James the goofball
He likes using my belt, it's his pirate belt. Or, if he's wearing the sombrero, it's a cowboy belt. He also likes Avery's swing.

We found a rec center in Portland with this super cool slide and water feature. We thought James would be a little freaked by the slide but he absolutely loved it. We had wanted to take Avery in the water since it was heated but she slept through the whole thing. we'll be spending lots of time there this winter.

She will just sit and smile at her lions.

We had the Andreasons over for games and decided to set the tent up for the kids. They watched Finding Nemo, ate lots of candy and popcorn and had an all-around blast.

Bauman Farm
I'm sure this was the first of many visits this fall. As soon as I walked Avery into the barn part she got this super sad face. I am convinced she did not like the smell. As soon as my dad walked out she was fine. Later that day my dad said "farm" to her and she made the sad face. As soon as he said "shopping" she was fine. She may very well be a princess indeed. We had a lot of fun at the farm, petting the animals, getting blueberry apple cider donuts and enjoying the beautiful weather. My dad and James had fun pointing out different shapes in the clouds.

James loves helping with bathtime

Avery and Mackayla - They were both sucking on the green bean like crazy.

Grand Columbian Half-Ironman
September 16th
So Ben has been training for this race for about 9 months. It was held in Grand Coulee Washington which was about 6 hours away. We left Friday morning (Ben and Bethany were going to stay at our house with James) and got to the city around 7. Ben got registered and we drove a bit of the bike course. It had these insane hills but we scouted a good place for me to park and get pictures. Our hotel was an hour away from the starting line but the race didn't actually begin until 10:15 am, which was nice. Ben did really well. He flew through the swim and bike until he hit a wall (metaphorically) around mile 7 in his run. He kind of collapsed on the grass but he was still smiling. His finish time was 6 hours and 8 minutes. I was so proud of him but understood when he said he wasn't going to do it next year. We got home late Saturday night and immediately went to see James :)

Avery was perfectly content to sit outside and wait for Ben to finish his race. The town was so tiny there was really nothing to do but sit and wait. At least I got some good pictures!

Even though we blessed Avery in August I kept forgetting to take pictures of her in the dress. Both Bethany and I were blessed in this dress so it was really neat that both of our daughters were blessed in it as well.

The First Annual Portland Pirate Festival
Once I found out about this I knew we had to go. It was held under the Cathedral Bridge and was actually pretty cool. I'd say 60% of the people were dressed up and James kept saying "they're all like me, they're pirates like me." They had a ship that you could walk on, a real live cannon fight between the ship and the pirates on land, fun inflatable ships to play in, dancers, singers, you name it. I think the highlight of the day came when we were about to leave. There was a little boy a couple of years older than James sitting with his family. He happened to have a sword and once he saw James with one as well they started sword fighting. James was chasing this kid like there was no tomorrow. The kids mom told me that he had been waiting all day for someone to play with. It was hilarious. James even had this whole stance thing going on. We are in trouble

Even the girls had fun at the festival.

She is such a sweet girl. She is always happy and ready to smile at anyone.

New Toys
James got a new Finding Nemo bed from Nanna and Pappa. Avery got a new chair that she loves. She's always trying to sit up so it works out perfectly.