Halloween was filled with our usual events plus a few others. Kayla requested to be Hello Kitty this year. Julia wanted to wear my old Christmas tree costume so I fixed it up to fit her. I think both costumes were a bit cumbersome, especially with the many celebrations. (girl scout party, school party, licton springs park and trick or treating on our street). They survived all that though and another year of costumes is over.
Julia’s kindergarten teacher has the kids help press cider every year. It’s quite the process but the kids all have a good time and he has the system down. This year both kindergarten classes helped out. They pressed about 13 gallons which I hear they will enjoy at different parties throughout the year.
The girls had such a good time at Day of the Dead festival last year that they asked to go again this year. So, we headed down to Seattle Center for the festivities. There are lots of activities and crafts to do there. It’s quite a neat festival. Of course skull face painting is an important part!
Julia’s soccer season ended with a downpour They were pretty lucky with their games and practices being dry, so it was hard to complain. This last game was played in a mud puddle and the girls were all quite soggy. I think they still had fun anyway.
Kayla has been asking to join girl scouts for a couple of years now. We finally found a troop that had some openings. It is a mixed age group, so both girls could join. Julia is a Daisy, Kayla is a Brownie. It seems like mostly they sing in their group. They’ve learned a couple of knots and worked on a dancing badge so far. We’ll see what else is in store further down the road. They both really like it so far.
The Girl Scouts of Western Washington puts on Girl Fest every year. This year the Taft girls went to check it out. It was quite fun. Kayla drove a robot car that some of the older girls had made. They each made a paper rocket and got to launch it. Kayla then added more paper to it to see if it could go further and it did fly 30 feet the second time. There were dance performances and all other sorts of things to do. It was a bit crowded for me, but they had fun. This is Kayla at the second rocket launch attempt.
We braved the rain and headed to our cabin with some friends. It was the first time having eight people stay at the place. Our girls and their girls all know each other well from Hope Lodge, and so they hit it off right away and played easily together. The grown ups even got to play some games uninterrupted.
On Saturday, despite the rain, we decided to get out and go on a hike. The place is too small to stay inside. We walked a mile or so stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail starting at Stevens Pass. The trail wasn’t super interesting, but the kids had fun for the most part. They were all troopers about the wind/rain and wet trail. They had a good time exploring this little waterfall along the way.
The second day we just hung out near the cabin and went to the river. It was incredible how quickly that river rises. On Friday afternoon it seemed so low one could wade across, but by Sunday it was noticeably higher. Apparently 4-7 inches of rain was expected in the mountains that weekend and it all seemed to be running down the river.
Kayla had such a good time in September around our campfire outside that she really wanted to do it again. Tim and Autumn were the only ones she talked into standing around outside in the rain to have a fire. I believe marshmallows were roasted and all the kids were out there for that. I was happy to be inside warm and toasty. I must say, the roof of the cabin sounds so lovely when it rains and makes for a very peaceful sleep.
Our friends Elenka and Brian were recently married. As our babysitter wasn’t available early enough, we took the girls to the ceremony part of the wedding. They got all dressed up and were very excited to see their friend Clara who was the flower girl in the wedding. These three had a lot of fun posing for photos after the ceremony.
The girls school holds a walk and roll (for wheelchairs) a-thon each year as a fundraiser. They gather pledges per lap and then walk/run for an hour. Kayla beat her goal of 20 laps and did 21! (that’s about 5 miles). We think she got the most laps for 2nd grade girls. We’ll find out in two weeks.
Julia did well for her first year too. She did 10 laps and got plenty of vitamin c as she kept stopping to eat oranges along the way. It was a really fun event this year as the sun was shining and kids were having fun. This year all the kids from the older grades are buddied up with the younger kids. They all came out with signs cheering on their buddies. I heard the younger kids did the same in the afternoon. It had a nice community feel.