November in a Nut-Schnell

Is anyone else thankful that their November wasn't as crazy as their October?  No?  Just me?  It was so uneventful, we hardly have any pictures from the month's activities.  On Nov. 4, I took the girls to Disney on Ice - an early Christmas present from their Grandma Diane.  The girls loved seeing the princesses skating around on the ice, but there were a few princesses the girls didn't recognize . . . oh well, there are worse things, right?

Then the next weekend was Providence Night at the Children's Museum.  Here are the girls doing their best to look tough, ha-ha.  We love the Children's Museum and even more when it is free and sparsely populated.

And for Thanksgiving, we went to Ken's dad's house in Montana.  We were able to drive there and back without incident and enjoyed a few days hanging out with Grandpa.  I convinced Grandpa to play a game with the girls . . . and he taught them that shaking the dice under their armpits was lucky 😂  It worked for Sophie - she was the winner!

While we were in MT, we raced to the carousel in Missoula and made it on the last ride of the night.  Who knew the carousel went 7.8 mi/hr?  Hold on tight girls!

And that's it . . . . can you believe it?  I am grateful that I had a month to focus on things we were grateful for.  I am ready for December . . . and hoping that we can #LighttheWorld.

I'm Thankful October is Done!

I've heard more than one person say it, but the last week of October was crazy!  And it didn't help that it was half-day at school all week, due to Parent Teacher Conferences.  Amelia had her gymnastics class on Wed. and climbed the rope, not once, but TWICE.  That girl has some strong arms . . . probably from her repetitive monkey bars and handstands!

Then it was Sophie's 6th birthday!  Can you believe this sweet thing is 6?  I can't.  For her birthday, she chose a sushi place for dinner.  Sophie and Amelia gobbled up the sushi so fast, I didn't even get to take a picture of our yummy dinner . . . but I did get this "great" family picture . . . his side and her side of the booth, ha-ha.

The next night was the elementary school's Harvest Carnival and the girls got to wear their Halloween costumes.  I have fond memories of Halloween carnivals at my school when I was their age, unfortunately, this was nothing like that.  There were lots of fun activities for the kids, but no one had taken into account that many people would be standing in line for these events and they had 90% of them crammed in the gym.  But . . . the girls had fun, and that's the important part.

And then on Saturday was Sophie's birthday party . . . at Skateland.  It was so fun to watch everyone skate and to watch them helping each other out.

Sophie doesn't like cake, so I figured an ice cream "cake/ pie" would be perfect.  Plus it is super easy to make, and a whole lot cheaper than buying one.  I didn't take into consideration, however, that we weren't going to be out our house, which would make it a bit tricky when it came to serving.  Let's just say that it tasted delicious, was super messy, and as for the crust?  What crust?  (I may or may not have eaten the crust at home since it was the only part leftover.)

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Sophie was excited to get not one, but two musical instruments for her birthday - a guitar and a harmonica. . . . and maybe someday she'll learn how to play them both at the same time :)

On Monday, it "rained" leaves all day long, and with it being so sunny and dry, the girls and I thought we'd help Ken rake up the leaves before the rains came in.  I am thankful that my girls like to help . . . even if their help didn't last long, they actually were quite helpful.

Ken carved pumpkins with the girls on Sunday night while I was at choir practice, so the only picture I have of them and their pumpkins is this one I took on Halloween after school prior to trick-or-treating.  The weather was so warm, Amelia ended up in shorts that day.

And with that, October is over . . . phew!  I'm thankful that November is looking less busy!

Mid-October

So, I'm trying a new thing . . . it's called "posting a bit at a time" instead of "posting an overload of pictures and tidbits".  We'll see if I can keep this up!

I was lucky to go on Sophie's field trip to Hunter Farm to the pumpkin patch, and even luckier that it was not only dry, but warm too!   

The first weekend of Oct. was Lacey's "Children's Day".  I've never taken the girls because it usually falls on the weekend of General Conference, but this year they didn't conflict, so off we went to spend a few hours doing crafts, winning prizes, and enjoying that it wasn't raining . . . and when it started to rain, we headed home.

Oct. 14 was Utah State University's Homecoming . . . and the game was being shown for free on Facebook.  I put on my game shirt and spent a few hours watching my Aggies come from ahead to lose.  Oh well, not everyone can be a winner, right? ;)  

The year is coming to a close, and with it, the joy of sleeping in and playing around on Sunday mornings before church.  Sophie built this cute play dough monster . . .

 while Amelia zoomed back and forth on this block base with wheels.  I'm surprised she didn't break it . . . and even more surprised that I didn't stop her from doing it.  For better or worse, my "I don't care" portion of my brain is getting bigger.  :)

Catching Up

Oye!  We've had a busy summer.  I can't believe it's the end of September already, but man, am I ever ready for things to slow down.  In mid-July, my cousin and her family came to visit and we all went camping in the Olympic National Park.  We played at Ruby Beach, where we saw more starfish than I've ever seen on a beach.

Then we went to Sol Duc Falls.  These pictures don't even do it justice; the colors are so intense and beautiful.

And we ended our adventure with a hike through the Hoh Rain Forest.  So much moss!

 I love spending time with family . . . and it was fun to have my cousin and her family come visit me and my family.

Our next summer adventure was the Schnell family reunion in Montana - at Ken's Dad's new house, plus camping in Glacier National Park.

Due to little legs and endless whining from kids and teens, we only went on one hike, but we were able to see so much beauty just driving through the park.

 The chipmunks were a bit too friendly ;)

And the water - so blue!

 We went swimming at LoLo Hot Springs . . .

 And cooked and laughed together.

 It was definitely time well spent.

After we were back, I took the girls to pick blueberries,

 treated our neighbors (and the girl's best friends) to ice cream before they moved,

 hosted a neighborhood water balloon fight (balloons courtesy of the neighbor),

 and took the girls to the SW Washington Fair.  The girl's favorite part was the animals :)

We did a few miles together on our bikes on the Chehalis Western Trail,

 watched the eclipse (courtesy of glasses from a neighbor (we have the best neighbors)), 

and then the girls and I went to Portland for a few days to hang out with our friends, the Bullocks.  The girls and I had fun shopping, splashing in the river, and playing on the Bullock's swing set and trampoline.  And eating ice cream sundaes made especially for them by Burt Bullock.

Ken had to work on Labor Day, so we did our annual beach trip on the Saturday before.  We were blessed with sunshine, blue skies, and it was only mildly cold - hence the fleece I'm wearing and the long sleeves Ken has on.  The girls do not seem to mind the cold - they  must be from the NW ;)

 The girls were excited that it was windy enough to fly their kites.

On Labor Day, I took the girls to hike the Sequalitchew Trail, near Dupont.  It is 1 1/2 miles each way, but it is a flat path and ends at the Sound.  I thought the girls would love playing in the water since it was so hot outside, but there was "too much seaweed", ha-ha.  So they played on the rocks instead.

School started for Amelia on Sept. 6 - 2nd Grade - I can hardly believe it.  I think she is liking it so far . . . keeping our fingers crossed that the enthusiasm will continue :)

Sophia is repeating Kindergarten, but with a new teacher.  Some days she likes it, some days she wishes she was in 1st Grade with her friends.  Hopefully it will be a good year for her as well.

Then it was my turn for some fun - without the kids.  I flew to UT for 6 days to do the Time Out For Women conference in Logan - time spent with childhood friends, while getting inspired and uplifted, 

help my Dad de-clutter a bit at his house (pardon the bad selfie - neither my Dad nor I are very good at it, ha-ha), 

 and relax, including eating UT ice cream with my niece and nephew.

 The next weekend was Sophie's tap class,

 a free night's stay at the McMenamin's in Bothell (courtesy of Ken's Dad)

where the girls LOVED swimming in the shallow, warm, salty water,

then we headed home in time for the Primary Program - my favorite time of the year.  My good neighbor bought these cute matching dresses for the girls after we invited her to come see the girls in the Primary Program.  Such thoughtful neighbors we have!

And that's our summer in a nut-Schnell!