Our Lil' Scoots is getting fast...

 
Rachel is almost 11 months and still no crawling-  she's now doing this all over the house.  She's starting to over turn throw rugs and follow us into other rooms.  We've discussed the idea of attaching a swiffer to the seat of her clothes to help out around the house!  She reminds me of a little peddle boat tooling around. 

A Very Washington Thing To Go Do.

No,  we didn't drive on the freeway and pass people just to slow down to 50mph,  though that would be a very Washington thing to do.  Nor did we don black socks with sandals (I really don't know many who do that, that's NW stereotype).  And no,  we didn't drive down to Portland to shop tax free....  planning on that in the future though.  The boys and I went APPLE PICKING!  In a real life APPLE ORCHARD.  It was my MOPS group  (Mother's of Preschoolers) Fall activities.  One of the group members has an orchard and graciously lets us come and pick to our hearts content and then eat lunch on her lawn.   I now have two bulging shopping bags of red delicious and golden delicious apples on my kitchen counter and some very cute photos of the event.

Having fun before apple picking.

Trying to win the tug of war.

This was the pose I got when I threatened that they'd have to get out of the box if they didn't look at me and smile for the camera!

They did all the work! 

The boys and I had fun and you may notice that our Rachel is not present.  I asked one of my good friends who now has one kid in school to babysit.  So Rachel had a great time strolling around the local Farmer's Market and then playing at Janell's house with her little boy. 

Just Hanging Around the House and Arguing About Whether to Wear Pants... Ordinary Stuff.

We had a gray rainy day the other day.... 

Ben,  you need pants before the boots....

A common occurrence around here.  Get mail, ride bikes in driveway.

They were showing off....

For their audience in the doorway.

1 1/2 more years and I get a tricycle!

The Walla Walla Fair and the Boys First Night Away.... Mommy did just fine!

A few weeks ago we drove out to Walla Walla and went to the fair.  Valerie had free passes from her work (thank you!) and they met us there to share in the fun.  It was a beautiful day and the boys rode rides for the first time and thought that was great.  Rachel went along in her stroller and made some noises at the animals and was otherwise her usual easy going self.  Here's pics from our trip below. 

Fair food! 

Waiting in line for rides.  We weren't sure if the boys would like them,  particularly Ben who is more reserved but he saw an airplane ride and immediately wanted to go!

The airplane ride!  It was so much fun watching my little brown head and blond head go around and around.

A dragon ride with Mommy!

The airplane ride again.

Going to see animals with Daddy.

Aunt Valerie and Rachel petting a horse. 

Rachel liked the animals,  she made noises at them. 

Popcorn!

Uncle Dana taming that wild pony so Ben could ride.

Car Ride!

I call this one: Hot Baby with Goats.

The airplane ride.... again.....

 To end our day we dumped, I mean left,  the boys at Valerie and Dana's house.  They'd invited them to sleep over before but they, or maybe mom,  wasn't ready.   This time we packed up clothes and their special blankets and left them to chase the cats, chase Harley and chase Uncle Dana the rest of the night.  They did great and didn't come home until dinner time the next day.  It felt so funny to Aaron and I to just have Rachel in the car and then just one baby at home that night and following day.  We've never had just one baby!!  Thanks Uncle Dana and Aunt Valerie for taking such good care of them. 

I Told Her To Stay 5 Months Forever But She Didn't Listen.... Sounds LIke a Daughter!

Rachel is now 10 months old!!!  I can't believe it....  Here's a few pics of her I took recently.  She's still scooting and is starting to get into things.  She loves to pull baby wipes out of the package and rattle a detachable metal piece from our fireplace.  She still loves her brothers, claps her hands when we say "yay"  and shrieks when playing games that involves the word "boo!" 

Wants to pull up!

Not sure about this grass stuff.

Scoot to the right.

To the left.

She made it!

Watching Daddy coming to "get her."

Loves from her Tommy.