November 2009

The emperor has new clothes again, and this time they aren't pajamas! Blake spent the night at Linda's, who managed to get him out of his PJs and into sweats. When he came home the next day we rushed to Costco to buy up similar outfits and encourage this new fashion trend. Fortunately they aren't all the same color so he won't have a monotonous look anymore.

We had our parent-teacher conference with Kyla's Kindergarten teacher, Miss Dammers. She told us that Kyla is generally above average academically and that she is the most enthusiastic student in her class. I think that Becky and I are still glowing a bit from that experience.

Becky decided to join Gold's Gym, which has a big kids play area and a cardio movie theatre. Within two weeks three of our neighbors and I signed up as well, making Becky the local trendsetter.

Thanksgiving was pretty typical this year, which was much better than last year when we all got hit with gastroenteritis. We went to Doug's in the afternoon, my Aunt Judy's in the evening, and then to Linda's on the Sunday after. On the Saturday in between we trekked out to North Bend with the Neels and the O'Reillys to cut down our Christmas trees and have an early holiday celebration where the kids did their first present-opening of the season.

Now I think it will be smooth-sailing until Christmas, because Becky has already done all of our shopping (though the kids and I still need to get some gifts for her).

October 2009

This month the leaves turned colorful and then were discarded by the trees, meaning fall is in full swing again.

October began with Salmon Days, the big event in the City of Issaquah. We went this year with the Neels and the O'Reillys to check out the parade, play at the park, eat unhealthy food, and watch dogs jump into a pool. Becky bought Blake a bubble gun that proved to be so popular that she went to get another one for Kyla to avoid a fight.

Soccer practice came to an end, which is something both Kyla and I really enjoy. Kyla because she has fun and me because I get to get some nice action shots.

Speaking of my new hobby (or obsession as Becky likes to call it), I went to the Digital Photography Expo in Lynnwood one Saturday afternoon, where I saw travel photographer Art Wolfe give a lecture and checked out all of the gear for sale, but managed not to buy anything.

We're starting to see the sick season begin. We all got sick at some point during the month (though mine was limited to a throat scratch). Fortunately no H1N1/swine flu yet, but I suppose we shouldn't worry too much as most people who get it have mild symptoms.

Halloween seems to be a multi-day affair, which I can appreciate because it feels like we get our money's worth out of the kids' costumes. We took a trip out to Jubilee Farms with the Neels to pick out pumpkins and then afterwards we all went with the O'Reillys to the Highlands Fall Festival.

Since Issaquah schools don't allow the kids to dress up for Halloween (don't get me started), Becky threw a costume party for Kyla's entire Kindergarten class. The activities included a sight-word themed treasure hunt and orange hair dying, which proved to be a big hit.

On Halloween itself the O'Reillys had a party (Les and Val dressed up too, making the rest of us parents look bad) and we all started out trick or treating together, though Kyla and another girl eventually split off to run from house to house and maximize their haul. At the end of the night Kyla and Blake left some of their candy out in the backyard for the Candy Monster, who exchanged it for toys.

Now the holiday season begins, though I still complain about Christmas decorations coming out before Thanksgiving.