Making blackberry jam

We picked these blackberries along the side of the road in our neighborhood and made four jars of blackberry jam.

Sunny afternoon at Bainbridge Island

We have had a busy September. It's hard to believe that the month is almost over...but the return of the grey skies and rain is a sure sign that our beautiful summer is coming to an end. School is back in session, April's new business is ramping up, and we are getting used to our new routine. As you can probably tell from the lack of posts here over the past couple of weeks, we haven't had a lot of time to spare!

On the 13th, we celebrated my birthday with a group of friends at Lake Sammamish State Park. Most of them were transplants from Milwaukee (many of whom were former colleagues of mine), who had found their way out to Seattle over the past couple of years. The kids had lots of fun building sand castles on the beach and flying kites, while the grown-ups swapped stories about their relocations. I got a Wii (yessss!) which has been a ton of fun to play around with, although Nora has managed to humble me at several of the games already. My favorite so far is the golf game, because I can get the little cartoon guy to actually hit the ball straight: a feat I am incapable of in real life. Several of you who have seen me (try to) golf in the past have been witness to this.

Last weekend we spent a sunny afternoon across the water on Bainbridge Island. Nora spent the majority of the ferry ride chatting up the other passengers, and got a chance to talk to Uncle Eric who called from Argentina. After a stop at a great gluten-free bakery, we took a walk around the town and the marina. The blackberries are in season now, and they seem to be everywhere. The ones we saw on the island were the biggest ones we have seen so far.

A Quick Update

Time has been flying by around here so I wanted to make sure I caught everyone up on the happenings.

School has started for both Mommy and Nora. Nora is loving being in "The Big Kid Room" as she calls it. She is doing extremely well, but we've heard a little feedback that she needs to work on not being so bossy. Gosh, I can't imagine where she gets that.

Nic is pulling himself up on anything and everything and traveling around to the best of his abilities. He's had quite a few crash boom bangs on his little noggin. This morning, he fell right between the toilet and cabinet and wedged his head between the two. He is just taking off in every area of motor development. Unfortunately, he has been extremely crabby lately and pulling at his ears. We have an appointment tomorrow afternoon to have them looked at. He still does not have any teeth that have shown themselves.

We'll keep you posted.