Picnic At the Park

One of the days we were in Houston we packed up some stuff and headed to the park for the afternoon.

We did some lounging around . . .lounged a little longer . . .bbq'ed some food and ate it . . .

got chased by some ducks . . .

played with playdough . . .

and pretty much had a relaxing time.

COUSINS!

One of the most exciting parts of the Houston trip was getting to see cousins! The kids had seen lots of pictures of their new cousin Julia but this was the first time we saw her in person.

If you can't tell from the pictures - she is adorable!

We were also delighted to see James who is always ready to talk and share his sweet smile with you.The kids had lots of fun playing with Grace and reading stories to her.

"Cousin to cousin we'll always be,

Special friends from the same family tree."

Houston Trip!

It seems that we waited so long for our trip to Houston and it flew by way too fast! Neil and Raquel (Rebecca's brother and sister-in-law) have lived in Texas for quite awhile (6 years?) and this was the first time we got over for a visit. That is one drawback to having many children - you have to pay for many plane tickets. These pics are all from our time at Houston Museum of Natural Science. Rylan was most impressed with the dinosaurs and I didn't even get a picture of that!

Lila was horrified by the half eaten zebra and lion display.

There was also a precious stones display that the girls especially loved.

We thought the one Emily is standing in front of looked like grapefruit!

This is just the beginning of our Houston pics . . . more to come . . .

Pumpkins on the Porch

What a beautiful fall its been so far! We picked our pumpkins (2 from our garden and 4 from the store) and put them on the porch. The other 2 don't always stay on the porch, but I got them to sit and say cheese so I could get some pictures.

Vacuum Boy

Back when Rylan was just a little guy I did a blog post about his love of cleaning - well, using a vacuum anyway. http://rrrealfrank.blogspot.com/2008/01/cleaning-and-cooking.html I am pleased to report that at age 3, Rylan still loves to vacuum! He pulled out the vacuum this evening and asked, "Mommy, can I vacuum?" My response was, "Anytime you want to vacuum in this house, you are welcome to!" He then went to work cleaning like a wild man.

I should have taken a video instead of still pictures and you would have seen just how hard he works at it. What a cool kid I have!

A Steam Train Ride

On Labor Day we headed up to Chehalis to take a train ride.

I think Rylan would have enjoyed it a little more if we had brought some ear plugs for him.

The train whistle was a little too loud for his young ears.

It was a beautiful day to sit outside and enjoy a ride.

Fun times!

Rylan Turns 3!

Blowing out the candles!

Rylan loved the diggers we found to decorate his cake. He was so busy playing with them he didn't even eat any cake!

TOOLS GALORE! Now he can really help Daddy out.