September was such a busy month that the blog took a backseat to life. For those of you who read the blog faithfully (yes, that would be you, Uncle Dan!), I'm sorry for the break, but it really has been hectic.
There's been a lot of traveling, so we'll start with that. First we took advantage of Labor Day weekend by taking a trip to the San Juan Islands. We traveled with our buddies, Justin, Franchi, and their daughter Valentina (who is about 8 months younger than Ruby) to Friday Harbor. The trip there was extensive because it involved two ferry rides and lots of driving. Thankfully, the girls traveled well and we all tried to take in the sights along the way.
While waiting for the Anacortes-Friday Harbor ferry, we were able to stretch our legs and hang out on a rocky beach. The girls loved it!
On the ferry to Friday Harbor, Franchi tried to get Rubes to smile for the camera.
Looks like both girls weren't quite into the photos on the ferry.
We spent much of the time there exploring the island, especially the state parks. We were hoping to see some whales, but sadly we didn't spot any. At least we had beautiful weather and cooperative kiddos.
One happy family...
...and another!
The kids seemed to like riding in the backpacks.
It was absolutely beautiful. This beach is part of American Camp on San Juan Island National Historical Park.
This is my new favorite photo of Franchi and Justin.
Ruby loves being on a rocky beach....
Especially when it means she gets to throw those rocks into the ocean.
Technically we did see wildlife. Can you spot the deer?
The girls were learning to be friends. They did pretty well holding hands.
BEAUTIFUL!!
One afternoon we drove up north to Roche Harbor, an upscale area with a resort and marina full of yachts. We grabbed some food, walked around, and surveyed the yachts (AKA picked out our favorites). Franchi and I even got to tour the inside of one that was for sale.
There were open bocce ball courts near the resort which ended up being a ton of fun.
The ladies went off and got ice cream, which we brought back to share with the little ones. It was a hit!
Meanwhile, the guys took advantage of a child-free bocce ball court. We learned that Justin is secretly a bocce master. This is your warning in case you ever find yourself opposed to him on a court.
Valentina walking around, looking adorable. Well, I guess she was also breaking in her new shoes too.
Back in downtown Friday Harbor, we stayed at a nice little cottage right on the water near the ferry terminal. It was a perfect location since we were able to walk downtown to the shops and restaurants. We had plenty of room and even spotted a seal near the balcony. I think Ruby's favorite thing about the cottage was the proximity to the ferry. She was a fan of waving to the ferries as they would come and go. It was adorable.
I'm so glad we got to travel with Justin, Franchi, and Valentina. We've been wanting to take a trip together for awhile and it was great.
And, that was just the BEGINNING of September.
The next trip was to Colorado to see Mike and Jess as they renewed their wedding vows and threw a big party afterwards. It was a bit of a nail biter because we traveled right to the area where the recent flooding happened. There was lots of rain, which caused lots of damage in their area, closing streets, flooding parks, and even cut off one of the towns completely. This, of course, caused a few glitches in the week's festivities, but (praise God) the main event was not cancelled and most things went on as planned. In fact, we even had sunshine on that day! I am still amazed that in the midst of such crazy weather, everything went off so well. Here are a few iPhone pics from the visit:
Ruby loved playing with the busy board Mike made for Brady's playroom.
There were lots of friends and family in town, so there were a lot of pizzas ordered the night before the big event!
Busted! Brady snuck away from Noa and we found him doing this:
Here's the happy couple at the big event. It was a gorgeous day - perfect for such a gorgeous couple. Don't they look lovely? They were escorted down the isle by a bagpiper and said their vows along with the other married couples in attendance. It was a sweet, charming ceremony.
And I thought our little family cleaned up pretty well for the event.
We got to ride golf carts into the ceremony site (which was a pretty awesome touch, I thought). Ruby loved playing with Jess' niece Laney all weekend and I had to snap this photo of them being adorable together on the back of one.
I made some cookies for the event to be used as favors. Here they are at the dessert table in a vintage suitcase. I ended up making several different designs that reflected some of the major things from the last 10 years of the Apostle's marriage. The crazy thing was that I ended up mailing all these cookies to Colorado and they (mostly) made it in good shape. Since there weren't any leftovers, I'm going to assume they were a hit.
And just a final, random pic of the little bubs. He's going to steal some hearts someday. What a cutie!!
The next trip/adventure was the Family Practice Medical Residency retreat on Whidbey Island. The Family Practice department hosts a retreat every fall, which includes the FP residents, their families, staff doctors, and their families. This year it was held at a new location: Camp Casey on Whidbey Island, which is about and hour and a half from where we live. Many of us were nervous with how the weekend would pan out since the weather report predicted lots of rain and temps in the 50s. Thankfully, the weather cooperated for a good part of the weekend and we were able to have some sun and reasonable temps. There was also a kite festival going on at the same location as the retreat, so we had some fun entertainment nearby.
You can't really see the kites in this photo, but this is our view from the main building. Not too shabby, huh?
During one of the academic sessions for the residents and staff, Ruby and I joined some friends to visit a local farm (they had free farm tours that weekend) that specialized in alpacas. They were so cute, especially since they had recently been sheared! I love the "haircuts" on top of their heads!
This rack demonstrates how much alpaca wool the farmer can get from one adult alpaca. They will soon spin all this into yarn (which they also demonstrated how to do at this farm).
There were several other animals there: pigs, chickens, geese, goats, but Ruby wasn't too interested in them. She was more into the large pink lawn chair. She quickly climbed in and smiled at me. How could I resist from taking a photo?
One of the perks of the retreat is hanging out with other families and their kiddos. Ruby had so much fun playing with new toys and interacting with other kids.
Noa was in charge of one of the group activities so he planned a field day of sorts. We were thrilled that the rain held off because some of the events HAD to be held outside, such as the egg toss:
Others games were just funny and made for some great photos:
I didn't get to participate since I was hanging out with a little one who had to nap, but later we (the girls) got to walk around the camp a little and hang out with other girlfriends. The funny thing about this picture (below) is that it was super windy and cold when it was taken and the three moms were trying to corral the kids from one end of the field to the other. It took what should normally be a two-minute walk into quite an ordeal, with kids running in every direction, falling down, crying, and crawling away. It must have looked hilarious by any onlookers but we were pretty proud of ourselves for eventually making it to the other side with all the kids intact. Ah, the joys of motherhood.
The following weekend I hosted a baby shower with a couple of other Navy wives for a good friend of ours who is expecting a baby boy in November. Unfortunately I don't have any photos from the event, but I may get to show some in the future if I get them from one of the girls.
In between all these events and travels, both Noa and I have been working A LOT and trying our best to spend the rest of the time with Ruby and each other. It's been a wild month and even though every event and outing has been memorable, I'm looking forward to things slowing down a little. Oh, and I hope to be getting back to the blog more often. There's more news to share, but that will have to wait for another post.
Instead, I leave you with a kitten photo from work. Thanks for sticking with me, folks.
