I met Dave and Kaylene at Bel Square yesterday morning. Kaylene got her haircut and did a good job sitting pretty still and being pretty patient. There were many other little girls there getting their hair cut and she found them very interesting. We think she looks very spiffy! After our haircut there was some play time in the children's play area at the square and then to lunch. Very nice morning for grandma!
Nice photo of Dad putting up the outdoor lights. He is putting them all over a rather large rhoddy we have in our little garden. It's very impressive at night when it is all lit up. It's also rather impressive in the spring when it is in full bloom. 
I'm ready to go to our annual ladies Christmas dinner at the church. Good time to get a photo of the tree as well. The dinner was about 2 weeks ago and it was, as usual, very nice. Nice way to start the season.
Earlier in the month, I met Dave and Kaylene at Bel Square. We spent about an hour in the play area they have there and then went for lunch. On the way, we found lots of what Kaylene says are "Oh, big pumpkins". They certainly were big and here is an example. 
A week or so ago, this feathered fellow appeared on top of a tree outside of our condo. He just sat and looked around for quite a while. Really neat. We have all sorts of wild life around and it's always fun to see some. Then a couple of days ago we were treated with a lovely sunset. Always a treat to view. 
Back in mid October Martha, Zach and Augie came for a visit. Martha went to the store and came home with two pumpkins. Dave and family came over for dinner, so they sat down and carved them before we ate. We had a fun evening, complete with building blocks and eating yummy orange frosted cupcakes. 
Our son David turned 40 this past October. He thought it would be fun if the family and some friends went to Whidbey Island for a week end to celebrate. His wife found this lovely house on the water which housed all twelve of us. We had a great time walking the beach, eating, resting, eating, playing games, eating, etc. etc. etc. Kaylene especially loved the sand and sea shells. She kept saying more sea shells, while Dalene and I went looking for more for her. We had fires on the patio at night with smores and our meals were delicious. Big breakfasts, great sandwiches for lunch, and tacos with all the fixings on night one and then salmon and flank steak for the birthday dinner on night two. Not to mention red velvet cake for the birthday cake. Was a great way to celebrate his birthday and a good time was had by all. Dad and I just don't know where the last 40 years went!
It's hard to tell how beautiful this scenery really is from the photos. Dave say's you really have to be there to take it all in. This was the second part of his hike across England, he did the first half last year. He did this in early Sept. and didn't have the best of weather, but good enough. The hike was over a 100 miles and he did it in about 9 days.
The first picture is of Augie after his haircut and riding on the bee. He was getting all spiffed up for his birthday party which was to occur the next day. His mom, dad, and grandfather spent a lot of time getting the backyard all ready for his little friends and their parents. We made a bunch of those red and blue poofs out of tissue paper and hung them in trees, decorated tables and just got everything together. Every one had a wonderful time and all the kiddos where just great. For dinner we had salad, and pizza. The pizza was 36 inches round. Dave and I had never seen anything that big and most of the folks there hadn't either. You can get some sort of a sense of what it looked like in the photo. After most went home, the family sat around and watched Augie open some of his gifts. Such a happy little face!
We spent the last of Sept and beginning of Oct in Pasadena with Martha, Zach and Augie. We went for the purpose of celebrating Augie's birthday. More photos on that later. We did a couple of other fun things, one of which was going to Train Town. Augie loves this place. He is really into trains and their are lots of BIG ones to look at, as well as the one to ride. Much joy as you can see. The other thing was going to Santa Monica beach for breakfast. What a beautiful place. The beach is very wide, the water blue and as you can see, the sand is fun! We sat and talked after we ate, while Augie just sat and played in the sand. Place is really kid friendly and the food was great!
Since our grandson's name is Augie, we thought we ought to take a picture of this deli. It was never open when we were around, so we didn't get inside.
Our very good friends got married this past August and we were all invited. Martha and Augie even flew up from California. The wedding party looks so young. I think it's because they are. It was a lovely occassion. The bottom two photos are of Augie trying to eat dirt and Kaylene playing in the dirt in her lovely pastel dress. Go figure! Needless to say a good time was had by all!
Earlier this month Dave and 3 friends from church went on a week long hike in the Cascades. He had a wonderful time and as you can see they enjoyed a lot of this areas beautiful scenery.
Our friends from Santa Barbara stopped for a quick visit on their way to Canada. They will be living there for a while and tho' it isn't far we will miss them. Here they are settling in and doing some Facetime with Muf and Augie. It was really fun to have them and were sorry to see them go. We did a lot of rehashing the fun times we all had in Santa Barbara. God speed, Hui's, and don't be surprised if we suddenly decide to drive up for a visit!
The summit is at 13,796 ft. The sunsets are spectacular. It is hard to explain it or even take pictures that show the incredible beauty. There are several large telescopes up there and when they move it's sort of frightening. On the way down you stop for cookies and hot chocolate, they set up a telescope and you view the night sky, while the docent tells you what to look for. Planets, stars, constellations, so clear in the very black night sky. Saw several satellites as well.
One of the highlights of our trip was a tour we took to the Mauna Kea summit to watch the sunset. You start out at about 3 in the afternoon and get back around midnight. You get about half way up and you stop for a dinner of stew and corn muffins. The place where you stop is a group of very old buildings put there by the Parker Ranch. They believe that Robert Lewis Stevenson stayed here before he made his ascent of the mountain. It was chilly up there and the stew was warming and delicious.
