Whirlwind weekend!!!

Payton and I flew to Seattle to see Erik since we haven't seen him in three weeks and he had a few days off while the boat is in drydock! We flew in Thursday late-afternoon and made the 5 hour drive to Spokane the next day to see his parents, brother and sister-in-law (as well as Grandma, Aunt and Uncle, my cousin and her daughter!)

Payton did pretty well for the first 3.5 hours...then we decided to pull over in Moses Lake, find a playground and let him stretch his legs!

He really like the see-saw.

Erik's parents are building a nice log home (from a kit) and chose this weekend to put the roof on. (Another reason Erik wanted to drive over)

We can't wait until it's done!

Uncle Earl surprised us with this beautiful floatplane rocker he made himself for Payton! Thanks to Aunty Dawn for the idea and drawing up the plans :)

Payton liked to sit on it and try and spin the prop. He hasn't quite figured out how to rock.

We also were fortunate enough to be able to visit with my cousin McKenzie and her 3 yr old daughter Tayten. Tayten wouldn't say Payton b/c it was too close to her name :) She just kept calling him "Cousin" then would get frustrated when he wouldn't respond! But overall, they had a great time playing with each other!

Trick-or-Treat!!

Tonight we went Trick-or-treating with my parents, Ana, Alan and Mason. Payton caught on right away that all the houses were giving away candy and would RUN to the doors to get his treat!! He would even say "trick-or-treat" but unless you speak "payton" it sounds more like "dii-o-deeet".

My little Astronaut! He didn't want to keep his hat on...luckily all the candy collecting distracted him!


Payton and Mason...I mean Optimus Prime

Fall Festivites!

It was so neat to be able to take Payton to a place where you can do real fall activities!!

We went to an orchard and picked our own apples.

We had to keep a close eye on Payton because he liked to pick them off the tree and throw them like a ball!!

All that work makes you hungry after a while :)

Leaf Peeping.

[I promise I'm not making it up!]

Payton and I just got back from a great vacation "leaf peeping" on the East Coast. Frances was kind enough to go with us and be our tour guide :) For those wondering what the heck a leaf peeper is: A person (people) who travel to New England in the fall to tour around and see the changing of the leaves.

We flew into Boston and rented a car and drove up to Portland, Maine to visit my good friends Hope and Dave Borg. On the drive up, we stopped in Ogunquit, Maine to let Payton out for a quick stretch. It was quite breezy and a bit cold!!


But beautiful just the same!


Dave and Hope were GREAT hosts and we were delighted when they took us on a tour of the lighthouses nearby.
[I apologize as some of these photos were taken from inside the car...but it was COLD!]






After two days of visiting we continued on to Brattleboro, Vermont to stay with Frannie's Cousin Kelli and her family. Payton took an instant liking to the leaves piled up everywhere!

He tromped around in the leaves like they were the puddles from back home :) Only leaves are obviously much drier and less messy!

When Baba babysits....

Erik and I came home from my ultrasound to find both Baba (Gpa Kurt) and Payton fast asleep. I always struggle to get Payton down for a nap...I wonder what his secret is?

Its' A...................

GIRL!

Sorry I don't have any ultrasound pictures to post. We didn't get any good ones.

Ducks and Mattresses.

Payton has become quick obsessed with feeding the ducks at the pond up the street from our house. He asks daily to go see the "quack quacks". Today was a nice day so we wandered up to get rid of some old bread.





Payton also LOVES the Mattress Ranch commercials. Those of you not familiar with him, see the video below. He's based out of Anchorage and his stores are all up north. Whenever the commercial comes on Payton stops what he's doing and runs to watch it.



It just to happened, they were in town so we stopped by the mall to say hi!