The surprising fun of luggage rollers...???

 The boys recently came across their Grandma's luggage rollers and haven't looked back since. All around the ranch they travel, even little Talin, following each other down the trails and dirt roads.

 These boys crack me up! I think this is just the beginning of crazy household items turned into little boy toys.

Despite the crazy noise and hairpulling little boy fits these two can pull, there are moments, even hours, that are very peaceful, like these ones. Usually it does involve walking or activity of some sort which Alex and I are more than happy to comply with. These little people are going to keep us moving, that is a fact :-)

Apple love and early Fall walks....just a peek...

One apple tree in particular is loaded with fruit this year. The kids are fans of "sampling" each apple with a few nibbles, then quickly going on to the next so we try to keep them eating only their own. Not that we are short on apples though! Lots of apple sauce coming soon I hope! Little Talin is putting his chompers to good use on the crisp fruit, and doing a great job too! Forrest here is "helping" me pick so he can earn his Go Diego Go show later this evening...he quickly fills the bucket, liking his job.

As the evening hits us, both kids are cranky to say the least. I grab a beer and take a stroll giving the rest of the household time to enjoy a peaceful dinner, at least for awhile.  A meal with the kids is often harried, and I joke it's a workout as I feel I burn my dinner off just getting up and down, getting them milk, different food, feeding Talin, picking up spilled food, dialoguing with them to finish just 2 more bites....I know times to eat in peace can be few and far between in this family. And walk times are often peaceful with the kids, so I take one for the team. Though not really, as a good walk with a beer in hand is actually really nice. The kids do okay in the BOB. Not a double stroller by any means but we recently have been making it one with one of the kids sitting "on the wheel" as Forrest calls it. Doesn't work at all with kids that are fighting as one can easily give the other a good kick pretty easily. Tonight it works okay, and we walk, taking breaks to play in the dirt and rocks, as the fall evening surrounds us. The picture above is false in the look of the leaves behind us. They have not really turned yellow yet, but are still a great green. The lighting has changed though, especially in the evening, more golden, with the maples just starting to take on the fireburst hue. The breeze is warm, and as my walk comes to an end I am thankful for this time of year.
Just a snipit of a good evening with my boys.

September is a fine month to be married!!!

Tyson and Morgan getting hitched along the Sacramento River in Anderson.

We have been to three weddings already this Fall, with one to go in early Nov. I love attending weddings, gives our family a reason to get at least a bit gussied up and go be social. Yes, we need this, need the excuse to get out of our Ranch homeyness and live a bit. We are always glad to be home when it's over, given the weariness of travel with two little kids, but also thankful for the experience of helping another couple start their wonderful journey of marriage! This last weekend it was Tyson and Morgan starting their lovely marriage. Tyson actually lived with us for a bit of time and helped to build a lot of the house we now live in. He is a great guy and it is awesome seeing him with his lovely Morgan. The wedding was great and the boys, albeit low on sleep, enjoyed dancing, (Talin) and chasing the other boys, (and flower girls...good old Forrest!)

Forrest having fun with the flower girls....oh boy it starts already! ;-)

Talin and I showing our wedding smiles!

The wedding programs doubled as fans in the warm September afternoon

colors or orange and purple, beautiful!

Alex and I sneak a pic together....

And, the day after the wedding, Alex and I got brave and brought our wedding wearied selves and our completely overtired kids, (not much sleep last night folks, complete with a split lip for Mom after T baby decided to thump me with his big noggin at some wee hour of the night...and a T baby on the floor for a rude awakening all too early, ugg. Yes we are all alright, but sleep is minimal!) to Turtle Bay Exploration Park in Redding. Kind of a cross between a museum, glorified playground, zoo for local animals, and aquarium, we had a very good time considering the circumstances. Highly recommend it to anyone in the Redding area. 

Dad and Talin enjoy the freshwater aquarium tank

Some mammoth Brown Trout and Steelehead

Nice little aquarium peek hole!

And, the final reason September is such a fine month to be married?????

Of course, OUR wedding month! September 20th has come and gone. Our anniversary. Number Four for us, though the 7 1/2 years we have been with each other seems like the more real number. We had so many nice thoughts of our beautiful wedding day with friends this last week. Over 220 people up at our remote home for our great wedding celebration! What a day! This year we celebrated with sushi on our beach, complete with candle light, just as a couple, with the kids safety, (we were hoping...;-) in the house being played with super well intentioned friends. And...the house didn't get burned down, Talin still had all his fingers and toes, so it was a great night indeed!

Fall has begun....

Yes, already, Fall is really upon us! Cooler nights, days not quite as hot, salmon coming up the river like you could only imagine, and our garden is giving to us, in many ways.

To start it off, lets begin on the fishy front. Alex has got the fish bug bad, to say the least. This Fall they are calling for a record run of salmon and we have already seen the start of this. They have increased the flows in the Klamath and Trinity Rivers to support the run and prevent the fish kill that happened a decade ago and nearly killed the entire run that year. In doing this, our warmish late summer river water is gone, but in it's place is a brisk river that is perfect for those beautiful fish my hubby loves to chase. He has already had the pleasure of catching more than a half dozen nice salmon just in the last two weeks...both from his beloved fishing hole up river and...yes...our property!!!!

A real dream come true for him to walk down from our house, with Forrest no less, and land a bright 12 lb salmon in our front yard. We haven't had this opportunity before this year and this is truly awesome in all senses of the word.

He and Forrest put forth the effort to dig out a new trail to this beach from our house and boy oh boy it has paid off. A happy Alex I have to tell ya!

On the garden front, it's been a bit of a slow year. We have a root eating pest that has nailed our peppers, eggplant, basil, and other summer loving veggies. Our personal experts Matt and of course the garden guru Alex are on the problem and we have a solution worked out for next year...but, for this year, we just have to appreciate the wonder of what we do have! And...barter for what we don't. Which includes summer squash...Yes, we've traded salmon for zucchini and eggplant...it's just that kind of year! We are lucky enough to have neighbors with gardens without this pest, so they have filled our void quite nicely.

So, what are we swimming in do you ask? How about melons!

Grandma Gloria and Forrest lap up the sweet melon

Yes, watermelons, canteloupes, and soon to come honeydews are lovely sweet things if I do say so myself.

Also, apples, which we have been slicing and freezing for winter batches of applesauce, apple pie, apple cobbler...yummo. Matt has been helping with that job.

We also canned a couple of dozen jars of tomatoes with our neighbor this last weekend which will be excellent in the coming months...and corn. Beautiful sweet corn, that both boys love to suckle on raw, freshly picked. Strawberries are also doing quite well still and you can also see a very dirty faced Talin picking them himself getting a little snack. There is no shortage of dirt eating in this household I'm sure ;-) And perfect for Fall, perhaps our greatest crop of winter squash and pumpkins are coming along very nicely. No pictures yet but you can bet that we will have some great photo ops soon of those bright orange orbs and our boys for Halloween! They are all great for baking too, which will be delish for pies, bread, squash curry soup, etc.

 And, of course, Fall brings that lovely milder weather that is perfect all day long.

Great for walking, nearly naked if you prefer as these boys do, but not so hot you need to dive in the pool, or river when you return. The leaves are just starting to take on a yellowish hue in higher elevations and nights always get chilly. Very nice indeed...

"A sister shares childhood memories and grown-up dreams....."

 We were all lucky enough to get together for a few days last week before our Vegas family wedding. If only for a few days, we had a blast, doing an exciting class III river run. By the end,  I'd say we were the "Most Improved Crew" which gives you an idea about how the first part of the run went ;-) A ton of fun was had by all and it was such a memorable day, spent on the river, doing something we all love to do!

The head of our raft, neighbor Jerry, the sisters, and Scott are the picture of force!!!;-)

Nat taking a soak down the wrong side of Hell Hole...had to be there!

Scott, showing his force in getting our boat back up river where it was supposed to be...yay team!

Nat and Meg, taking a turn up front...get wet much sisters???:-)

The cutest couple around!

Enjoying a sunny rock spot

The rest of our time was spent relaxing, kiddie playing, eating, game playing, (SPOONS!), and just plain catching up. SO fun! A midnight walk down to our river beach may have happened as well....:-) Pictures from the rest of the trip up soon...