hALloWeEN

Here is the obligatory Halloween post! We spent the day in Hillsboro and had a smashing Halloween! Luke had done some trick-or-treating at church and in Old Town Sherwood so he was already a professional!

Here is the teenage nerd! She went around with her friends this year so we didn't trick-or-treat with her, but we got to see her before in her awesome costume!

My sister made a cute candy corn fruit plate! Such a cute idea! 

She also made these amazing Martha Stewart crafts!! They took a really long time, but I think they look amazing! I might have to make some for myself one of these years! She also had them hanging from the ceiling and they looked great!

Our traditional bubbling brew. When we went to buy our dry ice at Baskin Robbins the lady said she was almost out and she had sold 300 pounds of dry ice that day!! Wowza!

R2D2 and his favorite nerd! He loves this girl so much. Every time he sees her his arms go up!

Daddy, R2 and Spidey. Spidey was definitely a fast runner this year. He pooped out early on and came home for a snack but then came back out with full energy!

The cutest R2D2 I've ever seen! We got so many great comments about his costume. I loved it because he was warm and there weren't too many parts or pieces to his costume. 

Trick-or-treating was so much fun! Luke loved chasing after his cousins. He fell a few times and then Daddy carried him from house to house so we could keep up with everyone! It was forecasted to rain, but it only rained once for a minute and the rest of the evening was dry. I think we stayed out for a full two hours. Luke was done at that point, but he loved it. We had to sneak the candy out of his pumpkin so it wouldn't get too heavy, but he didn't like us taking his candy. We actually didn't even let him eat any until the next day. 

Luke LOVES chocolate. (It must have been all those Cadbury mini eggs I ate when I was pregnant) When people let him choose the candy out of the bowl he would inevitably find the M&M's! Those are his favorite! 

GWL

We made the trip up to Grand Mound, WA to the Great Wolf Lodge. I just have to say that this trip was SO much more fun this year than last. Last fall Luke was still taking like 2 or 3 naps, he didn't really like the water and he didn't sleep well. This year he took a nap with Dad, learned to love the water and slept great through the night! 

We did the trick-or-treat trail and Luke really liked it. We trekked through the resort and collected our candy. Luke tried out the cars in the arcade.

 Smiled with Daddy

 Marched after his cousins!

Collected candy from a princess. 

 Jumped down the stairs!

And even decorated a sugar cookie. 

 Here are all the trick-or-treaters! 

Luke loved the Lodge. He was definitely a little scared at first, but after about 15 minutes he started to warm up to the water. He really liked going in the wave pool and playing in the kid area. He learned to listen for the bell that signaled the giant bucket of water was going to dump and he would point and ooh and ahh at it. We were able to do a few big slides while family watched Luke so that was also very nice. 

Here is the wave pool. I didn't take my camera into the park, but snapped this on the trick-or-treat trail. I wish the water was a tad bit warmer in the kiddie area, but I'm sure as Luke gets older and older he won't mind it as much. 

In and Out, In and Out

During the fall Luke discovered that he could open and shut the screen door! Such a great accomplishment for a young lad! He was quite proud of himself and he liked to push the door open, go out, then push the door shut. Then the cycle would repeat itself over and over again...

Pumpkin Patching

We love fall. No, I really mean it. We LOVE fall! That cool crisp in the air, pumpkins, red leaves, football, hot chocolate and soup! Since we have moved since last fall we aren't very close to our normal pumpkin patches on Sauvie Island anymore. There was a Groupon for Lee Farms and it seemed like a good deal so I bought 20 tickets for $10. That was a 50% discount. So, on a crisp Saturday morning we headed over to Lee Farms in Tualatin. As we pulled in I tried not to judge at first sight, but let's just say it was not living up to my Sauvie Island expectations. There was a bouncy house, pony rides, goat petting area, a few slides with hay mazes, a hay ride and a few other animals to look at. All of the little attractions cost a few tickets which was totally fine, but the problem was that Luke was a little too small for most of them. We checked out the baby chicks...

The baby cows...

Wandered around the pumpkin patch...

Then we wanted to go on the hay ride. This was when I gave up hope that Lee Farms was exciting! First of all we had to pay 3 tickets each for the hay ride which means if we didn't have the Groupon it would have cost us $9. I know that isn't a lot, but most pumpkin patches I have been to in Oregon have a free hay ride that is way awesome. We rode around this farm and looked at old tractor parts, other peoples private property with lots of "NO TRESPASSING" signs, and mucky old pond and some warn out barns. I was trying so hard to love it, but I finally looked at Dan and said, "This is no Sauvie Island." He agreed and I think Luke did as well...

After the super duper hay ride we needed to have some fun so we decided to allow Luke down this slide that looked way too big for him and he LOVED it!! The day was saved!! He loved this slide and went down it so many times. I still have a few tickets left so I may take him over again just to go on this slide! 

Here is a little video of Luke on the slide. He must have gone down about 15 times! Ok, Lee Farms we will come back again next year!

I was definitely a little disappointed after Lee Farms, but I was determined to find a cute pumpkin patch nearby. We live in the country for goodness sake! I found a really cute one that is only 5-7 minutes from our house! On a cool Thursday morning we headed over to Baggenstos Farms. It was just what we were looking for. It has a little playground, hay maze, big tires, potato digging, chickens and a hay ride. The best part is everything is FREE!! Luke found this tunnel and it looked exactly like the slide at Lee Farms so at first he was laying down in the the tunnel, but then he finally discovered that he could walk!

He loved the slide!

This FREE hay ride did not disappoint. We were surrounded by beautiful fields full of Christmas Trees and other crops. You didn't get to pick your pumpkin off the vine, but at least they were spread out in a field and it was beautiful. The employees at Baggenstos were so kind and accommodating as well. We got our very own hay ride because we were waiting around for a group to show up and they lady felt bad that we had waited so long that we got to go by ourselves.

Looking for the perfect pumpkin.

We are going again tomorrow with our MOPS friends and I would definitely recommend Baggenstos to anyone in the Portland area!

STITCHES!!

This is a great story and I know I will want to remember it. On Sunday August 5, 2012 Luke was sick. He had been running a fever for a few days with a bad cold (this was the first fever of his entire life!!) So, Dan and I took turns going to church that day. I went to the first part and he went to the second part. Even though Luke was sick he still wanted to run around and be a crazy toddler. I was folding up a blanket and whenever I do this Luke likes to charge at the blanket like a bull and it is a fun little game that we play. Well, I was shaking the blanket at him and he ran through it but he just kept running full speed and ram straight into the corner of a 3 inch awning over our fireplace. His forehead met the sharp metal corner at full speed. 

I ran over and picked him up and there were instant tears and cries of pain. There was blood running down his face and even blood running into his eyes (gross!). I was alone so I knew I needed to remain calm and remedy the situation. I used the blanket to put pressure on the spot and Luke was so mad. I carried him over to the kitchen table and laid him down and put some napkins over the wound so it would stop bleeding. I just kept saying to him, "it's ok, it's ok, it's ok." I think I was saying that to myself!! 

The wound stopped bleeding profusely after a few seconds and Luke did not want me holding him down. (He doesn't like to be held or comforted when he gets hurt) So, I let him go and I grabbed a band aid out of my diaper bag and put it on his forehead. I tried to get a good look at the gash before putting the band aid on and it didn't look too good. I kind of thought it might need a stitch or two, but I didn't  know.I got the band aid on his head, cleaned up the blood mess, got him a drink and turned on Little Einstiens and we cuddled on the couch until Daddy got home from church about ten minutes later. 

We showed Daddy the gash and we really didn't know what to do. The reason we didn't just hop in the car and go to urgent care is because we have Kaiser insurance (which I LOVE) but we have to drive at least 25-30 minutes to get to the nearest urgent care. I called the advice nurse and she wasn't that helpful. She did give me some criteria for wounds needing stitches and it sounded like we met the criteria. She also informed me that we would have to drive to the Interstate facility because it is the only urgent care open on Sunday evenings!! That is about a 30-40 minute drive!!! 

We finally decided to err on the side of caution and make the drive to Interstate. We fed Luke some dinner really quick, grabbed some snacks and hopped in the car. We actually made really good time and there was NO traffic since it was a Sunday evening. We checked in and only waited 5 minutes before being called back. 

Forgive the bad phone pictures, but I knew we had to document this little adventure. Mommy and Lukey in the treatment room. 

Luke was such a tropper. Keep in mind that he still had a low grade fever, was getting over a cold, he was teething and had a huge cut on his head!! The PA came and looked at the cut and said that yes, it would probably need one stitch. They put some numbing agent on a cotton ball and taped it to his head for 15 minutes. He kept going over to the door and wanted to open it and leave! Poor little guy! 

Here he is with the numbing stuff on his head. 

What a cutie!! Of course this is the one day in his life that I don't do his hair! He looks a little silly!

After about 15 minutes the PA and nurse came back and were ready to stitch. They don't do dissolve stitches or staples on the face because they will scar more easily. So, he had regular old stitches. They swaddled him up in a sheet so he couldn't get his hands out. That was when he started to get mad! I held his chest, daddy held his legs and the nurse held his head. He was SO mad!! He was screaming like I have never hear him scream before. I thought he was going to pass out. I just kept telling him it was going to be ok and Mommy was here and Mommy loves you. I did feel so bad for him and almost teared up once, but I knew this had to be and the PA was really fast and it was only a couple of minutes we had to hold him for. When she was almost done Daddy said to him, "almost all done Lukey". Then Luke started yelling, "ALL DONE, ALL DONE, ALL DONE". That was really, really sad :(

Finally we were all done and we got to pick him up! He gave that PA the biggest crusty in the world. He didn't want anything to do with her. He was still pretty mad, but calmed down quickly and luckily we were out of there pretty quick. 

This is after the stitches. 

He quickly fell asleep on the way home. The whole thing (including driving) only took about 2 hours so that was definitely a success! I thought we would have to wait forever at the urgent care, but it was all really quick and then we had to wait 6 days and get the stitches out. They bothered him the first two days, but after that I think he got used to it. He woke up a few times in the night the first two days, but nothing after. I'm really glad it wasn't worse! The evil pokey edges on the fireplace are now covered in foam corner protectors!! No more holes in the head around here!! 

Here he is the next morning. You can get a pretty good look at his two precious stitches!! He has healed up very nicely, but is definitely going to have a triangle shaped scar on his head. Too bad it isn't a lightning scar....:)

Zoo Day

Since the summer was quickly coming to an end we wanted to go to the Zoo with our cousins. It was a perfect overcast morning with cool temperatures so we headed up to the Zoo. 

Luke LOVED this little door at the Zoo Store. He has a little obsession with going in and out of doors and opening and closing them. We play a game at home that I call "hello, goodbye". He opens the door and says HIYA, then we give kisses then he says BYE and closes the door and we repeat this many times over! I think he could have played with this little door for a LONG time! Alas, we wanted to see the animal and not just the door...

Luke loves chasing his cousins and making Kelsey carry him everywhere. I hope her arms didn't hurt too bad!! He is quite heavy to carry around and I am a mean mom and make his stay in his stroller, but his cousins are suckers and offer to take him out all the time! Here they are in the Eagles nest!

 Dawson wanted to make sure I got a picture of him climbing this tree :)

This cow was so funny. When we were coming out of the eagle area we could hear some really loud animal, but couldn't tell what it was. Well, it was this cow. It didn't sound like your traditional cow, more like a load roar/yell/moo. Luke though it was so funny every time the cow mooed. I wish I would have videoed it. 

 I wish you could see Luke's face because he is laughing and the cow is mooing right at him. 

 The most awesome teenager and the cutest baby in the world .... I mean toddler :( I still call him my baby. 

Riding some log horses. 

Playing in the polar bear cave. 

This polar bear was just getting ready to take care of his business....good thing I got a picture right before he left a large deposit! 

 Jenna is so cute with Lukey and he loves to be with her! 

I guess Luke isn't as big as I thought....only as big as a Polar Bear leg! 

The kids love to make Luke dance and all you have to do is sing "Call Me Maybe" and he will shake his little booty!

Our cousins!! 

Two kids = one orangutan

Luke LOVED the zoo. This was the first trip to the zoo that he really comprehended and liked seeing the animals. I think next spring/summer we will get a zoo pass and go all the time! 

One of his favorite things was seeing the big fish in several different exhibits...maybe a trip to the aquarium is in order...