Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from Woodinville!

It was a pretty quiet evening around here.  The trick-or-treaters came and went; although we didn't get as many as we have gotten in the past.  The kids in the neighborhood must be growing up, or don't think the LONG, windy driveway is worth the trip!  However, considering that we give out full-size candy bars, let them be re-assured it is worth the trip!  We closed up shop around 8pm and took Indy out for her walk -- hoping to miss everyone.  That was the not the case however, the neighborhoods were very active and busy -- the kids all looked like they were done, but they were having a good time goofing off with their friends.  It was a perfect evening -- warmish, dry, and fairly clear...with just a hit a fog starting to form.  Indy thought all of the extra activity was great!  She had a look on her face that said, "WOW, there are never this many people out on my dog walk!".  Lucky little dog!

Remlinger Farm

Today we headed out to the Remlinger Farm with friends.  Our friends are new to the area and wanted to check out a local pumpkin patch.  Remlinger Farm is located in Carnation, right next to the Tolt River that we visit all of the time.  However, we had never been, so this was a fun opportunity to go check it out.

It was a pretty damp day -- while it wasn't actually raining, you can tell it had rained recently because there were mud puddles everywhere and the kids LOVED them.  Plus, since there was no real sun to speak of, it was a bit chilly.  That's okay though, we all had a great time and we found some great pumpkins for them to carve this week.

Afterwards, we headed to the Tolt-Macdonald Park to show them the suspension bridge that Jared loves. We also checked out the yurts and walked along the river for a bit.  It was a decent enough day to get out and walk about -- I should have taken a cue from the kids and wore my stocking hat!

It was a good day and fun to spend time with friends!

Size Does Matter

Just so you can get an idea of how BIG out leaves are, see the following picture.  On the left, you have a big leaf Maple Leaf and on the right, this is a Cottonwood Leaf.  In the middle, there is a DVD -- so you can get an idea of how LARGE these leaves are.  It is pretty spectacular when you think about it.

 



And of course, they are still pretty cool -- just by themselves!

Fall Leaves

It is that time of year -- FALL!  When it gets to be fall, we just try to stay ahead of the falling leaves which isn't easy considering how many BIG trees we have in our backyard.  It is a race each weekend to find the driest day to get everything cleaned up -- only to have it looking like we did nothing in now time whatsoever.

 

These are most definitely the BEFORE pictures...

Even the bird bath gets the leaves treatment. 

 You can see how deep the leaves are in these two photos...

And of course, Indy has to be involved.  The funny this is that we didn't even have her pose for this picture, this is just her doing what she does normally.

And now a few after pictures.  This first one is of the front yard...

The yard looks so much better, but it is only temporary.

 

See what we mean...there are still LOTS more to fall! 

 

Happy Anniversary to US!

Our 11th Wedding Anniversary was this weekend.  Instead of going out to celebrate like we normally do, Kristina signed us up for a Seattle Eating Tour.  The tour is through White Mustache Urban Adventure Co.  We chose the two-hour tour and it was PERFECTION.  It starts off with Bryce picking you up and chauffeuring you around to all of the destinations.  You can customize it as much or as little as you want -- we decided to let Bryce do the organizing and planning (he is the expert)!  All we did was hop in the car and eat.  It was a perfect evening!

EATING TOUR:
Stop 1.  Miyabi 45th - Wallingford.
Menu:  Chef Soma's shishito suage peppers and handmade soba bowls with tempura shrimp paired with Masumo sake.
http://miyabi45th.com

Stop 2. Dot's Delicatessen - Fremont.
Menu:  lamb shank with a frisee salad paired with glasses of Bordeaux.
http://dotsdelicatessen.com

Stop 3. Grub - Queen Anne.
Menu:  clams and housemade chorizo and roasted kale and cauliflower salad paired with glasses of Proletariat's 2011 Rose.
http://www.letsgogrub.com, http://proletariatwines.com

Stop 4. Cantinetta - Wallingford.
Menu:  Handmade sweet potato gnocchi with house-cured soppressata, tomato and olives. This was paired with Loschi's Super Tuscan Sangiovese. For dessert, you had zeppole filled with Nutella, rolled in ginger-infused sugar, and served with mascarpone cheese.
http://www.cantinettaseattle.com

Septic System Service

Living in Woodinville is a little bit different than living in Gilbert.  In Woodinville, we are not on the city sewer, we have a septic system.  Being that we are a little new to this whole process, we are learning as we go.  Before we bought the house (almost three years ago now) -- the previous owners had the septic system serviced and pumped (Jared watched it all), but since then, we haven't done any maintenance.  If you do your research, you hear everything from "you never have to service it unless there is a problem" to "it needs to be done yearly".  Not knowing the right answer, we decided that now might be a good time to do it.

We have three tanks that provide three separate stages to the entire process.  From what the people servicing it said, our timing was good.  While everything was working, there were signs that it needed to be pumped (we'll spare you the details).  That being said, the septic system is not something that we want to fail, so it looks like we will be on a three year plan for now and into the future.

Another item checked off the list...for three years!

September Rain

Well our blog posts slowed down after we took a couple of days off in the middle of September.  That's because we had a weird storm system come through and stay for a while so it put a damper on some of our activities.  Normally the rain storms like these arrive in November instead of September.  It isn't a big deal though -- we have been super busy with work (both of us), so we were thankful to be able to rest on the weekends.  That being said, our September rain total was 4.95".  Weather.com reports that our average for September is 2.6" of rain, so we definitely got more rain than normal -- whatever normal is.  Happy Fall!