport.

Look at this handsome fella!

Thank you, Andersons, for a wonderful time! We will miss you!

"When You See a Hole, Don't Put a Stick in it!"

Yesterday evening, Andrew and Logan were outside playing when suddenly I heard Logan's ear-piercing scream. I noticed Andrew was screaming too. I thought they were just playing around, but then Andrew came bursting through the door saying, "Logan has bugs on him!" A little confused, I stepped outside to see my little three-year-old screaming and crying hysterically with several black spots moving all over him. For some reason it took me a second to realize what they were - HORNETS! LOTS OF THEM!

Once I realized what was going on, I tried and tried, but no amount of flicking, smashing, or swatting would keep them away! They just kept swarming around him and crawling under his clothes! Logan was screaming, "They're hurting me, they're hurting me!"

By this time, I was in full "parent panic mode" (you know, when on the inside you are totally freaking out, but on the outside you have to keep it together and stay calm so you won't scare your kids even more). I grabbed the garden hose and just started hosing the poor little guy down full-blast. That took care of most of the darn things, but I still found three more trapped inside his shirt when I stripped him down. Logan was COVERED in stings all over his body - legs, tummy, back, chest, arms, hands, neck, ears, face, and even in his hair. They were all red and swelling up fast.


At this point, I still had no idea what had actually happened, so I shouted to Andrew (who was sitting petrified on the stairs inside), "WHAT HAPPENED?!!!"

"Well, I saw a hole in the ground and stuck a stick in it and pushed. Then all the bugs came flying out. I ran away, but Logan just sat there and screamed."

FINAL STING COUNT:
Me: 1 - on my shoulder
Andrew: 1 - on the back of his neck
Logan: 17!!! - all over his body, I kid you not!

Benedryl took most of the swelling down and knocked him out for the rest of the night (Thanks, Carissa! I really should keep some at my house at all times!) I watched him closely and slept near him on the couch to make sure he was okay (Bryan has been on-call at the hospital all night; he actually hasn't even heard this story yet).

After all this, Andrew probably summed it up best with his wise remark, "Mom, I definitely learned my lesson: When you see a hole, don't put a stick in it!"

Camping Trip

Last weekend was the annual ward campout. The weather was perfect and we had a great time! It was so nice to be away from the world and enjoy the beauty and peace of nature. And guess what? There actually ARE stars up in the sky here in Cleveland! Who Knew?!

Top Five Best Things About Our Campout

#5 - Pioneer Trail Camp

This place is awesome! We're talking rows of bathrooms with showers and flushing toilets and rows of sinks with mirrors and running water (cold and hot!). This is where the YW around here have their Girls Camp each Summer. A FAR cry from my Girls Camp years at good ol' Lake Lyman (right Mom, Jen, and Amy?)!

#4 - Sleeping in a Tent

The boys couldn't wait to get into the tent! They kept asking us, "Is it time to go to bed yet?"

#3 - FIRE!

Andrew, our little Pyro! We had to keep a close eye on him around the fire! Every time we turned around, he was throwing something into the flames and watching it burn.

#2 - Bryan's Cooking

Here's one of the very best things about camping - Bryan does all the cooking! He does such a good job too! This time he made tin foil dinners with glazed sesame chicken, seasoned potatoes and veggies! YUM! Great job, Babe!

#1 - S'MORES!!!

Need I say more?

I was kinda dreading sleeping in a tent with a 6 month old, but Hannah did pretty well! Our only issue was around 1:00am when she wanted to eat. I had pre-filled her bottles with water, so I thought making her formula would be easy, but by that time, the water had gotten a little too cold for her liking and she screamed whenever she took a gulp. We had to somehow make it warmer, so Bryan got up, lit the camp stove, boiled some water, and then let the bottle soak in the water for a few minutes to warm up (yes, Hannah screamed through this whole process - so sorry fellow campmates!) Eventually Hannah got her bottle and settled down for the rest of the night. It wasn't until the next morning that one of our friends reminded us of the warm running water in the bathrooms right next to our camp site - DOH!!! Yeah, I felt pretty dumb!

When it was time to pack up and leave after breakfast, Logan "hid" behind a tree, hoping we wouldn't find him and take him home. I guess that means he had a fun time, right?