The Keene Family

We realized at the beginning of October that we were on a streak: we'd planned a camping trip every single month of 2018 - except November. So we quickly took a look around and decided to book two nights at Lake Chelan's city park for Veteran's Day Weekend. It was such a fun trip! We arrived late Saturday night (leaving after JT's football game) and woke up Sunday morning to gorgeous fall weather. First stop: tennis courts. Then we took a bike ride to downtown Chelan and just happened to be riding by when the Veteran's Day parade began. Of course we stopped and watched. Then we rode all the way through Riverwalk Park. On the way back to the campground, we stopped at the local bakery for treats. The kids spent the afternoon making a huge leaf pile. We filmed in slo-mo and boomerang while they jumped in from every possible angle. We took a walk to the park and then along the beach as well. Then we came back to the campsite for a c...

We hosted our annual pizza party before trick-or-treating for our neighborhood crew! (I was working in Seattle that week but, because my boss is awesome, she offered to meet up in West Seattle for the morning. So I ferried over, worked at Starbucks for a few hours, had a yummy Mediterranean lunch, and ferried home in time to pick up pizza and get my house ready for guests.) The kids coordinated a theme with their friends Sawyer and Jozie this year. JT was Luke and Haley was Rey. I love that they both chose characters who are strong warriors fighting for good! I was thankful to have another mom to join me in walking the neighborhood. :) Sawyer and Jozie came with us since their parents are out of town... and there was quite a series of negotiations to trade candy!

We ordered a personalized pumpkin for the first time this year... and it was more stressful than I thought, coordinating a time in our schedule to go pick it up! But we did, and it was cute, and we put it on the porch. I also grabbed two big pumpkins from Costco for carving. Haley had a master plan. In fact, she made a book full of pumpkin ideas! JT, on the other hand, hates carving pumpkins because of the pumpkin guts. He literally gags. So he decorated his pumpkin with metallic Sharpie. And then he told me that he's maybe getting a little too old for that anyway, and next year he'll skip it all and just put his pumpkin on the porch, plain. 

My friend Toni threw a Fall Favorite Things party... and it was so fun! We each brought six items that we loved about fall, like candles, coffee cups, nail polish, scarves, etc. Then we snacked and ate dinner and drank Moscow Mules and laughed and got to take home six new things from everyone else's favorite things. It was fun to connect with these seven ladies over the weekend.

I have always wanted to do a fall trip to the coast, and with our camper we now have the chance to do that. So we scheduled a weekend at Pacific Beach with our friends the Bonnells, and we had the best time!

It's that time of year! The kids are back in school, pumpkins are at the stores, and the smell of fall is in the air. We went out for ice cream the day before school started, just to put the final nail in summer. And then the lunch packing begins! 180 times a year... Both kids were ready on time for our annual photos before the first day of school. They were so excited for their teachers and their friends! We are excited to start a new year with these two - fourth grade for JT and second grade for Haley!

So my summer family photos didn't look quite right for our Christmas card this year, and I didn't want to ask my family to get dressed up for another photo shoot. But. Jim and I had a date night planned, and Ali was coming to babysit, and it was a beautiful day, and our neighbors have the perfect spot for evening light in their backyard... so I asked everyone to just change clothes and have Ali take our photos. I am soooo glad they all put up with another photo session, because I just love how they turned out!