I was able to talk Ryker and Kya into having a birthday party together this year since they still have a lot of the same friends. Also, I was nervous that since Ryker had just started Kindergarten less than a month ago, no one from his class would show up if we had it at our house since they didn't know us yet. We rented out Jungle Playland for a private party. We had to have it in the morning before the place opened so we had a cinnamon roll cake and caramel roll cake. We also had breakfast sandwiches and plenty of food for the grown ups that had to bring their kids early on a Saturday. I didn't take very many pictures because I was busy introducing our Anacortes friends to our new Edison friends and getting to know the parents from Edison. The party went great though and I'm hoping I can get away with combined parties for a couple more years and individual dinners at the restaurant of their choosing.
Opening presents at home
Alexis' party at Chuck E Cheese
Kya's Birthday dinner at Rhodes River Ranch. This place is amazing. I think we'll end up there every year. Ryker had his birthday dinner at Sakura, but wants to go here next year. Hopefully, we can find another cool place for Kya to go or we'll probably end up here two weekends in a row.
Adrianne, Ryker, Alexis, and Kya down talking to Dale Offerman the horse trainer.
He showed us plenty of tricks and then let the kids have a turn.
Oh yeah, cold cowboy hat sundae!
Time to ride!
Kya playing a little soccer.
Dale is so great with kids. He was really nice and let them ride a long time. He's one of those guys that it just happy to be doing what he's doing. He got these Nakota Mustangs out of North Dakota when for mere hundreds at an auction and trained them into these amazingly gentle horses that can do all sorts of tricks.
This horse is a bit of a celebrity. It's been on the cover of Horse Illustrated. The kids were impressed by that. I think his name is Prairie Fire. I didn't get a great shot of him rearing up with Ryker on him because I was taking a video, but watch for my next FaceBook profile picture change....It's going to be me rearing up on him. Haha. I've only had 2 profile pics in the 8 years I've been on FB. I think this will be a suitable 3rd.
He laid down with Ryker on him and then got back up. Kya wasn't as into the up and down crazy tricks because she couldn't hold on tight enough, but she loved the soccer, riding, and leading them around. Ryker, being the cowboy that he is (hence the cowboy hat with shorts and tennis shoes) liked the more extreme trick riding.
Birthday pancakes!
Now that we have all the birthdays behind us, it's time to get on with the rest of the craziness October always seems to bring.
Corn mazes
Gordon's Farm
Schuh Farms with her SJM class
And it's almost wrestling season again....
Last Mariners game for us. Fan appreciation day.
The Box Trolls and all sorts of crazy characters showed up!
Let the pumpkin decorating extravaganza begin. We carved, drilled, and painted so may real and fake pumpkins this year that we had to start giving them away.
Sakuma's during the Festival of Family Farms
Hayride: Thompson kids, Colton, Ryker, Kya, Audrey and Abby
Ever since Ryker saw the pie eating contest last year at the fair, he's been dying to do it. He thought it was hysterical. He hates getting messy when he eats to so this surprised me. He got all signed up and sat in that chair until they had enough contestants.
It was about 5 Nilla wafers and a plateful of whipped cream. He was a little hesitant about getting his face too far in. He ate a little to daintily for an eating contest.
He didn't win, which is probably a good thing, (I don't exactly want to encourage eating a plate full of goodies as fast as you can) but he had a good time and a big cheering section laughing and yelling for him.
Golden Glen Creamery face painting
Taylor Shellfish clam samples
Toasting Ty and Nikki's anniversary with their personalized mugs from the wedding.
Blue Fox Drive In!
Cider pressing at Padilla Bay
Crank it Kya!
Planting a new apple tree to continue the circle of life. Some of the trees in the orchard are dying so they will need new ones in 30 years to make apple cider.
I thought I was going to get off easy this year as both kids wanted to be cowboys/girls. When it came time to actually get the costume ready though, Kya wanted to be Rainbow Dash.
Ryker wanted to be a porcupine. What the heck is up with this kid?! Who picks porcupine? He wanted to be a Boxtroll which I thought was an amazing idea, but I was worried about putting him in a big box again. A few years ago when he was Tow Mater, the costume was great but he had trouble getting through the crowds. I actually think he was testing me because he was listing off ideas and I would say "okay great, let's get started." When he said porcupine, I hesitated. He says, "can you make a porcupine?" When I said, I wasn't sure, but I could think about it, he was positive that's what he wanted to be. I think he just wanted me to have to work at it!
It turned out pretty good, a little weird, but good. The best part was that everyone LOVED it and he won a prize for best costume. A lot of people stopped us to examine it to see what the quills were made of and to see if he was a hedgehog or a porcupine. He had so much fun in it that he thinks he might wear it again and say he's a hedgehog. I told him that we'd think of something better for this year. Kya won a prize to in her age group. On the way home from the costume contest, the kids were talking about the great prizes they won and Ryker explained to Kya that you'll never win one of those contests with a store bought costume. Haha, so true Ryker. I love that kid. He told Kya that you have to have something different from everyone else so you have to make it yourself.
Ryker's Kindergarten class after the Halloween parade.
Halloween party in Ryker's classroom.
Checking out their haul.
Last year, I traded the kids a toy for all their candy. This year, I didn't even have to ask him if he wanted to do it. He already had something in mind. He asked me way before Halloween if he could trade his candy for a Tetherball pole. Normally, I would have tried for a cheaper toy, but how could I turn down an outdoor activity for a mouthful of sugar? He then informed me that it was pretty wasteful to throw all this candy away like last year and that maybe he shouldn't even trick or treat. I told him that he didn't have to, but it was fun and the more he got the more he had to choose from because he got to pick 5 pieces to keep. I told him we'd put the rest of the candy on the boat this year for the crew since they buy candy anyway. He was happy with that idea. When we were trick or treating in Anacortes we stopped at Vi's and she was about out of candy. Ryker refilled her candy dish and she thought he was the sweetest, most generous little boy ever. We just let her think that instead of telling her that he was handing it over at the end of the night anyway. Kya however, was still debating on what she was going to do so she held on tight to her candy sack until we got home.
She decided she wanted the bow and arrow so she handed it over!
He was so excited to get this thing set up. Who likes Tetherball this much?! I don't even know the rules.
BBQ at the Crenna campsite at Raser Park.
Tae Kwon Do awards
Kya drew a picture of me one day, but then she was mad at me the next so she x'd it out and handed it to me in a huff. I thought it was funny because that's how Ryker communicated he was mad at me too before he could write and spell. A picture of me with an X through it means that I've made someone's shit list!
Edison Elementary 12th Man Pride
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