Fall Fun 2018: Adventures

Bob's Farm

We had some beautiful days during the last week of September when the local farms started opening up to the public. A friend of mine and I tried to visit Swan's Trail, but we didn't know they're not open to the public until noon, and we'd arrived right around 10. We drove around for awhile only to find out Thomas Family Farm and Stoker Farm hadn't started their season yet, but fortunately Bob's Farm was up and running. Liam and Allison were very cute with the pumpkins while Lauren was getting Clark ready in the baby carrier.

Allison throughly enjoyed the sack slides and the corn crib. I liked that this one had the car inside the corn crib, though it could have used some toys or buckets like they have in their big sand pit down the hill.

Wild Waves

 Wild Waves opened up for Fright Fest during the final week of September, so we took the kids and met up with a friend and his son. They played some games for candy and then watched the parade of ghouls come out.

Thankfully the ghouls were very nice to the kids and teased them rather than trying to scare them. Allison was super cute waving to the ghouls on the bus saying "Hi zombies! Hi there!"

The boys went to the clown haunted house while I took Allison on a few rides. They got through pretty quickly and we let the kids go on a few more rides before sitting them down for the Magic Show.

The kids were super cute posing in the cutouts and really enjoyed the show. I spent just as much time watching them smile and laugh as I did watching the show.

I took Tyler down a few weeks later so we could do more Haunted Houses. He wanted to watch the magic show again, which started at 7:00 when the haunted houses open. After it was over we got in line for Whispering Pines, but the line was ridiculously slow. We gave up after we'd barely moved in 10 minutes. I later found out the lines could last well over 2 hours. We headed to the 8:00pm Freak Show instead, which was actually pretty cool.

Leavenworth Marathon and Smallwood's Harvest

During the 1st week of October Oscar completed his first full marathon in Leavenworth, Washington.  We stayed with Kathy Ward, the same lady who hosted me while I performed with the Leavenworth Summer Theater back in 2011. Allison was cute saying "I want to go to Washington,"along the drive and Tyler said a prayer that night that he wouldn't be scared and that no monsters would get him.

Kathy's home is right along the marathon route. Oscar called us about 6 minutes before he passes by and the kids were able to give daddy hugs around mile 14.

The kids were getting a bit stir crazy in the house, but with Oktoberfest festivities I didn't want to take them into town. Instead I took them just outside of town to a little maket called Smallwood's Harvest. It was perfect! They had a ton of cute cutouts and a nice play area.

The big activities didn't open until 11, which was when we needed to be back to pick up daddy. Allison was super sad to miss the cow train.

We were able to do a little wooden maze with silly jokes to find all throughout it.

Oktoberfest traffic made it very difficult for us to get back to the finish line. I texted Oscar that I didn't think we'd get there before he finished, but we got there with only 1 minute to spare. I got a video of him sprinting to the end. We also have a funny story to tell, but it's not one I'll write about on a public blog. Ask us about it in person.

We started our drive back home stopping at Deception Falls along the way.

You can see Bridal Veil Falls in the distance in the picture on the right.

Thomas Family Farm

Thomas Family Farm was on the way home, and they offered unlimited rides on their super slide for free in celebration of opening weekend. The other big activities were ala carte, so we got the kids a pass for the play area and 3 activities each. They did the apple cannon, the cow train, and the go karts.

We'd forgotten to bring along Tyler's medication for the trip, so Tyler was a bit extra challenging throwing sand, cutting in front of other kids, and pushing them out of the way on these sandy slides. He had to be constantly redirected, but then he'd go right back to the negative behavior shortly afterward. It was exhausting and my voice was hoarse from yelling. Days like that are at least a good reminder that his medication really works!

Pedaling around! Tyler got to do his own and I took Allison on the tandem cart.

 We stayed until the daytime activities were closing and posed in front of this picture of their Zombie farm

Carleton Farms

The next weekend was also lovely, so we took the kids up to Carleton Farms in Lake Stevens

Last year we were told Allison was too young for the jumping pillow since she wasn't 3 yet. She was thrilled to be on it this year (though I noticed several kids were under 3 and that no one was enforcing that rule). I wish I could get an aerial picture.

Allison was also happy to get unlimited rides on the Pony Express! She'd been super sad she could only do the Cow Train once at Thomas Family Farm.

Playground and zipline fun!

I love that their Corn crib has a slide. It was a bit difficult for Allison to climb up into the slide but she figured it out.

Allison spent over 20 minutes repeatedly falling into the hay pit. She'd basically touch the rope and jump in.

The kids were getting hungry so we purchased some pumpkin donuts and Sprite for them to munch on. Allison wanted all of her crumbs even though we had plenty of extra donuts.

I attempted to take the kids to Swan's Trail Farm on the beautiful day Tyler had off school for Teacher Preparation Day, but it went badly. It was insanely crowded, and I lost Allison while walking towards the ticket line to get them activity bands. I panicked and screamed for her and Tyler did too. Thankfully we found her a few minutes later (dancing around without the slightest idea she was lost), but after that scare I just wanted to leave. Tyler asked if we could get a pumpkin, so I said "yes, let's get some pumpkins" and the kids were none the wiser that we weren't staying for the other activities. 

You can tell from these pictures that the focus on my phone camera has gotten progressively worse. This is about as clear as I can get pictures now.

Everett Family YMCA Halloween Party

The next day we took the kids down to the Everett Y for their annual Christmas party. We've missed it the past 2 years so I really wanted to make it this time. Tyler fell asleep on the drive and his Mario hat fell down over his mouth and nose. I moved it out of the way as seen in the picture on the upper right, but it gradually fell back again.

He woke up when we arrived and we enjoyed a fun party. It was very well decorated with games and candy for the kiddos. You even crawled through a mini haunted tunnel.to get in.

Sweet kiddos!

Halloween Day

On Halloween Day Tyler wasn't allowed to wear his costume to school, so we squeezed him into Allison's 4T glow in the dark skeleton shirt so he could still be festive.

Allison and I were pleasantly surprised to find out they were doing Trick or Treating at the YMCA. We'd brought her costume along in the car since she was going to her preschool playgroup Halloween party afterwards, so I brought it out and let her get candy first. The older folks in the cycling and yoga classes were very eager to give her and the other kids candy.

At Oscar's work he and the other managers all dressed up as animals. We went over for Trick or Treating after Tyler was out of school. They wanted to meet and hug the timber wolf and the bear, just like hugging characters at an amusement park. The wolf costume was the best since the guy inside it has Mascot experience.

Back when Oscar was a supervisor, his team was called "Oscar's Otters." When I saw the book "Oscar Otter's Colors," I had to buy it for him. It sits in his office now along with several otter stuffed animals handed down to us from our niece. When it was announced that the managers would be dressing up as animals, he purchased an otter costume off Amazon. When we brought the kids to his work for trick or treating, he couldn't resist reading them "Oscar Otter's Colors" while dressed up as Oscar Otter.

After that we went to Harvest Fest at Mariner High school. They have trick or treating, lots of games, and it's nice and warm. We've found a new tradition! The high school students help with all the games and preparation, which I think is a great idea. 

While we were there our little Mario found a Luigi! He's a little older than Tyler, but Luigi's supposed to be a bit taller than Mario anyway.

If you look close you can see me as Snow White in the background.

Our haul! Tyler and Allison still wanted to trick or treat the neighborhood when we left the high school just before 8. By then people were eager to get rid of their candy, so we really raked it in. 6 weeks later we still have lots leftover.