Buckelew

Before Halloween, we picked out pumpkins, ate pie and in general sweat our butts off in October (which seems so wrong) out at Buckelew Farms. The people were super friendly, the pie was delicious and the pumpkin/gourd pickins were great! We scored one for carving, 2 sugars for baking and three littles for fun - all for under $15 - all in all a successful day!

Ignore the man behind the curtain!

.

Not so impressed with the ride

Hair blowing in the breeze

.

The Haul

mmmm, dirt

What's the matter - not so impressed?

Who - me?!

I am impressed - really!

See - I love the pumpkins!!

Now check out my best Elvis impersonation

The following weekend when we carved it - he liked playing with the guts but was more impressed with the taste ;0)

The finished look

Halloween part 2! The look came together saturday with lots of burned fingers (hot glue) and lots of compromise. I present, Halloween - Bedrock Style.

It was a bummer that we were missing Barney - Hi Thad!!

Happy Halloween!

A preview of the family costumes:

hey Abby - wanna come play with me?

Why don't you let go and let's lose these grownups?!

Slow down!!!!

I feel like things are spiraling out of control. The laundry is piling up (no big surprise there), work poop is piling up and the blog posts are sitting in my queue waiting to be written. I think after this week work will slow down (now that I have almost 75 kids signed up and tutoring in the span of 3 weeks) and I will have some time to enjoy things around here and possibly fold an article of clothing. So, off we go, to a simple time of being a tourist and frolicking around Oregon. Maybe this post will be like therapy for me. Aaahhh, fun times with my sweet little family doing what we love to do, see new things.
.
After my fun filled outlet shopping trip with Amy, we grabbed a couple coffees and she dropped me back off with Ben and Reid so we could enjoy the pumpkin patch. Reid was not in the best of moods since we were pushing nap time, but we pushed back at the grumpiness and enjoyed at least a few minutes worth considering the $13 admission.

.

Goats

.

What's next!?

.

More goats

.

is your mama a llama

.

ducks

.

and duck butts

.

Not sure - maybe a water buffalo - maybe a longhorn?

.

Our own monster

.

Look out below!

.

Weee!

.

Reid loves a good obstacle course - with help of course!

.

Needless to say the day was anything but.......

Bend

We love Bend. I think we want to move there, now if there were only a job for Ben. Here are a few shots of Ben and Reid in the grass. It was a lovely sight :0)

.

.

The morning after the wedding Ben and I both went to heaven. I went outlet shopping with Amy (during which I bought nothing for myself and lots for Reid) while Ben took Reid to an air museum sponsored by Evergreen. It appears Reid is a natural in the cockpit which made Ben ridiculously happy (I think he may have cried but won't admit it ;0).

.

Ben's greatest thrill was that Reid instinctively started turning the yoke and pushing up the throttle.

Spruce Goose (Ben about died when he saw it was there).

I should add, Ben discovered the museum the night before while driving Reid around so he could get a small nap before the wedding. I was extremely grateful as I sipped my wine and enjoyed the scenery!

Vote for Reid!!!

I entered Reid into the Gap Kids Casting Call. Go vote! You can search for entries under "dafallins" or Reid F. and find his pictures. There are others, but the attached link is my favorite. You have to register to vote, but be sure to unmark the boxes that agree to getting emails, I would hate for you to get spam because you voted for Reid! Thanks for your support.

http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/entries/dafallins/16244162/

Oregon in October......

.....what could be better? Truly, the weather was perfect and the company was better. We went to Oregon to see my dear friend Alisha get married. She was my first real roommate in college and will forever be one of my closest friends, even if not in proximity. She married Ben, a football watching, beer drinking, game system playing man. This alone makes me love him. I was sure Alisha, who is quite the artist, would end up with some artsy man that wouldn't have anything in common with my Ben and visits would be awkward at best. Much to our pleasure she married someone my Ben likes very much, so the visits will always be quite entertaining!!!

.

We flew into Bend on Friday to stay with another great friend, Amy, and her wonderful family. Her twins, Caroline and Benjamin, are 2 weeks older than Reid. They all had fun swapping germs, stealing toys and overall, being toddlers. We had fun drinking wine and watching the chaos. I think Reid has a bit of a crush on her 5 year old, Julia. She was very attentive in bringing Reid toys and helping him fend for himself since he was the slowest moving in the group.

.

Saturday Amy and I drove to the wedding site while Ben and Reid followed in the rental car. We enjoyed the incredible scenery and great conversation, though I cannot vouch for Ben and Reid's conversations along the way. ;0) The site of the wedding was in stunning Newberg, OR at Vista Hills Vineyard. If you ever have the chance to visit, please do! We were in awe. I will tell the rest of the wedding story through pictures and catch you up on the remainder of the trip on another day.

.

The vines

Where the vows were exchanged

The flower arrangements were gorgeous orange and greens

A delicious sampling of cupcakes that were to DIE for!!!

The dance floor before the guests were getting down

Happiness

This nook looked so inviting, except that it was freezing!

More of the vines from the patio

As the sun was setting