Cotton Candy, Jelly Fish, and Civic Duty

Chuck and I went down to the waterfront the other day. It's been cold here but we've had so much sunshine,we just had to get out in it!

 

Saw what looked like jelly fish all along the shore, this was one of about eight that we saw. I gently touched it with a stick and it seemed like jelly, we've just never seen any like this.

 

  We walked along the pier and saw a lot of crabs, fish... it was a busy place under that water! And we took a shadow selfie.

 

 

See the little crab? Chuck said it was a lot bigger than it looked.

 And it was pretty busy above the water too!

 

 Mt. Baker is about 70 miles north of us (the opposite direction of Mt Rainier) and was so beautiful. Just pops right out of the landscape.

 

 

When we got home Chuck asked Beth if she wanted to go for a walk. We're planning a trip over Christmas and they're trying to build up their stamina. 

 

 Chuck had suggested to her to walk the next day too. I hadn't been home for too long when I heard the key in the door. In she comes, had her head phones on, was bopping to the music, and when she saw me she said, "I went again!" Woohoo! Proud of her. Proud of both of them! 

 

We filled out our local ballots and they're ready to be dropped off.

 

 We had our Harvest Party last night: popcorn, cotton candy, face painting, inflatables, cake walk, and more than 20 carnival games in classrooms all throughout the building. There were a lot of people and everyone had a good time. Especially the child that went missing. Found him sitting in the middle of the giant maze. (lots of refrigerator boxes!) The volunteer told us that he'd get to the end, yell "Nope, don't want it to end!" and head back the other direction! One of his parents actually had to crawl in to get him. 😂

 

I was working so Chuck and Beth stayed home. We're not allowed to take pictures of all the people - so here's the Commons with one of the inflatables - before everyone arrived. The pink and yellow baskets on the left are filled with bags of cotton candy.

 

That's about it from here. Welcome to November. I'm very tempted to put some white lights outside. And inside for that matter.

This And That

We had 9 straight days of rain and when the sun finally came out everybody went outside! I went out to the backyard to take some pictures and the sun went behind some black clouds (see it between the trees?) It was so nice to finally see some blue skies!

 

 

Our church held it's second Trunk and Treat on Saturday. We usually have a big Harvest Party inside with games, inflatables and food, but when covid hit we did a drive through Trunk and Treat last year and this year it was a walk through. They had a little clicker thing and counted 1300 people in about 3 hours! Chuck had the day off so he was able to come with us this year. It was so cold, only 45 degrees, I'm so glad we brought thermoses of tea and cider! I'm not usually one to dress up and do stuff like this but it really is fun. At least 3 parents told me their toddlers had just watched Winnie the Pooh for the first time! I love their smiles and amazement at seeing us, but I will say, everyone loves Piglet the best!

 

Diana and Peter arrived today! They've been driving across the country this week and finally pulled into our driveway around 4:30. We drove them out here the end of last month but they had to go back to New Jersey to sell Peter's house and tie up loose ends before coming out for good. Well, temporarily for good. They plan to move back there again in about 10 years. But for now, they are here! It's hard to describe the feeling when all your kids live nearby. I read once: 'Having kids is like having your heart go walking around outside your body.' But then having them move across the country?! Some days the feelings were indescribable.

Do your kids live nearby or far away?

Random Stuff

Sharaya took a trip to New Orleans this weekend. As a single mom she tries to get away one time a year for just a little 'me' time. 

So Allie spent the night on Friday! I took her to her school's Halloween dance. Allie and her friends hung out in the center of the gym and danced a little, they ran around outside, there was pizza and cookies... I'm glad I got to take her. It was fun to watch her in her element.

Afterwards I was showing her all the pictures I took and in this one she said they were pretending they were jumping off the titanic. 😊 

 Saturday morning I took her to gymnastics. 

Now she's staying at a friends house for a few nights.

Look at this face!! 💖

Saturday night was our Harvest Party at church. The theme was Candy Land and there were games in every classroom: laser tag, cookie decorating, ring toss, bowling, a lot like you'd see at a carnival. 

Then the gym was set up with  large inflatables and there were hotdogs and chips... it's always so much fun! We ended up having more than 1500 people come through!

All the volunteers stayed to help clean up and by the time my crew and I cleaned and restocked the bathrooms, vacuumed, mopped, set the alarm and headed home, it was 10:30!

We gave away a LOT of candy!

One of the photo spots

 

When it was all over...

I just spent a couple hours creating gift bags for my crew. They work incredibly hard throughout the year and I can't thank them enough!

 Just a few of the 8 custodians on my staff

(FYI - he's 6'10")

I've really been loving fall this year. It's usually not my favorite time of year with summer ending and all the sunshine going away for 5 months... But for some reason this year I just can't get enough of it! The cooler temps, the beautiful colors... I'm loving this!

Do you like fall? What's your favorite season?

Too Old

Our church hosts a Harvest Party each year. Beth loves to go to play the games and get the candy. Chuck and I were running the popcorn machines this year so Beth basically had the run of the place. Before we left the house I told her this would probably be her last year attending the Harvest Party.

She is 27 after all. And the Harvest Party is geared for kids 2 - 11.

I was talking to some friends at work and they both said, "Awe, but if she has fun...?!" And that's where the controversy comes in for me. Yes, she does enjoy it.... but she's 27 years old.

If I want others to treat her equally, I need to treat her equally. Which means not attending the Harvest Party....

But, I know the volunteers at the Harvest Party don't mind if she plays the games and gets a few pieces of candy....

But, we wouldn't let other 20 somethings stand in line behind a 4 year old to try to knock over some milk bottles....

So 2011 will be her last year playing the games. Next year we'll try to find a place for her to volunteer.

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Our church hosts a Thanksgiving outreach each year. (Are you sensing a theme in this post?!) :) For many years I lead the Staff Childcare team. There are about 600 volunteers and we watched their children while they served food, bussed tables, took family photos, etc.

A few years ago we took a break and just stayed home. It was the most boring, uncomfortable Thanksgiving we'd had in many years! So a few years ago we signed up to volunteer again.

There are three seatings, 11:00, 1:30 and 3:30. We serve a free meal, family style. People are seated at tables and are served turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, and pumpkin pie. There is a short program (this year a ventriloquist is performing), then the guests can visit our clothing bank, pick up the family photo that was taken before dinner, hop aboard our transportation shuttles and head home. We serve an average of 1200 people on Thanksgiving.

The pace is fast and can sometimes be very hectic. It's been difficult to find a place for Beth to volunteer. When I was doing childcare, she would help there as a volunteer and she would often be the last one coloring or would still be eating her snack when everyone else was lined up for the next activity. So to put her there as a volunteer now, I'm just not sure how that would work.

But... we think we've found the perfect place! There are a few ladies that prepare appetizers. They sit at tables and put cheese and meat onto crackers. The crackers are on large trays, then runners take to the trays to the waiting areas for those who have come early for the next dinner seating. The Appetizer Room will be the ideal place for Beth! Sitting at a table, putting cheese and meat on crackers?? Perfect! It's slow paced and comfortable and quiet. The ladies just sit and chat while they are there.

I still need to contact the leader of that group but we're hopeful and excited that Beth'll be able to volunteer this year!

Beth's adult life sure has brought some unique and interesting situations!