Scarecrow Festival

This was our first time going to the Scarecrow Festival in Gig Harbor. It is held at a park. The park itself is huge and very pretty, it even has a garden. This was such a popular event which definitely drew in such large crowds.
We were given tickets so we could vote for the most creative scarecrow. These next three were the best looking ones. I voted this first one (Mother Harvest) for best scarecrow. Very cool.

Most scarecrows were very creative and I'm impressed by people's creativity.

There were several food trucks and about a dozen booths. We were drawn to the farm animals of course. We like petting goats, bunnies and sheep.

We also spotted a camel. Riley had not ridden on one before so he got to this time. He was a little bit nervous but the guy there was quite good with kids and made him feel at ease.

Slingshot. This was fun. Jacob helped Riley and they got very close at hitting their targets. They were throwing those little pumpkins, one hit the fence and it burst into pieces. That was cool to see.

Sometimes though at those type of family events the food trucks aren't really appealing to us so when that happens we always choose to eat elsewhere but first we made our way to Gig Harbor's Downtown that's right on the Puget too. Yay! Another gem, so pretty here plus there's restaurants and shops along the main strip. I also spotted a bookstore but I wasn't in the mood to stop by (what? can that be possible?! yes, especially because we were hungry and I knew Riley would really not let me browse in peace ... because everyone knows that one needs at least an hour of uninterrupted browsing).
There's a cute shop that sells a variety of things. I got myself an infinity scarf with halloween colors and a very cute cream cat mug.

I love to explore or revisit favorite places with my husband. Most of the time we end up liking the same things (except food) and it's really awesome that there's so many beautiful spots here to enjoy the outdoors. There was a beautiful overcast sky.

                                           God wants us to be alive and enjoy life and have it in abundance.

We went home a different way. I love it when things happen spontaneously. We drove to Bremerton and took the ferry to Seattle. Ferry riding never gets old ... seriously, it's such an enjoyable experience for me. It's calming and refreshing. Being out in the water whether it's on a ferry or kayaking/canoeing makes me forget about the ugliness there is in the world. The ugliness that's created by those who don't know Jesus. It also puts me in a place where I can ponder on God's creation and revere in it.

When the sky is showing off in this way there's no need to modify the picture. The clouds are what makes this picture so beautiful. I've taken so many beautiful cloudy sky pictures that I need to begin to print them and showcase them at home.

During ferry rides we like to hang outdoors so we can try to spot a whale or a seal. We've seen both at different times but not very often.

Hello Seattle skyline. I like you better from the water. Sometimes I still can't believe I live here.

Eight times out of ten, when we're in Seattle we eat Pagliacci (the G is silent). After a long day of activities and beautiful views we were famished. Two pepperoni slices and a large caesar salad (for two) extra dressing please, along with fruit punch is a given. 

Blessed to have been able to enjoy such an entertaining beautiful day with Jacob and Riley. Acknowledging these gifts and thanking God for the times we get to enjoy such pleasures.

 We gain perspective, compassion, determination, resilience,

and reliance of faith as we embrace and enjoy

the sunny and rainy days alike.

Praise for Indoor Play Areas {and the Puget!}

The last time we went to Gig Harbor we discovered an indoor play area that is also part preschool but that day the play center was closed. Well, since it has been raining quite a bit here that's where we decided to re-visit on this rainy Saturday morning.
I just have a thing for nice looking bridges even if sometimes they can give me the creeps as we're driving across them. But this Narrows Bridge is very attractive to look at in my opinion {I'm sure I'll be in awe of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco if we ever take a road trip to that area}.

We got to the play center and Riley immediately left us to go play. They have a soft climb area then they have a "market place" where they can make pizza, work at the post office, buy groceries, become a vet and a library. It's a very cool place. There's also a cafe where one can hang out while you watch your kids play.
Here he was making us pizza with cheese and lots of fruits and veggies for our toppings. I thought his strawberry orange asparagus cheese pizza was quite interesting. He's so funny and he was so serious too when he brought us over the pizza. Apparently pretend play is very serious business, lol.

We let him play for a little over and hour then we headed out to have lunch.

On our way back home we stopped on Ruston Way in Tacoma. Happy that the rain had stopped. This place is very nice. There's already several restaurants along this street and lots of grass to cop-a-squat at. There's also condo's and apartments and more businesses along with a french bakery and a new movie theater. This area is still under construction but when it's finished it's going to be amazing because they plan on building a spray area, playground, and a park which will lead down to the water. I cannot wait!

Jacob had seen the tail end of an animal going underwater and he thought it could have been a seal or otter so we were trying to look for it intently but it ended up being a duck, lol. They can stay underwater for close to a minute at least by what we observed.

We found a rocky sandy part and stopped to have these two skip rocks. Well lately, when we hang out by the water he will look for flat rocks to hand over to his dad so he can skip them. He found a super flat one and that was a big deal .... obviously. That's what the high five was for. That makes Riley so proud. He loves to help out in any way he can.

Then Jacob found a rock and said it looked like a boomerang, I on the other hand thought it looked like a heart. Funny how the male and female mind differentiates things.

Then while they were skipping rocks a man on a kayak comes gliding by. He waves and we wave back. Then he laid back and rested for like five minutes in this position. When Riley noticed how he was laying he said, "Look, a dead guy!" OHMYGOSH! That was super funny to us and couldn't help but laugh hard.

Ah, my youngest son has quite a creative imagination more so than his two older siblings did at this age. The things he says can sometimes crack us up or embarrass us so sometimes we cringe when he talks while we're out in public. Now though, we make sure to teach him that certain things are not meant to talk about with other people. That it's only ok to talk about them with mommy and daddy and his siblings when we're at home or in the car. I'm so thankful we make sure to model good behavior {about 98% of the time} even at home because we all know how kids are like sponges. They take in everything they hear and will repeat it at one point or another. Oh, but he sure makes us laugh ... a lot!

Our First Outing of 2016

For the first day of the year we decided to spend the day in Gig Harbor {just past Tacoma}. Sydna and Nathan chose to stay home and be warm and cozy. We've driven through here a few times but never actually explored the area besides, Jacob was told that there's a good hamburger restaurant and if you know Jacob at all, you know he will drive even an hour or more away to try out delicious food.

The Narrows Bridge is pretty amazing. I hope we get to walk across again but hopefully we'll plan it for spring or early summer.

We first stopped at the Gig Harbor waterfront. I saw several cute stores and about a handful of restaurants.

Any public place that has a nativity scene on display next to their town's Christmas tree is a town/city that has my respect. I mentioned to Jacob that this is probably a fun place to gather for their Christmas tree lighting ceremony. It would be nice to visit during that time.

It was a very cold day even though the sun was out shining. There was ice on all shady areas and as we were headed down to the pier we had to turn back because the slope that lead to the pier was iced over. We would have definitely fallen.
Riley didn't start the new year off right. He came down with a cold on the day before new years eve. He was being a little sensitive than normal.

We then planned on taking Riley on the Cushman trail. We brought his new bike, he still needs the help of the training wheels. He does't ride his bike often enough to where we can have him practice balancing. However, the training wheels are set a bit high so the bike leans from side to side which makes him feel he's going to fall. As we continued with our walk he began freaking out and said he wanted to go back to the car. He said he was scared. You should have seen the big old crocodile tears streaming down his face. Poor thing. And because he wasn't feeling well we decided to leave. Oh, well. At least I know that the pine trees provide a lot of shade and I don't have to worry about getting all sweaty. I definitely want to come back and walk this trail again.

After our trail fail we made a quick stop at Jimmy John's because a simple ham sandwich is what Riley will eat then we headed over to this so called excellent hamburger joint. We've noticed that a lot of restaurants here in WA are very small, some too small to where you can't even enjoy your food and feel rushed to leave because people are waiting to be seated. I've said this before, I really do not like to eat at places like that. Anyway, We found the place.

Lol. A bit grumpy because he was feeling sick and he was starving AND he didn't want me to take his picture.

But once he had some of Jacob's vanilla malt he was in better spirits.

Here's my food critic thoughts on this place. Good thing Jacob had looked this place up because he saw that besides onion rings they have shoe string fries. If there's one thing I dislike regarding french fries is for them to be on the thinner side. So Jacob ordered me onion rings with my burger. He knew that I wouldn't have been happy with those shoe string fries. Although they were nice their service was not great, it took them about twenty minutes to bring out our food. I took a bite of my burger and I immediately noticed it needed salt so I had to add some then I took a bite of onion ring and I noticed that they weren't crunchy and that the inside felt doughy. I ate three of them but didn't finish them because I knew if I did I would have gotten grossed out. The one thing I really liked about my burger was the thick slice of pickle that they put in it.
I don't believe we'll be coming back to this place. Who ever recommended this place to Jacob was way off about the food quality. Let me just say that Red Robin burgers and onion rings are way WAY better than here.

Exploring Gig Harbor was fun. We saw several neighborhoods that we liked and the houses by the waterfront were so pretty. We also saw fairly new shopping centers that had most of the stores I shop at. We thought that Gig Harbor is a nice town. A town with that cozy feel. It's just too bad that it's far from Jacob's work and definitely further out from Seattle.



As I looked through facebook I came across a different s'more version. It looked good to me so I had to try it. You need half a graham cracker, a square marshmallow and then you cover them with melted chocolate and then sprinkle some candy cane crumbs on top. Let them chill in the fridge for a bit then enjoy. I took my first bite and boy, they are delicious! I'm not a big fan of candy cane and Jacob's not a big fan of marshmallow but eating them like this is so very good. I was told to make more. Jacob liked them much better than regular s'mores and I would have to agree. So from now on I'm sticking to this s'more version even for the 4th of July.