Trick or TREATS

Hannah got to enjoy some early Halloween treats last week. Each year she looks forward to Grandma's treat packages she sends for the holidays. Each day we came home last week, she would run to the door to see if her package had come yet.

Well, Thursday, it was there. First she let out one of her squeals that she does when she is really excited about something and then she tore into the package. :) Grandma sent a great card complete with sound effects, the cutest Halloween shirt (love Gymboree), adorable earrings, a little pumpkin, a tea light, a video, stickers and of course, candy!

Hannah loved it all Grandma, especially the little pumpkin bag full of candy and she looks adorable in the shirt. :) We also enjoyed watching Madagascar 3 together, twice! Thank you so much for all that you do and the great treats that make her holidays special.

Hannah with all her goodies.

Pumpkin Time!

We took advantage of a break in the weather last weekend to go to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins for Halloween. Things sure have changed since Matt and Kelly were little. It used to be you went to the pumpkin patch to pick a pumpkin and maybe they might sell some cider on the side.

Now, there are pony rides, hay rides, pay-for-play paygrounds, petting zoos, pumpkin canons, pumpkin catupults, corn mazes, hay mazes and of course fees for all of it. We were able to sample most of the activities before the rain returned. As the girls and I huddled in a dry area and they enjoyed their corn on the cob, Dad was wonderful and waited in line during a downpour complete with hail, to pay for our pumpkins. We had a great time and loved being able to enjoy the return of fall and the holidays.

 

Hannah trying out the tractor.

Hannah and Edith on top of the hay bails.

Pony rides.

Hannah enjoying her pony ride.

A few wayward pumpkins.

Edith and her pumpkin.

Hmm, not exactly what I was looking for.

This is the one!

Hannah and her "prized pumpkin."

Two happy little girls.

Hannah and Edith checking out the goats.

Loving their corn on the cob.

Dad braving the hail and rain to weigh the pumpkins.

2012 Fall Encamporee

Last weekend our Girl Scout troop attended its first encamporee. Eleven little girls, nine parents and a whole lot of gear! We got off to a pretty good start, gathering all the girls from school and packing up in only a half hour.

We stopped for dinner in Fall City at a Mexican restaurant. The girls were a little riled up but were doing pretty well, until one threw up all over the table. Yuch! Fortunately her mom was there and took care of getting her cleaned up.

After dinner, we headed for camp. It was dark, so finding where we needed to check in was a little challenging. After a couple of wrong stops, we finally found the check in spot only to find no staff to check us in. We located Amber a little while later and then our troop house.

The girls having got to the troop house before the leaders had already started staking out their bunks. Amid the chaos, I had a few parents looking to me with hopeful eyes that I could restore some order in the excited bunch of first-time campers. I confirmed some bunk choices and reassigned others but not before having to deal with some tears due to the re-assignments. Ah...  the fun of being the leader.

Pretty soon we had eleven little girls ready for bed, however they were still too wound up to sleep. Finally about midnight, I threatened suggested that the hold outs needed to sleep if they wanted a coveted top bunk the next night. That worked.

Saturday we hiked all over camp to go row boating, build edible fires, learn to tie knots, make duct tape hairbows, beaded cupcakes and tie-died bandanas. We ended the fun-filled day with a campfire with songs and skits. We learned some great songs. Just ask my girls about "Give Bessie give, the baby has got to live" and a palm tree killing awkward turtles and their weird babies. Guess you had to be there :)

The girls were tired Saturday night so we thought we'd be able to get more sleep, that was until another one of the girls got sick and threw up all over her bunk and through-out the next four hours. Can't thank Yvonne, Shelly and Sarah enough for cleaning up and disinfecting everything and taking care of Carina.

Sunday morning, we got the girls up and sent them with the parents to breakfast while Sarah and I stayed behind to start cleaning the troop house for check out. We just made it too, I was still mopping when the ranger came by to do the inspection. Normally, if you aren't ready they will do your cabin last but I think she took pitty on us for being up all night with a sick kid. Thanks Ms. Ranger! We really needed to get home for some rest.

All in all, we had a great time and the parents were a great help too. Thanks everyone for making our girl's first campout a memorable one.

 

Excited little girls "ready" for bed

The row boat crews

Anabella and Mary shoving off

Our boat with Siobhan at the helm

Boat # 2 with a couple of cuties at the bow

Making edible fires

Ready for the trek back up to the troop house

Annie learning some trail signs

Anabella with another trail sign

Edith, Hannah and Anabella making spiders

Troop 40127 and parents

Potato Harvest

Last spring our girl scout troop participated in a community service project to plant potatoes. When harvested, the ton (you read that right -1 ton) of potatoes were donated to our local area food bank.

We had fun planting them, not so much fun weeding them and a blast digging them up. I love that the girls can connect their actions to how they help their community. Good job girls!

Marianna and Annie

Annabella

Leader Mother-Daughter Camp 2012

The weekend after Labor Day, Hannah and I attended Leader Mother-Daughter Girl Scout Camp. The camp is an opoortunity for Moms who are Girl Scout leaders to attend camp and spend time with just their daughters rather than having to worry about their troop all the time. It was a great weekend. We had wonderful weather and great cabin mates.

The theme for camp was "Little House on the Prairie". We did crafts that were popular in the 1800s like paper quilling and making sachets and we canoed and swam. Of course there was campfire time too with songs and snacks.

We had a great time together, especially canoeing. Hannie tried her best to paddle but she was too small for her paddle to reach the water, so Mom ended up doing the paddling. Hannah, however, was all too keen to challenge anyone near us to a race. Pretty easy little one when you aren't paddling. Must have been her enthusiasum though because we won every race. :)

So glad to have the time to spend with her without having to give my attention to all the other girls. Priceless memories. Love you baby girl!

Hannah staking out a bunk

Hannah

Hannah and her new bunk mate, Madison

Demonstrating how to get into the top bunk

Posing for the camera

Sack races!

Making sachets

Playing San Marico

Scrambled Eggs

All summer long I promised Hannah that she could begin cooking by herself when she turned eight. Although she is not eight yet, she talked me into letting her try to make scrambled eggs by herself.

She did a fantastic job. No shells in the eggs (well just a few), eggs scrambled well and cooked to perfection. Of course Mom stood nearby to supervise the cooking on the stove.

It is fun to watch her getting so much more independent, but I miss the little girl too. I know she is going to be a great help with Gracie when we finally get her home.

Go slow little one, this Mama wants to enjoy this time with her little girl a little longer.

The cook at work

The finished product

First Day of 2nd Grade

On September 5th, Hannah started second grade. Hard to believe we have a second grader already. She was super excited and couldn't wait to see all her friends. She looked adorable as always and completed her outfit with a brand new Justin Beiber lunch box. I thought I had a couple of more years before we had to worry about Beiber Fever though. :)

She likes her new teacher, Mrs. Quebeadeaux and pronounced second grade the best ever when I picked her up. Her favorite subject is math and her best friend is Nora. She likes using the laptops and is super thrilled that she is now reading chapter books. Her favorite color is neon green and her favorite sport is gymnastics.

Another fun start to the school year!

Justin Beiber Lunch Box

BFFs - Nora and Hannah

Checking out what's for lunch

Ava and Hannah

2nd Grade Line

Last Days of Summer

One of the things we always do toward the end of summer is to make a trip to the Ram in Tacoma to enjoy dinner on the deck and play on the beach afterward.

As always, the weather was great, the food was good and we enjoyed a walk up and down the boardwalk. We even got to see a family hauling in their crab pot and measuring their catch to see which crabs had to be thrown back. Fun way to wrap up the summer.