The A-Team: October 2008

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Pumpkin Patch

Last week we went to the Terrebonne Pumpkin Patch with Aunt Katie and the Swan Family. The Pumpkin Patch is so cool. It has a HUGE corn maze, pumpkin patch, pumpkin cannon, a huge pirate ship made out of hay, petting zoo, hay rides, archery, train ride, little market, and haunted house. This is all on a farm at the base of Smith Rock. Andrew and I have been going every year since we lived in Bend and this year we got to bring Ayden for his first Pumpkin Patch. We all had a great time. Enjoy the pictures everyone!!!

My little Pumpkin!!!

Petting the goats.

Pumpkin Canon!!!!

Ayden with Smith Rock in the background.

This was a pirate ship made of HAY!!

Getting tired! Had to take a break from all the fun.

Elias and Ayden are best buddies.

Ayden, Daddy, and Smith Rock

Aunt Katie picking out a little pumpkin for Ayden at the little market.

Mommy and Ayden on the pirate ship.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Recap on Ayden's first summer

Before we post our fall pictures, I wanted to share with everyone our summer memories. It was such a fun summer! We took Ayden EVERYWHERE! I think that it's pretty cool that as a 4-6 month old baby he got to go camping 5 times, attend 3 concerts, see Crater Lake, see two waterfalls, hike 2 buttes, see some caves, go to the beach, garden with Dad, see the Painted Hills, go to the Sister's Quilt Show, stay in a cabin on the Metlious River, and spend time with so many people that love him. Some kids don't get to experience that in a lifetime! We are very lucky to live in Oregon where we can do all this. Here are some pictures of Ayden's first summer.

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Grocery shopping in Egypt

For the past few months Alyson has been doing secret shops for a local grocery store (I can't tell you where otherwise they wouldn't be "secret shops"). It has it's upsides and it's downsides. It pays pretty well, especially since we are going to the grocery store about three times a week anyway, but sometimes we have have to drive all the way to Egypt and back just to get some veggies. Ok, we don't really have to go all the way to Egypt, but driving 2 hrs one way to the store can make it seem like we are. Thankfully, Aly gets paid hourly for the drive and gets reimbursed for gas. So, last week she asked if I wanted to go with her and of course I was overwhelmed with excitement, so I said yes. The deal, however, was we got to stop and take pictures along the way. These pictures our from that trip at this little park where we ate lunch before we headed back home. Earlier that week I purchased a new lens in Portland off Craigslist, which these pics are shot through. The lens really isn't that nice, it's just a 50mm fixed lens (no zoom), but the widest aperture opens at f/1.4 which is an option lenses usually don't come with. Anyway, these shots were taken through this lens. It can prove to be tricky because of the zoom issue, if I want to shoot a close up, I have to stick the camera 8 inches from your face. If I want to shoot a full body shot, I have to walk away from the subject about 20 feet. Fun stuff! Now photography is an exercise. Anyway, Alys just asked if I am writing a novel, so I'll leave it at that.....