Halloween!

Halloween this year started off with dressing up for preschool. These are about the best shots I got of him all day. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the camera out with us when we did our trick or treating with David. So, you won't get to see him as an upright walking mouse. Hope these will suffice.

At preschool, we made a paper ghost, a paper jack-o-lantern, and sang "scary" songs. There was also lots of playing with trucks, trains, & fake food in the kitchen. Snack included a slice of cheese in the shape of a pumpkin!

Vincent has warmed up to his preschool setting, and now knows that when we get there, he needs to first wash his hands before he can go play & before gets his snack.

David got off work early so that we could go get our picture taken at the preschool photo booth down & go trick or treating in Madison Park. Many of the businesses participated in passing out goodies for the neighborhood kids. There was a fire truck that Vincent sat in for about 30 seconds before deciding that the strange man in the yellow & black suit was too scary. Yet, the giant mummy walking down the street didn't seem to phase him. He caught on to the whole treats thing very quickly. He even said, "trick or treat" quietly whenever he walked up to get his goody.

We wanted to make one more stop to a few streets up closer to our home before calling it a day. Since we still had time between neighborhoods, we stopped off at our friends' house for a little rest and quiet time. They have 3 little girls. The youngest is in our class. The two younger girls hung out with us parents as we talked. David and I pre-ordered a pizza to be delivered to our house by the time we get back.

At about 5:30pm we arrived back in our neighborhood. About 5 blocks or so from our house are some beautiful, large homes that go all out with decorating each year. It's like a row of haunted houses. When we got there, they were all finishing up with getting ready, and there weren't any other kids walking the streets yet. So, we just walked up and down and looked at the spooky decorations until we saw more kids. We stopped at our friends' home for a bathroom break. They were having a party with many toddlers running around. When we got up to the door, Vincent must've recognized them because he went running right into their house and started playing! He's usually so shy. After the bathroom break, we stopped at a few houses, but they were all just too scary for our little Vincent The Mouse.

Good-bye Columbia City Farmers' Market, See You Next Year

Today was the last day of the Columbia City Farmers' Market. Since this was our favorite of all the markets this year, and it was such a gorgeous day out, Vincent and I couldn't miss it.

It took us a while to get out of the house, but once we got there, it was worth it. I didn't even really know what I wanted to buy.

I left there with $30 worth of salmon, one soft pretzel for Vincent & I to consume before getting home, a dozen eggs, 3 apples, 2 sweet peppers, 2 tiny heads of garlic, 3 shallots, 2 heads of beautiful lettuce, 2 European pastries, and a big, beautfiul $5 bouquet of dahlias (which ended up matching Vincent's shirt). Whew!

We skipped our usual romp in the grass, as we were cutting it close to dinnertime. But, the best part of it all was when we got home & I didn't have enough hands to hold everything, so Vincent helped. He carried the flowers from the car to the foot of our front steps with the biggest smile on his face.

Good-bye Columbia City Farmers' Market. It's been a great season. Your market was one of the highlights of our summer this year. I look forward to going back next year with Vincent and Baby Hunt #2.

Seattle Afternoon Outing

Vincent and I had a nice little outing this afternoon. David had taken the car to go to a downtown bar for some football watchin' with a friend. The weather was quite nice, so I decided that when Vincent woke up from his nap, we would catch the first bus we could downtown. I wasn't really sure what we'd do down there, but at the very least, get something to eat, and maybe we could play with the trains at Barnes & Noble.

When Vincent woke up, I told him we were going to go for a bus ride. Now, I know he understands a lot of what I say to him, but I didn't think I would get such an enthusiastic response about riding the bus. That was all he could talk about until we actually got on the #43. He loved it.

After a bite to eat the La Brea Bakery in Macy's, I decided that we'll go for Vincent's first Monorail ride. He has only seen it in his "Goodnight Seattle" book. It wasn't an over-the-top experience, but he definitely showed interest in it. When we arrived at the Seattle Center, we walked out to their "Fun Forest," an old carnival-like setting, which is said to be closed in the near future. Before we could even make it down the ramp from the Monorail, Vincent was shouting joyously, "Horse! Horse!" for the carousel. Then, he saw the little car ride...Whoah! The height requirement was 30", which he exceeded, so I thought I'd give it a try. I thought, for sure, he would freak out crying as soon as I put him in it and walked away. But, nope! He sat there patiently waiting for it to start and when it did, my heart melted when I saw how happy he was to be "driving" that thing.

I waited for David to come pick us up before letting him go on again. I told him, "When Daddy comes to pick us up, you can go on the cars one more time." So, as soon as he saw David, and I let him out of the stroller, he didn't run to David, he ran straight for the cars! This time, he sat in the front car, and whenever he passed us, he would give us a little wave.

Harvest Party

Oxbow Farm is this wonderful farm out in Carnation, Washington, that we get our CSA (community supported agriculture) box from. This year, we shared 20 boxes for the season with our friends, Nate & Kate, from mid-May until mid-October. It's a fantastic way to make sure we're getting some of nature's yummy goodness into our tummies. At the end of the season, Oxbow puts on a harvest party at their farm & invites all its CSA members.

That is where we ended up today on a gorgeous fall afternoon! There was a whole roasted pig as the main course, and everyone was asked to bring a dish to share. Our contribution was eggrolls. Vincent really enjoyed it, even if we never made it on the tractor hay ride.

Vincent and the tractor.

Waiting for the hay ride we ended up missing.

Searching for the perfect pumpkins.

Big boy finds a Vincent-sized pumpkin!

The guys and their treasures.

Other fun things included a ride in a wheel barrow, eating some delicious food, the two little frogs croaking when Vincent sang his frog song, and an apple cider press that Vincent really wanted to help crank but was a little small for (not to mention the big kids hoggin' it up & not giving him a turn as he patiently asked, "Turn? Turn?").

Tiny Tots

I happened on tickets to the Seattle Symphony's Tiny Tots this week. Today was the first performance of the season. They are half hour long musical performances geared towards children ages 0-5 years. We went to the 9:30am showing. Seems so early, but Vincent's schedule is early.

We went down to Pike Place Market's La Panier for coffee and pastries. That place was packed at 8:30am! I was amazed at how busy the market was, in general, at that hour. But, it's a gorgeous fall day today, so I don't blame people coming out of the woodwork to enjoy it.

We gave ourselves enough time to find parking, but scored a sweet spot just across the street! We had just enough time to finish our coffees and find a good seat. The show had a barnyard theme, which featured the banjo, the fiddle, a pair of spoons, and another instrument that I can't remember what it's called! It starts with a "d" and it's played on your lap...I've gotta ask David's brother the name of this instument! Anyway, Vincent had a blast. He danced along to the music and clapped, and even sat quietly watching. Thirty minutes was just the perfect amount of time, too!

Oh, and David dressed Vincent in this cute little linen suit that was passed on to us from a friend. We have been waiting to find an event to dress him up in it! I would post a picture, but I couldn't find our camera this morning.

San Diego

Last week, we spent 5 days in (somewhat) sunny San Diego. I've been so wrapped up in this family dinner challenge thing I'm doing for our family that I haven't had time to update this blog. Plus, I had to organize all my photos from the trip. So, here are some of the highlights:

First stop, Sea World!

This is part of the tots area at Sea World that is Sesame Street themed with a couple of rides that Vincent's still too small for. But, he wasn't too small to get wet!

And not too small to go up the giant nets and on to the suspension bridges above the tots area.

The look on your child's face when he sees "Shamu" for the first time (while sitting in the 'Soak Zone') is worth the price of admission. Somehow, we were the only ones not to get wet!

The Midway aircraft carrier parked down near Seaport Village. Something "PopPop" really wanted to see, and it was worth it.

The Hunts on the aircraft carrier runway.

Had to make sure we tested out the hotel pool.

It was my dad's 65th birthday that weekend. One of our 3 birthday meals with him was at The Fish Market for dinner. Vincent's meal included a giant scoop of ice cream that he so nicely shared with all of us.

A-Gong shows Vincent how to feed the pigeons.

David wanted to dip his feet in the ocean; Vincent went along for the ride.

Beached seals in La Jolla.

And, just because these are so cute...