Fall . . . . Football

Fall is officially upon us . . . . and it is a beautiful one.  We took a day last weekend and spent that day up in the mountains.  It was perfect!  We drove up to Silver Lake and started with a hike around the lake.  

The leaves were turning colors.  

The sun was out . . . but it wasn't too hot.

There were rocks to climb.

And more rocks to climb.

And then we got off the main trail and took the trail up to Twin Lakes.  And we went up!  And up!  And then you get this view of Silver Lake from above.

Proof that all of us were there.

We found this quiet little spot off the trail and played . . . . 

. . . . and had a yummy lunch.  

And then we read.  We brought some books with us and we each just found a comfy spot and read for a while.  Here's Sam and I snuggled up reading with dad.

Sam went and found his own spot and kicked back with his book.  

It was an amazing day!

Here we are on the hike back down.

It really was a perfect day!

In other Fall happenings . . . we've been sneaking in some play time.  Here we are playing with our demolition lab.

We love having dinner at a local Food Truck Roundup.  This particular night's dinner consisted of some yummy mac & cheese and the very best sliders you could possibly imagine. 

And then . . . football season has started.  We are both playing flag football again - and we're loving it! We've gotten three games under our belts so far.  Sam is a Bronco.

Here's Sam's first game - He's been pulling flags and playing some good defense.

I am a Viking this year.  You can see me in the long sweat pants and purple shirt.

You can't see my face in this photo, but you can see my legs - I'm chasing that runner with the ball.  And I've been pulling flags and playing some excellent defense this year too.

Here's Sam doing some blocking.  He's also been playing Center a lot and it seems like every time he snaps the ball, his team scores a touch down.

Here's another one of my games - I'm in the very middle here (white jersey and gray shorts).  I did some good flag pulling and I kept the pressure on the other team in this game just yesterday.

I really do love football!  I might even want to play college football some day.

And we're back to Sam's game yesterday.  He ran hard and had a lot of fun.

More football games to come - we're about half way through the season.  Yay football!

Sam Alert:  Hey everyone - Sam here.  I've loved being outside a lot this fall.  

Our day in the mountains was just what I needed.  

And I'm loving having extra time outside while Mason plays football to read in the sun.  My favorite place to read during his games is underneath my chair - in the shade and out of the wind. 

Ah Fall - - - please stay a while!

Long Weekends, Food, and Technology Fun

We enjoyed our nice long holiday weekend last weekend.  Mom and I enjoyed some time at Swiss Days on Friday night.  Then all of us got up on Saturday morning and drove up to Kemmerer, WY.  We went to the fish fossil quarry and spent the day digging up fish fossils.  

It was soooooo much fun!

Here's Sam doing some rock cracking.

Here's me and dad working on some rocks of our own.  It was a windy day - but good weather and not too cold.  

We came home with two big boxes of fossils - some smaller pieces and some really nice whole fossils too.  That pile of slabs under us was pretty much split by just us.  

Our arms sure were sore the next day - but what fun we had!

One more picture of Sam - he was a very hard worker.

We made the rounds of yummy ethnic food over the last two weeks too.  First up - an evening at our favorite Greek restaurant.  It is Greek festival time - and we've learned that instead of standing in the long lines at the actual festival, we just head up to our favorite Greek restaurant and order our favorites. A yummy dinner was had by all of us!

Then it was sushi night - our waitress made up these "kid friendly chopsticks" for us - and we were in heaven.  Sam and I have tried to use chopsticks before but never had much luck.  These were perfect - super easy to use and handy too.  

Who would have thought that I would turn in to a sushi lover?  And yes, I do actually love it!

Dad and I had a contest during dinner - I think I lost.  Let's see if you can guess what the contest was based on this famous line from a very famous movie.

"DO NOT EAT THE PISTACHIO ICE CREAM!!!!"

Did you guess it - we had a wasabi eating contest - I gave it my best, but wasabi is deceptively hot and spicy!  I don't think dad even put his bite in his mouth - he just waited for me to do it to see my reaction.    And for those of you playing along - the famous movie is Cars 2.  

And then, this weekend, I turned into a semi-grown adult!  Technology has officially arrived in my life.  I've always played on iPads, phones, computers, and any technology I could get my hands on.  But now, my friends all have technology and we've "connected".  I officially now send text messages and face time with my friends.  I even play virtual games with them.  I can smell teenage-hood right around the corner!

Sam decided he had to get in on the technology action too.  His friends aren't quite this sophisticated yet - so he got busy texting and face timing with Aunt Jen Jen.  She is always fun to talk to.  

Oh - how quickly we grow up!

Sam Alert:  Hey everyone - Sam here.  Dad and I spent some quality time playing games this weekend. Then he threw me up into this fireman's carry.  

What a way to ride!  Ok - Sam out - - see you soon.