Halloween - oh and a few other months of stuff

Most may have given up on this blog by this point, but after a phone crash and losing close to a year of photos, I've realized that this blog is important for me to keep up even if no one else is reading it. It's so nice to have these pictures and memories preserved. So onward.

So much time has gone by that it's best to just give a broad strokes review of the highlights. Thanks to Matt, facebook, and instagram for the photo saves.

August highlights: A trip to Tucson to visit Grandpa and Nana. Late summer fun, including at Oaks Amusement Park and along the shores of the Willamette. Summer fun run. The last month before Grady started Kindergarten. Theo's last month at daycare. My last month at work before leaving NCVLI to work as a contract attorney/freelance writer/stay at home mom. August pictures:

Clara and Grady both ran like champs

Grady's idea of heaven

Theo gets sprayed. Repeatedly. 

At the Willamette

So happy at Oaks Park

The big slide was a little too big for our little girl

Tomatoes

Brother-sister love

September marked the beginning of Grady's elementary school career. He started at a French immersion charter, and so far has been enjoying it well enough. The days are long for him, and he hasn't had many vacation days yet, so he sometimes gets a little tired of going to school every day. But he's usually in a good mood by pick up. Clara started up preschool at Grady's old school and is starting to pick up a few French words, especially in songs. Theo transitioned easily to staying home, although he could do without all the pick ups and drop offs his brother and sister require. He became a little more confident in his walking, but still couldn't really be called a "walker." His vocabulary began to increase a lot, especially with foods, animals and animal noises. September-ish pictures:

Grady and I got a few days with just the two of us before he started at Kindergarten. He wanted to go for a 3.5 mile bike ride and did so well!

Clara's version of a first day of school picture

First day of school!

Walking boot camp, Theo takes a break to smell the rosemary

Making Daddy's birthday present

We finally get some rain!

Very artistic 5 year old selfie

Adorable sleeping Theo

The blues

Practicing walking

October was a month of family. My cousin Casey came out for a few weeks to visit Portland, meet Theo and reconnect. Matt's parents came a few days later and stayed just a few days. Matt had a birthday. We did the pumpkin patch, pumpkin carving and trick or treating, though most of those photos are lost. (Sob....) Theo became a walker! We went to an apple festival and he was holding on to a bag of popcorn. He didn't seem to realize the popcorn was unconnected to anything. Once he realized he was doing it, he hasn't stopped. He's barely crawled since.

Getting close to walking:

Walking:

 Cleaning helper

Collecting treasures

The Shining imitation

Mini commuter

Halloween magic

Skeleton, Toothless the Dragon, and a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle photo bomber

Wet trick or treaters

Turtle power

The spoils

Waiting for grandma and grandpa to arrive

Saying goodbye to the grandparents

I'm hoping not to let so much time go by anymore between posts. It becomes overwhelming to post when I have months' worth of photos to go through, but I do love having this spot to look back on and to preserve the photos of these little guys.