The McPherson Chronicles

I've wanted to find ways to encourage service and giving back with the girls for awhile now but it seems kid-friendly opportunities don't come around very often. I stumbled upon a listing for the first ever Love Riverside Serve Day yesterday and signed the girls and myself up for an opportunity to give back to the Riverside community. It's actually a really awesome idea where organizations throughout the City request help with their certain project for the day and then volunteers choose which project interests them to complete. Our project was doing crafts and activities at a local senior citizen center. The girls were excited as soon as I told them about the day. The center was the perfect introduction for the girls into volunteering. The facility was very nice, the workers were friendly and their interactions with the residents were very sweet to watch. The residents were thrilled to have visitors and even more so to have the kids there. We spent all morning decorating ...

They look so grown up!

It might as well be nonexistent. That kid! Every time we have asked him what he wants to be for Halloween he has said, "Nuffing". We've looked at costumes, talked about ideas etc but he still says, "Nuffing". I even offered to get out his Odd Squad costume from last year but he doesn't want that either. Finally he agreed to be Catboy from PJ Masks and was even excited about the costume when I first brought it home. As soon as he tried it on and we all got excited about seeing him dressed up he refused to wear it and has ever since. (Anyone need a 2T/3T Catboy costume??) So, the kid born one day before Halloween is turning out to be the biggest party pooper of them all. We're combining his birthday with Trunk or Treat this year and I'm willing to bet he will be only kid not in costume. I guess we'll just say he's dressed as a birthday boy. A stubborn one at that.

The annual Dual Language Immersion costume party was this past weekend and we had so much fun! It was at the little café at the local airport and it was the perfect spot with booths inside, a delicious Mexican buffet and then plenty of room outside for the kids to run, dance and play games. There was limbo, hot potato, and some number games. The kids had a blast! Plus this was the first time they got to wear their Halloween costumes so obviously that was the highlight for them :) Princess Leia Princess Elena of Avalor Finalists of Hot Potato (they both won)

While we were in Seattle the girls ran in their first race. It was the Hometown Heroes Honor Run and it was a short little run (1K, I think). They loved it and said they want to do more runs in the future. They also enjoyed the safety demonstrations afterwards where they sat on the police motorcycle and watched the helicopter take off. I'm so thankful they were still able to participate even though we were out of town and am so proud of them!

Kevin and I got away for a long weekend trip to Seattle to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. It was such a nice trip with awesome weather, so much to do and see and a lot of relaxing. We absolutely loved Seattle. Some highlights were our Space Needle dinner, the harbor boat cruise, Chihuly Glass Exhibit, the waterfront and all the yummy food we tried (Ivar's, Biscuit Bitch, Pike Place Brewery, Top Pot Doughnuts, Vons Gustropub). We lucked out with amazing weather the whole trip. There were a couple hours of drizzles on Saturday and that was it! We couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate our anniversary together! I'm so thankful for our parents who helped out immensely by taking care of the kids for such a busy few days (there was Nutcracker rehearsal, CCD class, school, homework and a run to manage). The kids had an amazing time with Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Mary and Nana and we were so thankful for their help so we could get away and not have to worry about an...