More Autumn Fun

Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. Isaac was so excited about his costume, and would still wear it every day if we let him. When I bought it, I was thinking what a great costume it was, because it was warm, and could be worn over sweats, as well, without anyone being the wiser. It seems like Halloween night is always the first REALLY cold evening of the Autumn. Well, this year it was just the opposite: it was WARM. And I'm not talking warm as in "not cold". It was probably in the upper 60's to low 70's when we went out trick-or-treating. Poor Isaac was almost sweating. Anyway, if you're wondering about his super-red cheeks in the photos, this explains it. He LOVED getting candy. It reminded me of the Jerry Seinfeld stand-up routine where he talks about Halloween: "get candy, get candy, get candy...." He was on a roll, and was intensely interested in the horde of candy filling up his bucket. Before we went out through our neighborhood, we went to Rick's work, where they always have a trick-or-treat and give the patients candy to hand out to their own grandkids and the employees children and grandchildren. It's fun for them to get to see all the kids in their costumes, and helps them to not be so homesick, since they don't get to be handing out candy from their own home this year. Isaac's costume was a hit, and he (sorry but I'm going to brag for a second) was so cute. He gave each of the patients a hug after they gave him candy, and said "Kankoo" (thank you).

Isaac counts his candy

A race to the front door to see the great-grandparents

It's a little cooler with the hood off!

Isaac shows off his costume with the cousins

Isaac loved showing Grandpa his costume. He loved the bag of candy that Grandma gave him even more!

Fall Beauty

Sorry I'm behind again! In mid-October we went for a drive up to Idaho City to see the Fall colors and enjoy the sunshine. We had a great time, and were able to see some beautiful leaves, and go up over one of the mountain passes before it got snowed in. We stopped and ate at Donna's Place in Idaho City. Isaac was enthralled by the jukebox they had in the corner. The lights on it changed colors, which he thought was super cool. We put a quarter in a vending/gumball machine and got a cool top that looks like a soccer ball. Isaac loved it, but thought that we needed a couple of more for Rick and I to have our own. Fortunately, I only had the one quarter.


Okay, maybe we're horrible parents, but Isaac fell asleep in the truck as we were driving home, and I couldn't resist taking a photo of him drooling. It was too funny.

Not much to write today. We went hiking yesterday, but I forgot to take the camera, so no new photos :( On Friday evening it snowed! It didn't stick in our area, but apparently did until yesterday morning in north Boise, and it was on the mountains. Isaac was really excited to see it. It has been unusually cold the last couple of days. Usually October is a pretty mild month here. Today during church someone (probably a little kid) pulled the fire alarm. We were just finishing sacrament meeting, getting ready to sing the closing hymn, when the alarm went off. The system in our building is pretty high-tech, so the alarm sounded and then a recorded voice came on and told us to immediately exit the building. Everyone filed out, and we were outside for about 15 minutes in the cold while the fire department came and checked out the building. It was a bit chilly. Most families just headed for their cars to keep warm there. In primary, everyone was really revved up about the "adventure".

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch at Linder Farms on Monday night. It was so much fun to pick pumpkins with Isaac. He liked pushing the pumpkin cart, but we had to limit him a little bit, because it was SO muddy from all the rain we had over the weekend. They had a petting zoo this year. Isaac loved the animals, but was a little freaked out when the sheep got too close. After we paid for our pumpkins we got some fresh cinnamon-sugar donuts and went on a hayride around the pumpkin patch. Isaac was really impressed with the tractor that was pulling. Here, too, the mud was causing trouble. The tractor almost got stuck in a couple of spots. Isaac picked out the cutest baby pumpkin. He wanted to play with it for the next couple of days, and drug it everywhere. Afraid that it would get "lost" under a bed or the sofa and rot, I finally told him that it needed a nap, and we put it on the mantle.

Family

Isaac and I traveled down to Utah for my Aunt JoAnn's funeral at the beginning of September. It was a sad time, but at the same time I was happy to see so many family members that I haven't seen in several years. I hope that we can get a family reunion together soon so that we don't end up having the only time we see extended family become funerals. We were able to get a 4 generation photo with my Dad and Grandpa Banks. I forgot to take the binky out of Isaac's mouth, and since my Dad doesn't generally smile in pictures, and my Grandpa was talking, I ended up being the only one smiling.



Isaac and Alyssa ham it up for the camera

Isaac had fun playing in the sanbox in the middle of Grandma Bonnie's garden. He didn't want to leave.

Isaac enjoyed playing with Alyssa and Paige. When I showed Rick this picture, he said "That's my Boy", even though he's playing with dolls, since he's putting them in a firetruck to drive them around. It's apparently the "manly" way to play with dolls.

War Wounds: The Bike Ride

Okay, so I had never been on a "real" mountain bike ride before this adventure up Goose Creek Falls Trail. I'd only ever been on a bike on any kind of dirt ROAD a couple of times. What made me brave this I don't know. Just trying to keep up with my wild and crazy husband, I guess. Anyway, the trail was way too advanced for me. It wasn't too bad as far as climbing, but it was pretty technical for a beginner. LOTS of rocks, bridges, and drop-offs. Rick got a couple of pictures of me while on the bike, but he missed the many photo-ops of me OFF the bike. He was riding in front, so he missed out on the fun. Actually, I only fell off of the bike a couple of times, but managed to have a lot of very near misses, and I've got the bumps and bruises to prove I was there. Rick keeps asking when we're going to go mountain biking again. . . . I try not to laugh. Not looking too bad, right? Well the rocks on this part of the trail MOVE when you put weight on them. Will the fun never end?

Do I look a little dazed in this picture? Just trying to keep my balance.

Don't fall, Don't fall, Don't... d'oh!!

These actually don't look too bad in the photos. That's only because the giant bruises and swelling that came along with them hadn't had time to show up. The very best one we didn't get a photo of because it requires partial nudity, but it was a DOOZY. Hematoma giganticus on the butticus.

Hmmm. Nice legs. Maybe the jogging is paying off after all.

August in McCall

Last week we went to McCall for Thursday thru Saturday and stayed at Last Chance campground. It was gorgeous, as McCall always is. We really liked the campground, and will stay there again. Pretty, isn't it??
Rick and Isaac coming down the trail. They make it look easy, don't they?? Stay tuned for my portion of this particular bike ride. It gets its own post.

This huge rock was taller than Rick, and was a huge block. Flat on top, and relatively square. I don't think this picture does justice to just how big it is.

Rick and Isaac heading down the road to pay the campground fee after we set up the trailer. Isaac was running when this picture was taken. I guess it's a good thing we have a jogging stroller!

Isaac and I on a hill overlooking the restaurant where we ate dinner on Friday night. I think it's called the Toll House, or something like that. And, no, despite the way this photo looks, I'm not pregnant! The wind was blowing from behind and poofing my hair, shirt and shorts.

Isaac ate his first corn on the cob the other day. He LOVED it! He chewed every last kernal off of the cob, and had a great time. Did I menation that he LOVED it? I think we'll be eating it more often.

Road Trip

A couple of weeks ago, we drove to Twin Falls to attend the open house for the new L.D.S. temple there. It's a really beautiful building. Isaac loved seeing it, and kept saying "pretty, pretty". He was also impressed with the big statue of Moroni on top. He kept calling him "Momowni". Now, he's sure that every tall building that we see has "Momowni" on top! On our way home from Twin Falls, Bullet the Wonder Car turned 100,000 miles! She's been such a good car, and we've made some great trips together. She still looks and drives like brand new. Happy Birthday, Bullet! Here's to the next 100,000!
Waiting for our meal at Shari's before heading home

Isaac took a little cat nap on the drive home. He woke up looking a bit punch-drunk

Happy Birthday, Bullet!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy!

Isaac had a great birthday a couple of weeks ago. I can't believe that he's already 2!

We had the family over for cake and ice-cream, and played in the splash pool and on the slip 'n slide. The kids had a blast.

I think their favorite part was the ice-cream sandwich cake.

Especially Isaac. Happy Birthday!

McCall

On July 11-13th, Scott and Alex invited us to go to McCall and stay in their time-share with them. We had a great time playing in the pools on the property (indoor and outdoor), and enjoying all of the things McCall has to offer. Isaac's Swim trunks (Translation into Isaac: "watoo shoots"), had a hole in the pocket, and every time he got out of the pool a stream of water would shoot out like a fountain.
While in McCall, we rode our bikes around Payette Lake, dreaming of the day we'll be zillionaires and have a cabin on the shore, and we hiked to Goose Creek Falls. It's an amazingly pretty area. The hike was fun, and, of course, Isaac snagged a pretty or two along the way.
We spent a couple of hours at Rotary Beach Park on the lake, and the boys had fun playing in the water and building a sand-castle. Isaac divided his time between helping with the sandcastle and throwing rocks and sticks into the water.
Before driving home on Sunday, we went to church. The chapel in McCall is having some renovations done, so they have been holding church services this summer in one of the ward member's hay shed. They had retro-fitted it with partial walls and a small riser at the front for the speakers, but it still had packed dirt floors and an awesome view of the woods and meadows. They were alternating weeks between sunday school and a combined Relief Society and Priesthood lesson after the sacrament meeting was over each week, and the Youth and primary kids each had their own big tent set up. The nursery was held inside the house. It was one of the coolest church services I've ever been too. Not many people in the U.S. get to meet in a dirt-floor open-air chapel. A one-of-a-kind experience.