October Life 2: Pumpkins, Plants and Pink

I found a few more photos from the month that I just had to share...

The Pumpkin Patch

Although it was over 80 degrees at the pumpkin patch, the beautifully colored pumpkins, hay rides, petting zoo, and seeing Harrison's eyes light up were more than enough to evoke the spirit of Halloween.

We searched high and low for the perfect two pumpkins,

snapped a few photos, 

checked out a variety of farm animals, and walked away a few moments too late, allowing us all to experience a full toddler meltdown in the parking lot.  

Harrison continues to be quite the style icon, here modeling one of his self selected outfits.  

Lucia seems to love pink, or pink loves her I suppose as her dresser is full of girliness.  

Little L also loves her brother and loves to smile!

Not only is Harrison my go to stylist, but he is also proving to be quite the gardener.  He loves helping me "dig big holes" in the garden and plant new loveliness.  

Happy Halloween

 With an 80 degree day in San Diego, I was a bit skeptical that this day would truly feel like Halloween.  Although the classically cold, foggy and often wet Northwest Halloween this was not, as the sun set revealing ghosts and goblins, it was undeniably the spookiest holiday of the year.

We had originally planned on a Wizard of Oz family costume adventure, however after many attempts to coax our little boy into his lion suit, we gave up on the plan.  After a few meltdowns, on Halloween Harrison decided it was time to bring on the roar when he asked for his lion suit.

We happily readied ourselves for the event, left candy on our front step, and set out to join the neighborhood trick or treating parade.

The little lion courageously walked out into the dark with pure determination...

until,
he was stopped in his tracks by a scary sound coming from the house next door.  

A ghost dancing on a string and ooooohhhing was almost too much for the fierce lion.

But after a few moments of being carried, Harrison bounced back into the spirit and managed to make a few trick or treating stops...he hasn't had candy, so although he didn't understand the "real" prize of trick or treating, he loved collecting colorful packages for his Mom & Dad :).

As the thick marine layer rolled in, we snapped a few photos...

cuddled up to keep warm, 

and said hello to the lamppost before heading home.  

Our tired lion organized his candy before crawling into his den and falling fast asleep with visions of tiny trick or treaters dancing in his head.  

October Life...

October was a happily busy month for all of us...from birthdays to the MS bike event to travels, family and friends, here are a few moments captured...

 Brilliant beach days

 Going bananas with Gigi

 Biking with Dad

 A relaxing moment with Lucia...thanks Ashleigh for the lovely nursing cover!

 Lucia & Nana

Our 2 year old playing with water

Lucia & Gigi

 A happy haircut 

 A big helmut to fill

Bath time with Lulu

 Post bath cuddles with Dad

Halloween prep... our little lion

And the Bike MS Bay to Bay Tour...

The MS 150 was an incredible event...inspirational to say the least. I felt so proud to be apart of this movement to raise awareness and funds to support a world free of MS. It was a chilly two days, but that didn't slow us down. Andy rode the entire 150 miles, while Mom and I settled on 10% of that :), and Andy's parents played a critical role in watching the bambinis for us during the event. Next year I plan on 150 or bust!

Another huge thank you for all of those who supported Andy, my Mom and I on the ride. Our team ended up reaching our goal of raising over $100,000 for the National MS Society.  

-

The Great Oregon Adventure: Aunts, Uncles and one Great Grrmom...

We had a wonderful time introducing Lucia to more of her family during a recent whirlwind trip back to Oregon.  On a beautifully blustery morning, we set out on an adventure to the coast (Warrenton), where we were greeted with lots of smiles and hugs from Andy's extended family.  Lucia loved cuddling with her Great Grrmom, snuggling with Aunt Kristen,

and snoozing with cousin Donna. 

Harrison was taken by his Uncle Tim's wit and engineering skills

and found sitting still for family photos to be rather bothersome as it cut into time playing with Uncle Tim and the wealth of new exciting toys provided by his cousins, Tyson and Talon.  

After a bit of coaxing, Harrison was able to make an appearance in a photo with a new favorite toy.

We sadly said our good byes, then hit the road back to Portland where we said good night to two exhausted little ones followed by a night on the town with Uncle Scott.   

The next morning, we woke up early to join the pilgrimage of Duck fans to Eugene where we had the opportunity to visit great friends, meet the newest addition to the group (Asha Corcoran, born one day after Lucia), 

and experience Harrison's first football game, with LaLa (Alexa) and Ryno (Ryan).  He was so excited that he could barely keep his eyes open

 and finally gave in to falling asleep on Dad's lap.  

Fortunately, Harrison was recharged with his stadium nap and by the evening, he was showing his friend Holden some new moves that he learned.  

H loved his high flying adventures with Ryan, 

and Lucia was thrilled to meet her LaLa.  

More good byes the next day, then back to Camas for a delicious meal by Harold, and lots more fun with cousin "Bidy" (aka Brody).

Heads hit the pillow Sunday night happily exhausted, and by mid-morning we were back in sunny San Diego with a lightness in our hearts.  Although this was a whirlwind weekend, we felt so grateful to have spent what time we had with such dear friends and family.  We love you all!