Trip to Paka and Grammie's

We aren't going home for Thanksgiving and I was getting a little homesick. So Mason and I took a trip to California.  Paka was able to pick us up from the airport and drive us home. Mason was napping so my dad and I got to talk the whole way home; it reminded me of all the mornings doing signs and spending time with him. I miss that! (thanks dad, you're the best!)

We got to hang out with my family and talk lots the first day. Mason loved watching the dog, Bella, and pointed her out to us anytime he saw her.

I surprised my family, especially Zoe, with some seasoning salt from an amazing burger place here in Spokane. She was really excited!

We got to do lots of fun things while we were there. Grammie of course made amazing meals and Mason loved being able to cook with her, and eat her amazing food.

We went on a walk with Grammie and ran errands one day, and spent time playing in the backyard!  Mason loved the trampoline. He thought it was pretty amazing. Most of the time he wanted to sit in Grammie's lap while I bounced, but sometimes he wanted to try and bounce himself.  He mostly rocked himself back and forth trying to keep his balance but he was trying to bounce. He would smile when we would bounce him and laugh anytime Grammie laughed.

Mason also got a lot of practice with stairs. We don't have any stairs so we did practice sessions a few times a day so he could learn how to go down. He's a champ at climbing and by the end was pretty good at going down, even though he would drift to the right as he slid down.

We took a trip to the zoo one afternoon. Mason loved seeing the animals, he especially liked the ones that would move because he could see them better.  He really liked one monkey that was screeching and yelling; Mason thought it was very fascinating.

He liked the zebras, giraffes and of course the lions!

After the zoo we met up with Paka for some amazing sandwiches for lunch!

Mason loved all the attention from his Aunts, Paka and Grammie!!  We were lucky to have his cousins come up and stay a couple days! He loved playing with them, following them around the house and talking to them!! They are going to have so much fun playing as they get older.

We had an amazing time, we loved seeing everyone and spending time with everyone. We can't wait till we get to see you next!!!

Halloween Week

So this year for Halloween Mason was a lion!

 Christopher decided to be a lion hunter and Mason was his prey; they were really cute costumes. This year we had a party at the Durrants where there was deliciously scary food, a haunted graham cracker house contest, and a slippery game for the dads.

Our house came out great and was a ton of fun to make, Christopher especially liked eating the candy.

The dads all participated in a game where they had to use their feet to find three clear marbles in a tub of spaghetti and oil.  Christopher tied for first finding two marbles faster than the other guys. They had to be careful when they stepped out of the tub and didn't slip and fall on the garage floor because their feet were covered in oil. We had a few close calls for the guys slipping.

We had a great time at the party eating food and playing games, it was a blast.

Later in the week we got together with the Durrants and the Owens to carve pumpkins.  We set up tables in the garage and dug in.  The pumpkins all turned out great.   I wasn't able to get a picture of all the finished products as I took all the kids inside after a while to play and entertain them.  We had pizza and hung out after. It was a really fun night.

Then on Halloween I made mummy dogs for dinner.  We didn't take Mason out trick-or-treating because he can't say it, is really scared of strangers right now, and can't eat any of the candy he gets.

 But we dressed him up and took some pictures with our pumpkin and the candy bowl he loves to play with.

H was such a cute lion, I can't wait till next year when he can more fully enjoy the holiday and go out and tick-or-treat.  Happy Halloween!