Another Outing

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We're getting good at these outings!  Yesterday was gorgeous, but pretty freezing. 

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The sun was lovely and toasty, but the wind messed it up and chilled anything and everything that was exposed to it. 

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We got out of the car and walked anyway, and I took photos until my fingers couldn't turn the focus or push the buttons anymore. 

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Ben, like most children, seemed impervious to the cold.  I remember being like that.  What happened?!

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Sweet, chubby, baby hands.

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Teeny, tiny flowers.

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Pretty weeds, safe and happy in their native habitat…

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Dew….

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(…bee doo bee doo…)

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We had great timing that day.  Just shortly into our walk, what do you suppose came to greet us?

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A train, of course.

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We looked…

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…and looked… 

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…and looked some more…

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…until we could look no longer.  There were a great many wonderful things to see that day.  Looking through a camera lens is sort of like looking through the eyes of a child.  Things look different, more interesting, new and pretty. 

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Simple dead (or sleeping?) sticks.

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This, oddly, was my favorite.

It was another good day.  I asked Ben for a big smile:

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Riverside Park

Lately we've taken to chasing trains, which involves taking the long way home every time we're out, and sometimes when we weren't out at all.  Today was one of those days.  Chris is becoming quite familiar with all the various train yards around the Everett / Snohomish area, and it is a great treat for Ben (and usually us) to pack in the car, turn on some Loreena, and go train hunting.

In taking the long way to Molback's today, we happened by this teeny tiny hole-in-the-wall park, which really consisted simply of a few benches, some sidewalk, and a garbage can.  The two great things going for it that thus made it stop-the-car-and-get-out worthy were the multitude of delicious smelling flowering plants and a fantastic view of a bustling industrial yard of cranes and other large machinery.

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It was only about a 7 minute stop, but very lovely indeed.

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Family Fun

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Chris and I find traditions very important.  There are just certain things you do at certain times.  We are not dogmatic or regimented about them – we simply love traditions because they are fun and provide a fantastic excuse to take a break and go do something together as a family. 

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Last Saturday we packed up Benjamin and headed over to Craven Farm in our beloved Snohomish so that Benjamin could having his first experience with picking out the all-important Halloween pumpkin. 

 

We had no illusions that he would actually know what Halloween was, or care about a pumpkin as anything more than one of about a billion toys covering the whole festival area, but we knew the experience itself would be great fun for him, and memorable at the very least for us.  We were not disappointed.  Mums2.10-08

Craven Farm is nestled in Snohomish’s farmlands (being a farm, this of course makes sense), and with the day being right in line with most of this fall so far (weather-wise), the place absolutely sparkled.  You walk into a clean open area surrounded by various barn-like outbuildings, with wood chips underfoot, and pumpkins and gourds of every size, shape, and color strewn all about the yard, along with chrysanthemums, a couple fair-food stands, and plenty of contraptions for kids to crawl into and over while parents snap endless photos.  We of course were among them.  

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I think at first when we put down, he was incredulous that he could run free, relatively uninhibited, and was shy at first. 

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That lasted about five minutes.  And then he was everywhere, which was Ok because they place is extremely kid friendly. 

 

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They even have a little petting zoo, so Ben got to see kittens, bunnies, goats, geese, chickens, and ducks, all of which he joyfully named “wa-wa’s”.  (That’s Ben-ese for cat, and really any other pet-like animal).

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We never did get a pumpkin, which we expected – by the time Ben had enjoyed every toy there, he was exhausted and never would have lasted in the line, even though it moved pretty quickly.  We packed him back up in the car and he was asleep inside two minutes.  We picked up a pumpkin at the local farm stand by our house, and he just slept.

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A very good recipe for a successful nap, if you ask me!

Store Blogging & Birthday

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Hi all – sorry for being so quiet, but we’ve had a lot of fires to put out lately, and I’ve been at the store most of the time.  I am still thinking about my encyclopedia letters – I have C picked out, but so far no D or E.  But it’ll come to me!  I probably won’t pick up again until after this weekend, as for my birthday I get two whole days with just my husband.  I don’t even want any presents, I just want to walk and drive around, holding hands, looking at things and talking about everything we love.  Likely we’ll stick around Snohomish then, because I love this little town, and living in it hasn’t reduced its charm.

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I have been doing some blogging on the store blog, though, so if I’m quiet here, chances are I’m not quiet there, and vice versa.  I think it might take me some trial and error before I strike the right balance between the two blogs, as much of what I want to share on the Weed Patch blog I would also love to share here, but is it tacky to cross post?  Oh, I’ll figure it out.

Anyway, these are photos of a trip we took to Snohomish before we moved here.  Ever thought of even moving here.  In fact, I don’t think we were married yet in these photos.

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Two sets of lovebirds…

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Have a lovely weekend, Happy Birthday to me!