Owen, Sara &
Andrew Hoelter

Say that, and strangers will give you candy! Unfortunately, Drew is now dealing with the reality that it only works on Halloween and his prize still has to be unwrapped and “checked” by Mommy. Hey, better safe than sorry, right? I found lots of substandard Snickers and KitKats this year, not to mention the Almond Joys.

We had some neighborhood and school friends over for pizza and trick-or-treated our neighborhood in a big group of WOUND-UP kids.

We didn’t get any great pictures of our kids in the hustle/bustle of getting everybody out the door without falling down the stairs or running into the street, but here’s Owen as a “lego guy”.

Sara made a really cute witch, but didn’t like her hat, so ended up looking like a strange graduate or choir member with messy hair. Here she is (in motion) with her buddies, a knight and a dinosaur.

Here they are in action:

Our pumpkins were awesome this year–Thanks Uppa and Grandma Judy!!

Hooray for beaches and cousins! The Hoelters, Watsons, and Wings x 3 converged in a (large!!) house in Lincoln City for some family togetherness. Ben and Owen explored and learned how to skateboard, and the “little” cousins stole trains and blocks from each other and were generally herded around by Sara. Lily smiled and crawled and crawled and crawled.

And of course, there was the beach! Sunny, clear, windy and a smidgen chilly, great for sand dune jumping,

And dragging around kelp,

And “accidentally” getting caught by waves!

For next time:

1. 5 bedrooms is VERY nice.

2. Remember the waffle iron and the dice.

3. Nobody eats salad, but EVERYBODY eats grapes and cheese crackers.

Now we all have to get over the viruses we swapped and send packages with left/misplaced pajamas, glasses and doggies back across the Pacific NW!

Here are some other favorites!

No, she hasn’t packed her bags for college yet… This was a test flight, landing safely in Daddy’s arms.

Photo credits to Owen who got to use the “big” camera, taking 4.5 pics/second!

Beautiful scenery is Baskett Slough NWR where we took a picnic dinner last night with chickadees, quail, geese, spiders and some deer. It’s been a beautiful warm weekend–love October!

Sara just woke up and crawled into my lap at the computer. I showed her the pictures and she whispers “I dreamed about those!”

Here is a short time-elapse video of each of the 167 photographs Owen took in under four minutes.

For the past couple of years, Peter has taken the kids to the beach for the last day of their collective summer break. This year the weather was NOT cooperating, but they braved the raindrops and climbed the big dune. I love these pictures where the kids look like they’re about to fall off a cliff into the ocean!

They specifically requested Pacific City so they could climb the “big dune” (aka Cape Kiwanda). Here is some great video of Drew and Sara rolling/falling down the dune.

There is no video, however, of Peter simultaneously carrying two small children up much of the 750ft dune.

We are back to school too!

Owen started 2^nd Grade last Wednesday where he’s gone for K and 1^st grade. He knows most of the kids in his class and seems to have fallen into the routine pretty quickly. He gives thumbs up to chocolate milk for lunch and being able to bring his own book for “free reading”. He chose a book of Calvin and Hobbs comics and is learning about sarcasm.

We are SO big!

Sara started preschool last Thursday and has her second day tomorrow (she goes M, T, Th). She did great and had a good day, despite a really short nap. She has been squealing about going to school ALL summer long, and it’s fun to see her finally reach this point. I absolutely love this picture of her! Peter captured her smile and that hint of big-girlness that we see more and more of.

We (Peter and I, my parents, Brother Joe and Brother Lucas) hiked to the top! I didn’t fall in!

Now, how many girls get an anniversary gift like this??

No sextegenarians were harmed in the making of this post.

Keep climbing…

Madonna the chipmunk can hold 2 grapes and several M&Ms in her cheeks at the same time. I think she’s had practice…

Dad, Joe and Mom making the final push to the summit.

Me and my Pa

The lot of us, TOO ***ed close to the edge!!

Joe and Lucas carried cardboard ALL the way to the top, but ended up sliding down the glacier on their shoes.

The hike was 9 miles round trip with about 4500 ft. elevation gain. The summit is at 8, 300 (and change) and the views of the crater really put the eruption in perspective. My parents are amazing! Where should we go next year?

We’ve had some late summer travel and big adventures for our littlest guy. Ironically, his worst scrape was acquired in our own playroom on his sister’s princess castle. He did get several thumps, bonks and bites but seems to be faring pretty well. Here are some of his missed opportunities for giving his parents a heart attack:

Here he is at Point Prominence, overlooking the Minam River Canyon northeast of Union.

Here is the lookout we climbed to the top of, with Drew trying to wiggle out of Peter’s grip the whole way.

His shoes were kicked off during the climb and fell “DOWN, DOWN”.

We also rode the (probably not endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics) wagon pulled by Jack and Joe, on the way to Sunday School in Union.

The next weekend we were in Sunriver with the Hoelters, in a fabulous house the the most intriguing spiral staircase. Here is cousin Jackson demonstrating the toddler ascent with his mom as spotter.

We walked along the Deschutes to Benham Falls, over a creaky bridge.

Luckily, Drew has a buddy to commiserate with,

and a big sister looking out for him.

Whew! Back home safe!