Kelsey Day

On Fridays we try to explore whats around us. We decided to go to the Botanical Gardens in Bellevue. The gardens will definitely be prettier in the spring/summer but the grounds were gorgeous with really cool paths and trails.

After the gardens we found KELSEY PARK!! It had a cute trail system that led to a farm. Kelsey was pretty excited that her park had a farm.

The greatest slides around

We were on our way home to take naps, but the windows were down and the sun was out and I was like "We need to play outside," so we turned the car around and drove to summit park at the top of the hill and instead of naps we played on slides. Best decision I have made all week. Yes, Madison was super grumpy later, but we had the time of our lives and it was completely worth it. I regret nothing

Me getting stuck in the slide

the view from the park

Its far away but you can see Seattle and Bellevue

Happy Hallowing

Kelsey honest to goodness thinks the holiday is named Hallowing

I seriously can not believe that Halloween is over. It was a super fun day though. The day of Halloween was POURING rain. I mean POURING! All day long too.
I wanted to do fun things all day so we tried to fill the time with Halloween games and crafts. Halloween was hard for me this year because in the midst of putting the house together, I also wanted to make sure that Halloween happened. I feel like we were able to accomplish both.

 

The week before Halloween we went to the ward Halloween party. Kelsey and Ethan were pirates and Madison and I were cats and dogs. We were going to be pirates but got uninvited to be pirates. Our captain is a little bossy. I'm glad I was a cat though becasue I hate dressing up and being a cat was so much easier.

So the week before the party, we were talking about what to be for Halloween. We are pretty laid back when it comes to costumes so we were trying to think of an easy no effort gig. Ethan ran up stairs and 10 minutes came back with his church pants on but they were cut at the knees (ones that we were going to DI any way) BOOM! Pirate. It was easy to convince Kelsey to be a pirate princess and then we had our awesome costumes. Ethan decided to go "all out" and paint an awesome mustache on his face. It was super cool until Kelsey walked in and said "Um Dad, that thing on your face needs to come off. When are you going to wash it off?" She asked him like 50 times and when we pulled into the church parking lot she was like "Dad, cover your mouth and don't forget to go straight to the bathroom to wash that off." It was hilarious. I don't know why she hated it so much.

The night after the party she wanted to sleep in a costume

On Sunday before Halloween we carved pumpkins with the Salmons and Butlers. It couldn't have come soon enough because my pumpkin was DONE! It was so moldy and gross

Besties

Halloween itself  was a super fun day. It POURED all morning and I was super bummed that Kelsey didn't have a school party to go to like all of her friends so we tried to have a "party" at home.
We watched fun movies, ate popcorn, played Halloween games that the girls hated and did Halloween crafts that made a huge mess. I think they had fun though

At 2 Shellee picked us up and we headed to Amazon for an AWESOME Halloween party complete with face painting, crafts, haunted maze, candy, and princesses. There were people everywhere but the girls had a great time. Amazon gave all the kids a "badge" to match their parents. I thought it was super cute.

We got home just in time to eat and then trick or treat. It took Madison one house to figure out how awesome Halloween is and then we couldn't keep up with her. It  started sprinkling in the end but not too bad. For our first Halloween in Seattle I'd say we lucked out.

After trick or treating, we went to a ward party at a members house with every pinterest treat you can imagine. This is the party I want to have when I am older. Cute food, good company and lots of it, movies, and happiness.

My favorite part of the whole holiday... SORTING!!!

these are random but my friend took them and I love them

Mountains Out

We made the mistake and headed to University of Washington on a game day. Big mistake. Despite the parking troubles, it was a really fun day with the Salmons. The weather was perfect, we were outside literally all day, got to see that beautiful campus and got to see the meaning of the phrase "Mountains out." That's what people say when you can see Mt. Rainer. I'll tell you what. I don't know how you ever get used to that mountain. It is breath taking. A little daunting, but just stunning.

Ethan and Dallin tried to find tickets at the tailgates, and while they were gone, the girls and I walked around campus. We didn't make it too far because their legs started acting small, but it was really pretty regardless. I can't wait to go back some day and check out the cherry blossoms and the water system that they have.

This library is literally like Hogwarts. Oh and all I said was smile so...

Ethan felt terrible leaving us and this was after he ran up an incredible steep hill to find us. We were fine but it was so fun to have him with us.

It s a hard picture to capture to show its true magnitude, but Mountains Out.