Bananas!

Hello! Hope that this finds you well! We are thankfully all fine here this weekend and all the children are asleep! Mum, Dad, Tim and I have had a lovely Chinese meal this evening and a glass of wine - you will therefore have to excuse this blog!

We have been enjoying the sunshine these last few days especially as really we don't know how long it will last for. I know that it can rain and rain here and so we have got the children outside at every available opportunity! On Thursday after school, we went for another picnic this time at Discovery Park in Seattle and although we couldn't get down to the beach, we found a lovely place to have a picnic, a few games and a walk. Afterwards we went to Q cafe at church for a drink and then came home. The children had a great time playing with the toys and in the house at the cafe and Silas voiced his objection to leaving!

We had taken some bananas with us for our picnic on Thursday as they needed eating and, once we had finished our sandwiches, Dad asked Naomi whether she would like a "banana, a banana or even a banana". She is able to get a joke and thought this was very funny and was very happy to eat a banana! I had also taken with me some of the cookies that I had made for Silas' birthday which were a big success. Silas loved them and would sit happily eating his "ack-acks." I will have to make some more sometime!

Dad took Silas for  a walk to try and get him to go to sleep after lunch whilst Mum and I played tag and other silly games with the girls. There were men fixing the roof of the nearby chapel and they must have thought we were very silly!

In the evening on Thursday, Mum and I went for a pedicure which Mum enjoyed very much and came home with lovely shiny toenails! She is already planning her next trip when she comes again I think! We also tried to do a bit of shopping but were out of time unfortunately!

On Friday the girls went to school whilst Dad and I went shopping and Mum took Silas to music class. I had been awake with Silas since 5:45 am and was very tired, so after a very quick lunch, I went to sleep which was lovely! In the afternoon we went to the park for a short time and then I went out in the evening with Melinda to see the play "To Kill a Mockingbird", which was truly brilliant. The children who take the lead roles were amazing and the father, Atticus,  was just how I had imagined him to be. The play received a standing ovation at the end which was very deserved and we both enjoyed it very much.

Yesterday, Tim and Dad went to see the University [American] football team play which they enjoyed whilst Mum and I took the children to the park in the morning. In the afternoon we all met up at Melinda and Chad's house for a Harvest Party which was fun. The children wore their fancy dress costumes and Silas looked adorable in his zebra outfit that he is going to wear to Tim's work on Wednesday for Halloween.

The party was fun - the girls decorated small pumpkins and we watched a couple of large pumpkins being decorated. Naomi also made a brilliant scarecrow out of wood sticks and leaves and  Silas walked round the table eating peoples' chocolate cake!

Today we went to church this morning and then this afternoon Tim and I took the children to a farm to go pumpkin picking. We had a ride on the tractor which was great fun although very bumpy and chose a magnificent pumpkin! We also saw pigs and turkeys (lots of ack-acks!) which we all enjoyed.

Tomorrow the plan is to go swimming after school and maybe go shopping but we will see!

Silas has lots of new sounds that he likes to say. He says "B" for bump and a noise that sounds like Silas. He understands so much and will follow simple directions such as "put the pot on your head". He has enjoyed and got the hang of opening his birthday presents (thankyou!) and we finished opening them today! He loves his cars, trains and the cube that Tim and I bought him. It is fun to watch him play!

Well, that is it for now - I will write on Wednesday.