Solo

This stage of life has been so hard for me...but, it has also been very introspective.  Who am I?  What do I believe?  What do I really care about?  What do I want out of life?  What am I capable of?  I never anticipated this "re-discovery" phase of life.  It's strange, and confusing, and daunting, and liberating all at once.  One of the results of this process for me, has been becoming a "doer" rather than a "thinker"...I'm not completely transformed, but it's taking root and I'm learning to "cease the day" more.

Ever since my knee injury spring of 2025, I have been so distraught that I couldn't hike.  Now that my knee is mostly healed, I've been wanting to get outside and start back up again.  I was struggling to find a hiking buddy with the same schedule and level as me, so I finally just decided I would be a "doer" and hike solo.  

I set a goal for the month of September to hike at least once a week, and I did it.  It was therapeutic. It was hard.  It was scary.  It was beautiful.  It was life changing.  It felt good to be proud of myself.

Wallace Falls

Rattlesnake Ledge

Little Si

Heather Lake

Bridal Veil Falls

Meadowdale Beach

Cherry Creek Falls

I See You September

I do everything in my power to hold on to summer as long as I can.  When people start talking about pumpkins, sweaters and leaves changing colors, I cover my ears.  I just don't want summer to end.  But then somewhere in the middle of September, I relax a little and open my heart to welcome fall.  

School starting means the dreaded 6:30am wake up calls and making lunches...but it also means being productive and living life a little less kaotically.

The cooler weather means umbrellas and muddy hikes...but it also means cozy fires, warm hot tubs, and hot chocolate.

And this September brought me a trip to Leavenworth to see my very favorite Author.  What is more fall than a rainy drive through the mountains for a discussion about books?!  It was magical.

Just like Mom (and Dad)

The end of every summer (and into the fall) growing up, Mom was always busy in the kitchen.  She had apples, pears, apple-pears, grapes, plums, blueberries, salmon and even some currants and gooseberries to process!  She baked pies, canned, made jam, froze, made juice, and filleted for hours upon hours and days upon days.  Well, I seem to be following in her footsteps.

This year my vegetable garden didn't do great.  My pumpkin plants absolutely flopped for the first time ever, the birds ate most of my blueberries, my peas didn't grow very tall, and even my zucchinis' had a poor showing.  But, you know what did do well?  My raspberries, plums, apples, and pears!  I can't even tell you how many apples we have--it's insane.

So I spent a good part of the end of summer making apple crisp, freezing raspberries, making plum cobbler, freezing even more plums...and I still need to do applesauce and harvest the rest of the apples.  Mike even ordered an apple press to make juice (against my wishes).

Plum cobbler was so good--reminded me of my childhood

So far I've made 6 apple crisps

All I can say is thank goodness Mike doesn't fish!

We entered the Spidey-Verse

If you had asked me at the beginning of the summer what Summer's new obsession would be, Spider-Man would have been nowhere on my radar...yet somehow here we are:)

Summer's new obsession = Spider-Man (aka Tom Holland)

(Summer drew this!!!)

When Tyson was home, we had the impossible task of finding a movie that all of us were willing to watch.  We ended up on Spider-Man--not the original Toby McGuire Spider-Man (Mom and Dad somehow got out-voted by the kids), but "Homecoming" the first Tom Holland movie.

The next day we watched "Far From Home", then the next one the following night.  Before we knew it we were at the theater watching "Spider-Man Brand New Day" and Mom and Dad were just as obsessed...ok maybe not quite;)

Since then, we've watched the two Amazing Spider-Mans with Andrew Garfield and the og's with Toby McGuire.  Now we can all officially have an opinion about who we think in the best Spider-Man.  

Here's our ranking:

Summer

1. Tom Holland

2. Andrew Garfield

3.  Toby McGuire

Mom

1.  Tom Holland

2.  Toby McGuire (surprisingly he got bumped from 1st)

3. Andrew Garfield

Dad

1. Toby McGuire

2.  Tom Holland

3.  Andrew Garfield

It's fun to have something to get into as a family--it doesn't happen too often! 

So, thank you Spider-Man:)

Summer Bucket List {take two}

This year Summer insisted we do seperate summer bucket lists.  

(This picture is part way through the summer.  We actually got most things crossed off)

So, here's some of the fun we had this summer...on (and off) our bucket lists:)

Kayaking at logboom park

We got so close to the herons and ducks

Lots of fires and smores

Saw Lionel Richie with Tina

Day trip to Whidbey Island

We saw seals swimming just off the pier!

Quick trip to Pike Place

Harry Potter drone show

Hanging out with Tyson

Stargazing

Stanley Park

Granville Island

Lee's jelly donut--the best donut I've ever had!

Evergreen Fair

Another great summer filled with so much fun--a lot of which wouldn't have happened if they hadn't been on our bucket lists!