Welcome Fall...

 In the other gardens
  And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
  See the smoke trail!
 Pleasant summer over
  And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
  The gray smoke towers.
 Sing a song of seasons!
  Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
  Fires in the fall!

Autumn Fires Robert Louis Stevenson (1885)

I will come back to my Canada pictures soon, but thought I would take a break to welcome Fall as yesterday was the fall equinox.

Here in Northern California the weather is still warm and there are plenty of green leaves on the trees, but it is still evident that fall has arrived. The evening air is a little cooler, the mornings crisper, the afternoon shadows longer and the sunlight has a golden cast to it. It is probably my favorite season! When fall arrives I start to think about pumpkin spice lattes, carmel corn and fires in the wood stove.

On Saturday as we were doing our weekly housework, Naomi helped me put out some of our fall decor. Our lifestyle no longer reflects the seasons as it did in past generations; we can eat fresh pineapple in December or have cut roses on our table in January. We no longer carefully watch the calendar to determine planting time and harvest. With our global economy it is easy to miss the passing seasons; perhaps that it why I enjoy decorating seasonally, to purposely acknowledge the change. A reminder that there are some things in life that we can always count on

"While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.” Genesis 8:22

We are enjoying some of Naomi's ornamental corn that she grew this summer. It has all the colors of a southwestern sunset!

Happy Fall!

More Canada...

My vacation posts are coming in random order since I totally missed getting photos of some events and am waiting for Angela to share her photos with me =)

Here are some miscellaneous pictures of some of our projects and activities while at Mom and Dad's house.

Playing games in the evening (The Little Guy in the basket seems to think this is boring stuff!)

A serious game of Bananagrams! (I think Dad won this round)

Lucas keeping the Little Guy happy!

Bob at work replacing toilets!

An evening at the Wave Pool.

Great grandma with Little Guy wearing one of the sweaters that she knit for Angela more than 30 years ago!

Great grandpa enjoying his newest great grandson!

More pictures soon...

Canada...

Our recent trip to Canada was busy and filled with lots of activities, projects and visiting. I will try to highlight a few of them over the next week or so.

One of our outings took us to Vancouver for the day. We rode the Sky Train from Surrey into the waterfront in Vancouver. At Canada Pace we took in the amazing "Fly Over Canada" experience and then continued by Sea Bus across Burrard Inlet to North Vancouver where we enjoyed lunch and shopping at the Lonsdale Quay.

Riding on the Sky Train: (Little Guy seems to be less than impressed with the experience!!!)

Canada Place on the water front with beautiful hanging flowers:

FlyOver Canada is a breathtaking, flight simulation ride. You take off into a huge dome screen with the latest in projection and ride technology creating a true flying experience (complete with wind, scents, and mist!) We soared over Niagara Falls, through river gorges, across the open prairies and into the arctic surrounded by the Northern Lights. It truly was a one of a kind experience.

Grandma and Grandpa got to look after Little Guy while his mom and dad took in the show. We got our turn later!

Enjoying lunch at the North Vancouver Quay:

Coffee break time!

The beautiful Vancouver skyline from the Sea Bus:

Check back soon for more of our trip!

Pool Party!

We ended our 2 weeks of swimming lessons with a little pool party. Our swim instructor graciously allowed the kids to invite some of the family to join them for some swim time in her backyard pool at the end of their last lesson. Angela, Melody, Becky and their little ones all joined us. Here are some photos:

And this is what I got to do while everyone else was in the water!

Oh...the hardships of being a grandma!!!

Swimming Lessons...

The past two weeks Naomi and Lucas have been able to take swimming lessons right in our own neighborhood. Mrs. Hoss is a Certified American Red Cross Water Safety Instructor and gives private lessons in her backyard pool. Her experience as an elementary school teacher shows as she is great working with kids. Both the kids have made progress and had a great time too!

Here is Naomi modeling her new swimsuit. How great to have a big sister that can sew  up a swimsuit in one afternoon without even a pattern! And  have it be cute, stylish and modest!

Here is Lucas working on his front crawl and treading water. Notice Naomi in the hot tub in the first picture. This was one of our cooler mornings and she was warming up after her lesson!

Naomi working on her elementary back stroke with a noodle to help keep her afloat.

Taking a rest!

Update...

Here is an update to my November post, Armfuls of Blessings!

Day at the Fair!

This year I took in the fair with Lucas, Naomi, Melody and her two little ones. It was a great day, not too hot or too cool. It was Senior's Day, which meant the crowds moved a little slower and the amplified music was a little more tolerable! We took in as many things as we could with a 1 year old and a 3 year old, and all-in-all everyone held up pretty well! Here are some photos from our day:

The fair's theme was "Home Spun Fun" and they had assorted "houses" throughout the fair.

Naomi earned a first place ribbon for the 3 piece doll outfit she sewed:

Melody, Naomi, Miss M and I enjoyed a wool fiber art project in one of the home arts buildings. We made cute flower pins! Even Miss M made one herself that matched her sundress!

The "petting barnyard" was fun. Miss M preferred it from the arms of her Uncle Lucas; she found those baby goats a little too friendly although I did get her to brush them a little. 

Mr. B was not intimidated at all by the goats!

Everyone enjoyed the free Clover ice cream - and Naomi got her picture taken with Clo the Cow!

 

 This guy was a good sport - he spent a good amount of his day pushing a stroller or packing little ones!

The butterfly exhibit was fun, a whole tent full of butterflies that could be fed from nectar dipped swabs.

The children's rest area was a relaxing place to hang out, shady benches and plenty of play activities for the kids.

 Miss M was quite comfortable with these cows!

 Miss M showing off her fair "tattoo"

"Sweet Lil's Farmery" is a hands on farm experience for children. There were baby ducklings to touch, a mechanical "cow" to milk and even some John Deere tractors to pedal around the straw bales.

Everyone getting their feet "jiggled" at the end of the day!

Two little folks enjoying the water feature in the Hall of Flowers.

Hope you enjoyed our Day at the Fair!