Monkey By Day, Batman By Night

So what kind of parents are we? The kind that take their kid out of preschool to trick-or-treat?! Well, that's what we did. Like last year, we started the Halloween festivities with a trip a neighboring Merrill Lynch office that goes all out on Halloween. That's where we stock up.  Pyper's favorite treat was a grape flavored marshmallow "eyeball" that promptly gave her a stomach ache. She stuck with her seaweed "candy" the rest of the morning after that. 

I always try to pocket things I don't mind her eating, especially since candy makers are adding all sorts of interesting things in the candies now like PGPR and TBHQ. PGPR is an emulsifier, it stretches out the chocolate so they can use less cocoa butter which is more expensive than this synthetic chemical. Who wants chocolate in chocolate anyway? And TBHQ is a preservative, but it's origin is butane. What's wrong with people!!! Why would they think any of this is okay for consumption?! Anyway, let's get back to the topic, the cuteness that is Pyper!

Monkeying around the office with "Clark Kent" and a bumblebee. 

The weather was finicky all day with rain showers, so we decided to take her to our local shopping center for an early trick or treat. She learned to speak up and say thank you, so it was a good mission.  Somehow she fit into last year's Batman costume, which came up to her knees and was tight around the neck. Anything to look good right?

After every treat was placed in her bag, she promptly inspected it and inquired about its name. 

We had plans to take on the neighborhood after dinner, but then the doorbell rang. At first we thought it was our first trick-or-treater, but instead it was a treat being delivered for Pyper by a neighbor that was filled with Hello Kitty themed crafts. She dismissed all treat-or-treating then and spent the rest of the night with her craft pack. 

We did finally get our first and only trick-or-treater that night, which is always eventful considering the hill we live on. 

 

Selfie Master

So my Half Brother David has this amazing reputation for taking perfect selfies. And today his skill shown as he managed to get all seven of us in frame, on the first try. 

We all met up for Eileen's 31st Birthday, and at the end of the meal, we had everyone gather together for a picture. The picture was taken by a friendly neighboring diner guest, and upon inspection, was blurry and darkish. The lady took a couple pictures. We then stepped outside and attempted to set up the timer, when David said, I can totally do a selfie. We should never doubt someone with legendary talent. 

I'm sure Pyper's expression would have been different if she had not been eating a lemon. 

Candid breakfast shot taken by Cousin Christiana

After breakfast hike at Cougar Mountain with a tired monkey, she fell asleep on Daddy while getting a piggy back ride. 

Rain or Shine

There's just something about sunny rainy weather that's exciting and fun. Love being back in the Northwest! It's nearing the end of October and we get another blast of sunshine. 

An after dim sum jaunt on Mercer Island. Daddy daughter skipping rocks on Lake Washington. 

The ducks followed her all around, she waited patiently for them to move so rock skipping could continue. 

And the next day, in and out of rain on the trail on Cougar Mountain. I think she may be doing a rain dance with those leaves. 

Quite the hiker now. I don't carry her on hikes of 1-2 hours, it's awesome. On this hike we were talking about all the leaves and why they might be on the ground. She told me because it was winter time, which was followed by her telling the plants, "go to sleep, go to sleep." Love this girl!

 

Pumpkin Time

Today was Pyper's first field trip with preschool. We headed out to Craven Farm in Snohomish. We dressed for Northwest weather, but we were pleasantly surprised by the day's progression into t-shirt weather. I stripped off three layers to Pyper's two, she tried to loose it all though. 

In the crowd of parents to tots, adults out numbering easily 2:1, we watched farm turkeys eat kettle corn, met the Fall Harvest Witch, ate pumpkin shaped cookies, frolicked amongst the pumpkins, played in the mud, and picked the perfect pumpkin to take home. Once she found it, she never traded out, it was the one. 

First, but not the last, trip to the pumpkin patch. She sat at the dinner table tonight asking where her pumpkin was, she wanted to eat it. 

Out of all the pumpkins, this is the one!

Having fun in all the pumpkiny activities. 

Mushroom Huntress

As I write this post, Pyper and Daddy are out mushroom hunting, they text this to me "Found a purple one!!!"

Really look closely here not to miss it. 

I missed it the first time, apparently the shoe was for reference color only. 

Back in the Pacific Northwest on our favorite trails....and as summer has finally transitioned into fall, mushroom season is in full swing. Never have I noticed so many mushrooms, even the tiniest speck of one till we let the 37" Mushroom Huntress out. She loves the thrill of the hunt and the discovery of new colors, sizes, and textures. Since I'm a "tree" major, we are going to have to start researching the fungi world. At this point we look, but do not touch, which works for our purposes.

There has been a specific rotting log on our walks that has large shelf fungi as well as a couple other species. It's her favorite. The other day, to our dismay, someone removed, and took, all the beautiful shelfs that adorned our log. It was a difficult teachable moment for Pyper, as I tried to console her while telling her that is why we don't disturb the fungi, so that others may enjoy it too. She understood very clearly right then. 

She's learning to focus the camera in a new way to take photos of her finds so we can look them up once we find a good mushroom book, library here we come!

Part 1 -  can you name any of these?

Part 2 - or these?

Part 3 - other finds like our wands and woolly worms can keep us captivated for a while. 

Yup, life is getting fuller in many ways, Pyper no longer needs any assistance in hiking. She did about 2 miles the other day over the course of two hours! We are on the cusp of loosing nap time also, but I'm loving the changes that happen moment to moment with Pyper, can't wait till 5 minutes from now!