It's the Great Pumpkin Sydney Ruth!

The weather is getting colder, the wind is blowing harder, and stores are lining their shelves with bags of candy.  This can only mean one thing...Halloween is just around the corner!

We decided to enjoy this festive time of year with a return trip to Stoney Ridge Farm.  Last year was our first experience, and this year we knew to expect large crowds and lots of activity.  We picked our day right, as it ended up being sunny and not too cold.

Being the ripe age of two (nearly three), Sydney was able to ride the train this year.  More importantly, she got to ride it by herself.  And having been an experienced Disney theme park attraction rider, this was really child's play to this thrill ride veteran.

October, 2010...trying to get Sydney
to look at the camera...unsuccessfully!

Sydney also got to see all of the animals, which included horses, rabbits, goats, chickens and geese, a donkey, and some pigs.  While we didn't make it into the actual pumpkin patch, we did manage to have some cider and visit with some friends and co-workers we found also enjoying the event.

It's always fun to see how much Sydney's grown, so I've added a couple of pictures from last year.

Coming up...costume selection...pumpkin carving...and more!!!

From Nana to Grandma...

Dad 'squeezes' in tent with Sydney at
Nana's house.

Sydney had a great time at Nana's house.  Montana was an adventure she enjoyed, and spending time with Nana is always great.  She even got to meet Mary and Tami, a couple of Karen's friends from high school and college.  All in all, a great time.  She will miss Nana, at least until she comes out to Bellingham for the holidays...hoooray!!! 

But in the span of a few days, Sydney got to also spend time with Grandma.  It's great that she can have two spectacular Grandmas in her life (and also one fantastic Great-Grandma).  She had a lot of fun playing, making cupcakes, and enjoying time doing what little girls do with their Grandmas. This visit, Grandma took Sydney down to the touch tank. And while I've never been there, the pictures Grandma took sure makes it look like it was a lot of fun.

Sydney has improved on the sleeping front.  She spent most of last week sleeping all night, and in the comfort of her own bed.  We hope she keeps it up, but we know all little ones go through a few tough phases every now and then. 

Well, there's certainly been a lot of stuff going on.  In fact, we were 'doing' so many things this weekend it leaves little time to actually write about it, so I'll keep this post short.  But, we look forward to sharing more in the next post about our recent trip to Stoney Ridge, and Syd's new costume for Halloween this year!  Until then, we hope you are enjoying October.

Lewis and Clark

On our recent journey through the Eastern part of Washington, then Idaho, and finally Montana, we ran across a few different monuments celebrating the journey of Lewis and Clark.  While contemplating this history, I began to think of parallels of their adventure to that of our own, or perhaps more likely the lack of parallel.  Actually, when I give it more than a second’s thought I thought of some of these major differences… 

#1 Mode of Transportation:

The fact of the matter is one of the largest differences from our trip was the mode of transportation.  Sure, not only were we not riding horses, but we were cruising at speed to optimize fuel efficiency in our Toyota Camry.  I’m sure our ‘suffering’ through an agonizing (not really) 14 hour drive would have been a welcome one to them.  And when they needed to worry about feeding their horses, we simply stopped at a gas station to fuel up with the appropriate octane.

#2 Entertainment:

OK, so if you don’t think transportation highlights enough contrast between the trips, I’d like to point out another thing that Lewis and Clark did not have…a DVD player.  I’m sure their historic forms of entertainment were much more rudimentary.  Actually, I’m sure they were more concerned with starvation, and basically just surviving, than any forms of entertainment.  BUT, since we were travelling with a 2 year old it did prove to be a lifesaver, just in a little different form.  Thank you Sony! 

#3 Navigation:

L&C were fortunate that when they were down on their luck, they came across a native woman named Sacajawea, who was able to help guide them on their travels.  We did not have Sacajawea with us, but we did have our Garmin.  And while we did not have the barrier of leaning a new language barrier, our Garmin was set on “Australian accent” to offer a little more challenge.  She was very helpful on our own travels, so we offer her thanks.

#4 Nourishment:

While native game had to be hunted and food gathered, we can merely ask our guide (thank you Garmin) for the nearest available food, by type of cuisine and also for the specific duration of time required to reach the desired destination.  This could ensure that our stomach hunger factor could be adequately timed with arrival at our destination.  I know…very rough trail J

#5 When Nature Calls:

While no road has been created in those olden days, we benefited from paved interstate highways and other perks along the way.  While those original pioneers would often just find a nice tree to relieve themselves when nature called, we just pull over and use the rest area facilities.  Having said that, I think they actually had the better idea.  If Lewis and Clark had smelled the facilities at these rest areas, they would have known they had the superior idea.

Beyond the travelling itself, Karen got to visit with her friends Tami (and her kids), and Mary.  The rest of the time found us having fun at Nana's house in Billings.  More to share later, but that's it for now. 

Have a great weekend!