Eagle River Nature Center

A couple of weeks ago we went to a really great place for day hikes called Eagle River Nature Center. It was pretty chilly and I'm so grateful we got this stroller for our adventures so the boys can stay warm.

Should I??

We always have to end with a tantrum :) 

We removed one of the captain's chairs from our van and it's WONDERFUL to have the extra space when we go on outings. 

New Ride

I am hoping my loads of research on a family vehicle doesn't prove to be a waste of time.  I had my heart set on a minivan with power sliding doors. I wanted AWD for snow safety.  And the only vehicle that fits the bill is the AWD Toyota Sienna. We almost bought a brand new one a few weeks ago but my pride kicked in after arguing with the salesman too much. I didn't want to cave and accept his lousy offer. But since that is the only Toyota dealership in the state, I had to look for a used one. And they are hard to find up here!

We ended up with a 2006 AWD Sienna XLE Limited with only 39,000 miles on it. It was the fanciest model for it's time, so it has all of these gadgets we could care less about, but they are fun to play with. I don't love the color - I'd prefer something lighter in color so it's more noticeable in the dark (since we will soon only have 5 hours of sunlight per day...sigh), but I've been picky long enough.

Here it is:

For 7.5 years old, it still looks pretty nice inside!

Poor Isaac is sentenced to rear-facing car seats until he decides to grow.

Even if it's not perfect, I am very excited to not be secluded to our house anymore. Hopefully it will serve us well in our Alaskan adventures!

Halloween Festivities

We spent actual Halloween night buying our van, hitting up the local Golden Corral, and dropping Chris off at the airport. Clark kept looking around at Golden Corral saying, "This isn't Halloween."  But sure enough, loads of kids in costumes (post-trick-or-treaters) came piling into the restaurant. Clark looked around and said, "It IS Halloween!!" with pure joy on his face. We might as well take advantage of the young, naive years where they don't know we are taking the fun away. :)

But we aren't that horrible of parents. They had their fair share of treats and fun. Here's some proof:

I can never get all 3 of them to look at the same time...

Yes, that is a hammock in the background.  It was a cheap replacement for a couch while we save up.

Clark thought decorating the pumpkin meant drawing on it with permanent marker. Not looking so good...

Looks much better at night!

Best job for a 3 year old....unwrapping caramels. Too bad it's only once a year. Kept him busy for 20 minutes!

He was supposed to be a pirate but at the last minute he said, "I don't want to scare the little kids, so I gonna be a monkey."  So our costume from Age 2 got use again...still fits!

George got to be the pirate instead!

Fireman - intently listening to a story at the church party

Happy Halloween!!!

No Fear (Outdoors)

When Clark is outdoors, he seems to have no fear.  He'll walk right into a lake with his boots and clothes on. He'll scale the side of a mountain without caring if he slides down. It makes me cringe and hope for the best. But I love that he's adventurous. It's so fun to watch him!

This was him asking to get in the water...

This is where I got that great shot of the fall colors. My friend Adrienne said we needed some people in the picture, so we came back to snap one. :)

Up, up...

...up he goes!

Time to come down

This is why we have no hand-me-downs for Isaac..

Love my boys. I'm framing this one!

Tree hugger

All in a days work.