We've been blessed the last couple days with some really beautiful fall weather. Today we went to a pumpkin patch with our friends, the Williams. Avery had a lot of fun going on the hay ride and trying to sit on pumpkins.

The Parliament building

Craigdorroch castle

Butchart Gardens

View from Lt. Governor's home

Parliament at night

Mike and I just got back from our get-away in romantic Victoria, Canada and so here some pictures and quick description of our trip.

We took an early ferry through the San Juan Islands, and arrived in Canada around 12pm. We first went to the Butchart Gardens, which are about halfway between the ferry and the city of Victoria. Luckily , the day was really gorgeous and clear. You can tell from the photos that there was a lot of sunshine (it kept washing out our pictures!). By the way, in some of these pictures I tried to counteract the washing-out effect of the flash by turning it off, and that's why a lot of the pictures are fuzzy (oh well!). We were surprised at how many flowers were still blooming - we thought it would be all bedraggled and wet like it is in Washington :)

After the Gardens, we drove down into Victoria and checked into our B&B, the Fairholme Manor, a renovated Victorian home. We would definitely recommend it to anyone who might plan a trip to Victoria in the near future. (Although, if anyone is going to come up this way , I would also recommend The Walker Manor. It comes with a queen size blow up mattress, your OWN tv, a shared bathroom with the 2 year old resident and a quality breakfast - depending on how tired the hostess is in the morning).

Our B&B was literally next door to the residence of the British Lt. Governor for the island, and the grounds are open to the public. So we explored that a bit, the south side of the house had a beautiful view over the Strait de Juan de Fuca to the Olympic Mtns on the Washington side. That night we ate in downtown Victoria at a recommended restaurant - very yummy. We walked around a bit and saw the Parliament building all lit up, etc.

The next day, to summarize more briefly as I'm writing more than I intended to (!), we went to Craigdorroch Castle (a restored Victorian residence, kind of like Hearst Castle but much smaller) drove around the coast, had tea at a Scottish tea room (Mike had a sandwich and hot chocolate, much more manly than my crumpets and tea!) and then did some souvenir shopping. That night we saw Harry Potter at the IMAX.

The next morning we caught the ferry back and made it to Lake Stevens just in time for "Papa Walker" and "Bama" to get on the road to Moscow. A million thanks to Sandy and Monte for watching Avery while we had some time away! And that's it! I'm having trouble uploading pictures, so I'll try to get some pictures up later. - Sarah

Mike brought some fun stuff home from the Seahawks game this weekend. Avery really likes her new football, "Set.Go.Throw! Football! Go!"

Avery got a swingset from her Gma Dee and Gma Bob for her birthday, and after Mike spent a mere 3 hours setting it up (!) Avery got to test-ride the slide, wheee! Thanks so much Gma and Gpa (and Mike) :)

Avery's birthday party! We had a bbq for Avery's birthday party last Saturday. We were luckier with the weather this year - it was a beautiful sunny day. Avery had a lot of fun running around with her friends and blowing bubbles. Mike and I had fun too, but we're thinking Avery should have birthday parties only every 5 years or so from here on out :)

Also, I have a funny story to relate. Last night, Mike and I were reading Avery bedtime stories and for some reason she only wanted me to read the books. Every time Mike would pick up a book, Avery would take it away saying "no, mom mom!" Since Mike was looking pretty sad about this, we said "Can't dad read a book?" So, Avery generously handed Mike a book, but as soon as he started to read she grabbed it out of his hands, plopped down on my lap, looked back at Mike and said, "Sorry, dad." !

Avery's skit part 4.

Here are the first two installments of Avery's birthday skit. The other installment were taking too long to load - so I will try to post those soon. We had such a fun time in California with "Mama Nell", "Papa Harvey" and the rest of the gang. Avery will occasionally say "Mama Nell go?" I assure her we'll see everyone again soon :)

We had a great time in California, and the sunshine was a welcome break from the rain and thunderstorms in Washington. Avery had wonderful time, as always, with her CA fan club and learned to say quack quack quack from her aunts and uncle (although the title "aunt quack quack" goes to Anna!). She gave everyone lots of kisses, and we're hoping this is a passing phase or we might have to lock in her in her room until she's 21 or so. After Mike went back home to go to work, Avery and I hung around for another week and a half. New Year's Eve was kind of a bust for both of us: Avery went to sleep at 7pm and I went to sleep at 8pm! And thanks to mom and dad for the wonderful birthday steak dinner, cooked to perfection by dad. We can't wait to see everyone again (but it was nice to come home and be with Mike!).

Happy Thanksgiving! Mike, Avery and I traveled down to Utah for Thanksgiving and spent a fun-filled weekend with the Cusworth side. Highlights included Thanksgiving dinner with the Florences, watching movies in "uncle Scott's" private movie theatre, gourmet scrambled egg concoctions with cinnamon toast at Leah and Hank's, frisbee at the park, the children's library in Provo (pictures below) and the Chinese Buffet. Oh yes, and "friendly" games of Rook :) On our way back we stopped at Rod and Dee Dee's for lunch, yum. Total driving tally that day = 18 hours. whew!

Avery with her cousins in Weiser on our way back to WA.

Sister twins

Waiting in line to see Santa

Stacking blocks with Grandpa.

Last week we went to a popular waterfall, Snoqualmie Falls, about 30 miles out of Seattle. The falls were incredible, but I think Mike was more impressed by his sighting of Omar Vizquel, the shortstop for the Giants.

We went to a Seahawks game with Mike's boss and his son. Because it was a little rainy, we made sure Avery was warm and dry in three layers of close and a trashbag. She did surprisingly well, especially when Joe (Mike's boss) was holding her.

For Halloween, we dressed up the pumpkin costume with some fairy wings. We carved a pumpkin while waiting for Mike to get home from work, and then Avery went trick or treating at our neighbor's house. She held her first trick or treating prize (a tootsie roll) tightly in her fist for the rest of the night.