Our first Whidbey Autumn

It's the month of October and we are getting our first experience of the season here on Whidbey island.  This is the view of the "big city" of Langley.  I drive thru town every time I need to get to Millie's school.  We live closer to Freeland, but that town does not have the charm that Langley does. 

Fall colors in the trees and beautiful view of the water.

You always know summer has ended when you see the first batch of fresh snow in the mountains...

Dugualla Bay Farms in Oak Harbor.  I really don't know why there is a fake elephant here, but they do grow pumpkins.

Walking through the corn maze.

A few weeks ago there was a Scarecrow making party in Langley at the Fairgrounds.  I am so so happy we went to this because I had just as much fun as Millie.  Here we are assembling our scarecrow.  All the materials, including clothes, straw, cowboy hat and scarves were provided, as well as a BBQ lunch. 

A perfect day for creating our scarecrow masterpiece.

Millie's scarecrow getting  his felt face glued on.  We are anxiously awaiting his appearance and getting excited about bringing him home to show Papa. 

There he is in the left hand corner taking a break on the bench while Millie gets her face painted. 

Ta-da!  Our first scarecrow!

After carrying and strapping him into the car, Millie and I head off to do a quick tractor ride before heading home. 

Ahh...sunlight streaming through the windows on a mild Autumn day.

The most gorgeous sunsets ever!!  Thank you Mike for this beautiful picture.  Wow.

Millie on picture day.  Oops-mine came out blurry.  I have been neglecting my camera too much and am out of practice.  She was really happy about her curly hair.

Enjoying a cotton candy at the Golden Corral in Spokane. 

Millie is still enjoying horse riding lessons.  She loves to brush and clean Ruby.  I am so happy to see her outside and working with these amazing animals.

Yup, we are on eight days of fog.  Darn these high pressure systems.  I think this photo was taken in the afternoon and it is crummy to know 1500 feet up is blue sky and warmer air that is unable to burn its way through.  I can't wait to see my island again one of these days.  Happy Halloween and beware the vampires lurking these Washington woods. 

My favorite things about living in Langley, WA.

On July 1st we moved to Langley located on Whidbey Island in Washington.  This move would bring us a lot closer to Mike's job at Boeing in Everett/Mukilteo.  We decided that we wanted a slower pace of life and one that would be a great place for kids.  Langley is a beautiful, peaceful place.  For now we are renting while we decide if this is the right place for us. 

I will never get tired of the view from our house or as I drive along the roads here!

 

Another great perk is the seafood, especially the ones you can get for free at the beach!

Fresh dungeness crab provided by some generous neighbors!

Another favorite thing to do is visit the beaches.  This is Saratoga beach which is just a very short walk from our house.  The best is low tide when we can play in the sand and search for baby crabs.

Double Bluff beach is about 10 minutes drive from the house and another great place. I could spend everyday of summer at these beaches.

 

We had a junco bird lay 3 eggs in my potted plant.  I think one of the eggs was a different species.  Here they are looking pretty unsightly still.

...and here he is nearly grown up and looking more like a bird ready to take flight.

Mike repainted and fixed up Millie's swing and we found a perfect tree for her to swing on.

Millie still loves making her fairy houses.  The deer like to come by and visit.

I think it only rained 4 days this whole summer here in the Northwest.  (Driest summer I have experienced, so far!)  On one of those rainy days we love to spend the day playing with play-do.

Looks good enough to eat!

Shortly after moving on the island, I found out about a horse camp.  That was one of Millie's favorite things this summer.  She looked forward to that camp so much, we decided to continue with horse lessons once a week.  It's great to see her gaining confidence while doing something so fun.

Archery.

Making new friends while enjoying our first visit to the Whidbey Island Fair.

Mike definitely prefers commuting to work by ferry boat and then a 10 minute bus ride rather than his  hour and half to 2 hour commute through heavy traffic.

This area has an overwhelming amount of gardeners and farms.  It has been so beautiful to drive around and see all these u-pick farms.  It seems everyone has something pretty growing at their house.

A real highlight has been the time Millie and I have spent volunteering at the West garden located in Clinton.  Millie learned so much from the gardeners there while having an amazing time. They have taught her about bees, flowers, growing fruits and vegetables and how to prepare what we harvested that day into a meal that we share each time for lunch.   Most of the food from the garden goes to the local food bank here on the island.

Millie and the apprentice gardener, Alexa harvesting lettuce.

Millie and Alexa bagging carrots for the food bank.

At mid-day we always stop to share a meal together.  I have continued to volunteer here every Thursday.  Millie is now in school, but we are so lucky that the gardeners from this garden visit her elementary school every 2 weeks for a lesson on gardening.  The second graders, including Millie's 2nd grade class, are in charge of the school garden.  They planted radishes last week.

And lastly, we never tire of seeing a beautiful sunset at the end of a summer day.  Can't wait to discover what fall is like here.

First day of school in a new town!

Millie starts her first day of second grade today-September 3rd.  We moved to Langley on July 1st and its felt like a vacation.  Trips to the beach, gardens, hiking, swimming at the lake, lazy days eating ice-cream, but now it's time for school and a bit of structure again.  And with the first day, came the rain to remind us that summer is ending soon.

Millie is excited, but was nervous too.  It is the first time riding a school bus, we always walked to school before.  And it's her first day at a brand new school. 

Our neighbor came to say hello while we were waiting.  (The bus was almost 20 minutes late because the first child they picked up got sick and they had to get a replacement bus-yikes).

Millie getting off the bus at school trying her best to "ignore" me.  I am sure she will have a good first day and since it is only a half day, I get to hear all about it right after lunch!

June 2013

School ended this month, but a few days before, the whole school had their year end Field Day celebration.

Millie going down the slide!

Good friends from her first grade class cooling off with sno-cones.

We also had a birthday party for Millie last week.  She turned 7 years old!  We went outside to paint flower pots and of course, due to our lovely NW weather, the rain started the exact minute we went outside...

Problem quickly solved with large umbrella.  Most people use them for the sun, we get to use them to block the rain 10 mths out of the year.

Back inside for some cupcakes and ice-cream.

Opening presents.

And finally, Millie on the 24th of June opening presents from mom and dad.