Straw Maze

I had to take some stuff to Millie in Rexburg today and she had a great idea. She suggested that I bring April and the kids with and we go to the Straw Maze. I wasn't too thrilled with the idea but thought it would be good motivation for the kids (and myself) to get stuff done and something to keep them busy.It was a rather ominous sky, cool, and windy as we pulled up to the maze. Side note- it was just down the road from Ruth's childhood church in Archer. So I am sure it was also very close to her house but I couldn't recognize anything. The first thing to happen was for Noni and Caleb to start a straw fight. So fun (not really).

Caleb and Leanora waiting to ambush us.

Leanora got Jessica (Camille's roommate) good.

This is what I call claustrophobia! There were a few spots that made my heart race and my breathing shallow but over all it was ok. At first the kids didn't think they needed to wait for us. But after the first "wrong turn dead end" they decided they better not get too far ahead. Even if they were just around the corner their voices sounded muffled or like they were on the other side of the maze. About 3/4 of the way through they thought we should turn around and go back the way we started. We explained that we didn't think we could remember all the turns. Caleb decided that we would never get out of there. Well . . . if your ever lost hope that Leanora is with you. She led us right out after that and was pretty proud of herself!

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but I was sure at a couple of spots we would be holding one of the kids up to get one of the workers to direct us out! It was a fun but chilly adventure for a Fall Saturday afternoon.

Annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch

We recently took our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch. April, Caleb, Noni, and I headed out right after school one day. We couldn't have asked for better weather that day. I guess it was a little windy but what day in Idaho isn't? The kids took about 2 minutes to pick their pumpkins and played in the straw maze, slide, and pulled the wagon around for another half hour. It's a great place to go.

We really missed Mindy and the kids this year. Hope they can make it next year!

San Francisco/Oakland Get Away

Dave had an Oracle conference in San Francisco. He found out about it in May and asked if I wanted to go. DUH! Mostly because it is a hop, skip, and a jump from Becca. After investigating the details we decided it wouldn't be much fun for me to hang out in San Fran while he was at the conference. Most of his meals and activities were included in the price of the conference so I would be on my own most of the time and it would get expensive. The week of the conference was a big tax deadline (October 15) for Becca so she would not be able to take time to hang out with me. So we decided I would fly out at the end of the conference and we would spend a couple of days in Fremont with Becca and Steven. Dave took a shuttle from the conference to the Oakland airport and was waiting for me when I got off the plane. Becca picked us up at the airport and we picked up Steven for dinner at Chili's.
The next day they played hooky from work and picked us up to drive to San Francisco. We caught a ferry to Alcatraz. It was a fun place to go.

We learned a lot of the history of Alcatraz with a audio tour. We wore a headset with a listening device. You could stop or repeat or fast forward so you could spend more or less time at any spot. The cell blocks were three tiers with a caged shooting gallery at the end. The guards would walk up and down the shooting gallery to watch the rows of cells.

This was the extent of the activity yard.

After 3 trips to San Francisco we finally got a good view of the Golden Gate Bridge. Everyone kept telling us October was a good time for the fog to leave and they were right. The last picture is the view of San Fran from Alcatraz. The other was just a cool sailboat we saw while on the ferry.

After our escape to Alcatraz we headed down to Pier 39. There are a lot of fun shops there. We decided to eat at Bubba Gumps. It was a lot of fun for everyone except Becca. She got a little queasy from watching Steven and Dave eat their steamed crab. I enjoyed the Shrimpers Heaven and Becca stuck with fried chicken. Sorry Garry I know that was a no, no!

While we were eating a BIG SHIP came into the big. This was really a BIG SHIP! It was from China. Half the people in the restaurant pulled out their cameras to grab a shot of it.

There was a fun carousel on Pier 39, it was a double decker. After dinner we headed to Ghiradelli Square for an ice cream and to buy a couple of candy bars of course.

On Saturday we went to a session at the Oakland Temple. We caught another fine view of the bay area from there.

I thought this was an interesting sign. Someone wanted to be very specific on the speed limit!After going to church with Becca and Steven and them cooking us a delicious dinner they took us back to the Oakland airport. It was a fun 3 days with them. They were so good to be our chauffeur, feed us, and show us around. It was so nice to spend some time with them, getting to know Steven a little better and seeing how well they have started their new life together. They seem to be meant for each other!

I'm not thrilled with this picture but it was such a momentous occasion that I had to snap it. In nearly 31 years of marriage this is the first time Dave and I have flown together. WOW! Thanks Becca and Steven!!!

Oregon Trip Part II- The Coast

On Saturday morning of our trip we checked out of our hotel in Portland, found an IHOP for breakfast (much needed normal breakfast), and headed to the coast. Again it was a beautiful drive. It kind of reminded me of heading into Island Park only with a denser, wetter forest. We hit the coast at Seaside, big mistake, it was the Hood to Coast weekend and the closing activities were there. Thousands of runners and support personel were there. We made a not so quick pass and headed on down the coast to Cannon Beach. There we checked out the shops and had lunch. Further down the coast we took a long, no very long, walk to Haystack rock. Thankfully the sand was very easy to walk on because it was so compacted. It was a bit on the chilly side though. We stopped at a couple of other spots until we ended at Rockaway Beach where we had a condo for 2 days. Our condo was right on the beach and we found the sound of the ocean to be so relaxing. We had a lot of fog while we were there and thought we would be totally skunked at seeing many sights but it cleared just in time to see some great views. We took a drive further down the coast to the 3 capes area and a stop at the Tillamook cheese factory for a tour and ice cream. Dave had a cold and was a real trooper to still go see the sites and walk on the beach while he wasn't feeling very good. I guess it was payback for when I got a cold on our St. George trip in February.
The rest will be mostly a picture tour of the coast in no particular order.Cape Mears Lighthouse. I should give some kind of historical facts about it but am too lazy to look up what we learned about it but it was very cool! This rock is covered with seashellsHaystack Rock, probably the most famous Oregon Coast landmark.Saw this wash ashore in a wave and get left laying in the sand. I thought it was a very artistic looking pic.There actually is a lighthouse on that rock.This is what we saw a lot of . . . fog and outlines.We had to have a "Becca & Steven" Shot.Every afternoon the birds would nestle into the warm sand just past our deck, I guess for their siesta or something.The Octopus Tree. It has 8 trunks coming from one spot.These two were the views from our living room/deck, one with the fog and one at the clearest time we were there. I kind of like the fog look.
This was the best we could do at a sunset. Too much fog for brilliant reds and oranges but still very pretty! If you have never been to the Oregon Coast it is a MUST for your Bucket list!

Trendy Watch

We had a fun "RS meeting" on Saturday. I am the Ward Historian so I usually have to go to every activity the ward has and take pictures. This was a "super Saturday" thing. I haven't signed up for anything the last couple of years because. . . 1) I'm not very crafty and 2) I get involved and forget to take pictures. This year they were making these trendy watches that are all the rage right now. I decided to go out on a limb and give it a try.

I won't lie, it was a challenge for me. But with some help from those sitting around me I accomplished the task. Actually I had to redo it 3 times, then discovered it was too big and decided to give up. One of the sisters felt bad for me and offered to redo it. (there is one sister who always steals my camera just to get a picture of me . . . does she really think I will put myself in the history book?)

Yeah! I have something fun that I would never pay for at a boutique

In keeping with what RS is all about there was plenty of freebie stuff. There was a pie making demo with tastes of a most divine chocolate pie. (Maybe I will have Becca put the recipie on her cooking blog) There was a sugar cookie demo with the most delicious sugar cookies ever. There were quilts for humanitarian. And a yummy soup lunch. It was just fun to get together and visit with other RS sisters for a relaxed (well, once the watch was done) Saturday morning!