Pickin' Pumpkins

We decided to try something new this year and bypassed the huge pumpkin patch on Sauvie Island in favor of the new one that opened here in Scappoose, Bernet Farms. I love not having to go as far to get pumpkins and supporting the local businesses, BUT it was a big flop! The hay ride wasn't running at the moment, not that there was that far to go but still, it's part of the pumpkin patch. And apparently they didn't plant their pumpkins soon enough because the pumpkins were nearly all still green! We took forever looking around and looking for good pumpkins and finally ended up with 2 mostly green ones and one decent orange one.

The kids chose huge pumpkins, so hauling them out was quite a chore.

Daddy had to help a little bit too.

It was a gorgeous day and we did walk away with 3 big pumpkins for carving, so it worked out.

Neglectful

Yes, I realize I'm being neglectful of my blog. But when you're as busy as we all are, sometimes it happens. We've been keeping busy with all the normal stuff - scouts, cheer and taekwondo. Thankfully cheer is almost over, though dance will begin and take it's place. Makes my evenings busy, but it's a small price to pay for happy, well-rounded kids.

Sundays are my favorite day of the week. That's the one day off for all of us as a family. Last Sunday we all were feeling a little stir-crazy so we just decided to get in the car and take a day trip to the beach. I made travel bingo, which the kids heartily played during the drive. Who knew how hard it would be to find railroad tracks. Or see a plane. But they tried and it was a lot of fun!

We started in Seaside, where the kids rode the carousel, we walked on the beach (and the kids played on the swingsets in the sand) then got some ice cream. We headed north towards Astoria, where we FINALLY took a break to go visit the Astoria Column. I've been bugging Brian about visiting this FOREVER but we always ran out of time or were too tired so we've never done it... until now.

When we arrived the sun was starting to go down and it was getting a little dark. Here's the kids at the bottom.
It was beautiful but it's a LONG climb to the top. Brian felt a bit dizzy on all those winding stairs. I did great on the way up, though it was quite a long climb. Near the top I caught this shot of the glass roof of the tower.

It was a gorgeous view from the top. Windy and chilly, but beautiful!

As time went by we watched the sun set and saw the moon peeking out between the clouds. It was absolutely beautiful!

Next up was the climb down. Ummmm... I knew I don't like heights but I didn't know it was going to freak me out to go down. It was definitely a difficult descent for me. But I made it and by the time I got down the column looked like this.

It was a fabulous way to end our trip as a family. And hey, we've finally done the Astoria Column climb!