Halloween Hijinks

Last year we didn't do much for Halloween. Sure, we made Bryce wear a pumpkin outfit, but the way he burned through outfits at that age meant he wore it for about 3 hours. How festive.

This year, though, he was a lot more able to enjoy things.

One afternoon we went to the Lakeview Farms pumpkin patch with friends. It was awesome, and we'll be going back next year. For just a few dollars, you get a train ride out to the pumpkin patch, where there are hay bales, a hay maze for little ones, and more pumpkins to pick from than you can imagine, and a boat ride back. We dug it.

We went through several pumpkins before we found the perfect one.

Brycie gave it his blessing with a pat pat pat.

And a ride in the wheelbarrow.

Seriously, this place was awesome. There was even a corn maze that we didn't get around to doing, and a little collection of farm animals for the kids to admire (but not pet, mercifully).

When we got our specimen home, we opened her up.

But not before taking it for a little ride.

Here's what our porch looked like (before our jack-o-lantern rotted, well before Halloween night, of course).

And what's Halloween without treats? We made yummy caramel apples. I'm still dreaming about them...

Next up on the Halloween festivities: The ward Halloween Carnival. Every year the youth of our ward put on a little carnival for the kiddos. It was way fun -- and a good way to put some extra wear into Bryce's specially-made Corduroy overalls.

Oh, right...
He went as Corduroy bear, of children's lit. fame.

Here's Bryce the Corduroy bear in action:

Need proof I made the overalls myself? Here you go. Those straps would NOT stay up... Go me.

Bryce comandeered this vessel from an obliging firefighter friend. He was delighted about it. I see a ride-on toy in his future. ;D

Come the big day, I got wise and safety-pinned his straps up. He loved walking around and getting candy from each car at the ward Trunk or Treat. He even said "taytoo" -- toddler for "thank you". It was one of the cutest things ever!

Happy Halloween! We'll be back when the candy coma wears off...

Gorge-ous

Preston had last week off from work, which, naturally, meant that he became deathly ill with the flu. We had planned a daytrip to the Columbia River Gorge, just about an hour outside Portland, but when Preston got sick we weren't sure it was going to happen.

But he made a miraculous recovery and we went on Thursday. It was a misty northwest morning, and we were a little afraid that the fog might spoil our trip, but never fear, it burned off. We tried to head up to the Vista House, but the old highway was closed along that stretch, so we made for Bridal Veil Falls. Preston wasn't feeling well enough to hike to the falls, so we just walked the overlook loop that takes you out over the highway so you get some splendid views. Here's what we saw:

After Bridal Veil Falls, we headed for Multnomah Falls, stopping along the way to hit up Wahkeena Falls, just about 1/4 mile away. Bryce enjoyed giving us little heart attacks by heading for the water like nobody's business.

It's all fun and games until mamma wants a photo with Brycie.

It was a quick trip -- we were home by noon (and consequently naptime) having fed our souls with nature's beauties. We love where we live! You should come visit. ;D

Lately

Since we're in the process of buying a house and packing up our current place, there just isn't a whole lot else going on around these parts. But here are some photos from recent Erickson life that might be enjoyable.


When my Grandma Zina sent Bryce this bear for his birthday, she worried that he might be too old for it. But that is so not at all the case! Since my mom's visit in July, he has really started responding to his soft toys. He will bring them to me to snuggle, and then ask for them back so he can snuggle them, too. It is one of my favorite phases so far -- I'll be sad when he really is too grown up for his Bear. (The bear Grandma sent is just called "Bear" for now until Bryce is old enough to name it himself.)

There's a park not too far from our house which has a splash pad. Bryce HATES having water poured on his head, and he screams bloody murder if ever we meets with a shower, but it was just so blasted hot one day that we took a chance on taking him to the splash pad.

He LOVED it! He stood with a stream of water coming straight up into his diaper for at least 2 full minutes. Daddy got soaked, too!

Just a little slice of my everyday life. Bryce in my current favorite shirt, soft toy (in this case, Monkey -- I know, we're really creative with the names around here), pacifier in mouth (actually, that's pretty rare unless we're having a really rough day), debris scattered all about.

Bryce is in a stage where he will refuse to eat things not because he doesn't like the food but because he doesn't like the way it's presented. Most of his protests arise from his food being presented differently than Mommy and Daddy's food. So I let him have the corn cob, since he wouldn't touch the kernels I cut off for him. He was pretty darn happy about it. Silly goose.

Other recent happenings include Preston being called to the Elders Quorum Presidency, Angie and Libby coming for a visit, and me joining in for workouts three times a week at the Stake Center. Life is good in our little corner of the world.

All for now, more to come later.

In which Bryce goes a-camping

Well.. I haven't blogged since June.

I blame Instagram, because I feel like I've already shared things, but I only halfway did.

Anyhoo...

It has been a great summer so far! We've been keeping busy with swim lessons, camping, church service, work (for Preston. non-stop.), and getting better acquainted with the awesome people in our ward!

Here are a few photos from our recent camping trip on the coast. We went to Tillicum Beach, not far from the Cape Perpetua area. It was so much fun, we're already planning on doing it again next year! We tagged along with two families from the ward who are our closest friends in the area so far.

We drove a couple of miles to the Cape Perpetua visitors center and took a little nature walk to the tide pools. It was extremely rocky, so I didn't venture too far in for fear of spraining my ankles. There were sea urchins and anemones, along with quite a lot of tadpoles (polywogs?) hanging about in the tide pools. We left when the tide started coming in, violently.

Daddy and Bryce off on another whirlwind adventure.

Urchins & Anemones

Tadpoles

The sea was angry that day my friends...

We then took a long (well, long when you have 6 children along with you) hike up to the Giant Sycamore. Bryce, mercifully, napped in the Ergo on Daddy's back the entire way there and only woke up when we were headed back. The Giant Sycamore lived up to its name, and had a tunnel underneath where the kids enjoyed getting dirty while the adults got ready for the return trip.

All in all, we just had a lovely time, and I'm already jazzed to do it again next year. Bryce did so well most of the time! The beach was right there, but we didn't have to camp on the beach, so if you ask me it was the best of both worlds. On our last night, the other families headed home but we stayed behind. While I relaxed by the fire, Preston headed down to the beach to get some shots of the gorgeous sunset. This is the life!

Cute boy!

Solo exploration

This is what happens when Mommy gets bored in the car and there are pipe cleaners handy...
Bryce is so long-suffering.

The view from our campsite

Stairs to the beach

Have I mentioned that we love living here?
Because we do.
A lot.