Fall beauty - beaches, runs, soccer, friends

So much beauty and fun in every season, here's a bit of our mid fall fun.

An after school stop at Lytle beach.

We'll never tire of this place.

On our way to the car, I caught this shot of ferries crossing.

I got to chaperone Caden's class field trip to the science museum - one of my favorite field trip destinations as a kid.

A beautiful Saturday morning for soccer - we enjoyed all of the sweet families we met on the sidelines.

And SO fun to have Grandpa and Grandma come over for the day!

 We got to experience our first Sounders game - and were immediately swept up.  

The march to the game is something else - drums, chants, cheering.  It was amazing.

Our sweet friends hooked us up with these amazing box seats.

We were quite spoiled.

Look at Will.  Seriously.  Where does he get that?!?

Game time!  There's nothing like a Sounders game.  The crowd NEVER sits down.  This was one of our highlights of the Fall.

 I LOVE running out here.  Here's a few shots from my early morning runs.

Fort Ward - this picture doesn't do the mountains in the background justice.

Ferry, water, mountains, seals barking.  Bald eagles soaring above.

Seattle skyline in the distance.

Looking back at the water, just a bit further down I get a full view of Mt. Rainer.

Another favorite view of the water, Mt. Rainier, and ferries going by.

Uncle Chris and Aunt Julie Anne came over for our WETTEST day of soccer.  It was nuts.

Getting ghosted by fun new friends.

Our front yard.

An beautiful view to take in every day.

I got to catch up with this DEAR old friend one night - such a gift.

We loved every moment of the Cubs run in the playoffs.  Some fun new friends and fellow Cubs fans brought these over for one of the games.

Dad is so funny.  When Will said he didn't care which cup and bowl he ate and drank out of, dad had fun.  And Will went with it.

I got to chaperone Will's class trip to the local pumpkin patch.

Finding his way out of the maze.

With his sweet little class.

I enjoyed a beautiful weekend over at Suncadia with fellow PCA pastors wives in mid October.

This was such an encouraging time.

Clowning around with a few buddies after church.

Leavenworth trek

My family has been making this trek to Leavenworth every Fall for the past 10 years.  We've always enjoyed the pictures, and dreamed of the day we might be able to join.  This was our year!

Just on the other side of the Cascade mountains, it was a beautiful 2ish hour drive.

A parade was starting right as we pulled into town.

Epic Leavenworth.

 Such a cute little Bavarian town.

 We had quite a scare over lunch.  We ate at their favorite Mexican restaurant, and had no idea PEANUTS were used in their sauces.  Andrew ate an entire burrito, and suddenly felt very sick.  I immediately gave him antihistamine.  He felt incredibly sick, but seemed to be breathing ok.  He eventually threw up, and at that time complained of not being able to breath through his nose.  We contemplated the ER (which was right across the street), but decided to give more antihistamine and see how he'd respond.  He eventually felt much better, but it took some time.  We later learned that he was likely having an anaphylactic reaction, and we should have used the epipen.  Eeek.  Thankful he's ok!

Just outside the infamous Gingerbread house bakery. 

Crystal clear river, we could see the salmon swimming upstream.

Watching the salmon.

Playing by the river (Andrew wasn't feeling too hot at this point).

Next stop was their favorite little farm - our boys loved this maze.

And then it was time to ride the infamous cow train!

All six cousins on board.

My Caden.

My Will

My trooper, Andrew.

Ferry ride home - best way to end the day!