Chop, chop and more

   We had a really nice visit with the east coasters last weekend.  Steve's dad, Jerry, and his wife, Diane, visited from New York.  They are fun to hang out with and the kids LOVE it when their grandparents visit!  We did all sorts of regional fall activities.  We, of course, went to the cider mill/pumpkin patch - an annual October ritual for our family.  This kids picked several pumpkins which now grace our front porch.  We ate apple fritters (something terrible for me that I look forward to all year!), drank cider, fed all manner of farm animals, slingshot some apples, and won a fish in a ping-pong-ball-toss.  (I now have to change my profile to state two fish!  Splotches in settling in nicely.)  Following the gluttonous, glutenous fritter fest, we went to see the salmon running.  This time of year here in the Puget Sound region the salmon begin their sacred journey upstream to spawn.  It is quite a magnificent thing to behold. 
   Day two found us raging the farmers market, filling our baskets with beautiful local veggi bounty.  Most importantly, Steve was on the hunt for hot peppers - namely, Ghost Peppers, the hottest peppers in the world.  He has been creating and canning some delicious spicy concoctions!  Post market, we wound our way down to the waterfront during high tide.  There, we spied jelly fish galore - little white Moon Jellies, huge yellow Egg Yolk jellyfish, and even bigger red Lion's Mane.  Among the jellies were a couple of playful seals.  They are so cute and curious.  I love seeing them!

  After a scrumptious meal of spicy "mancheladas", as Steve likes to call them, the really exciting event of the weekend took place.  Mister Cedar let Grandma Diane cut his hair!  Chop, Chop!

Holy cow!  Look at my little man!  Shortest hair cut he's ever had, by a long shot!  Oh man do I miss those long, long, long curly locks!

Cedar and Ganda 2008

   And I remember back then thinking it was so short because we had recently cut it due to a tree sap incident.  Little Moon, how did you get so big and grown up?  Other moms out there, please tell me how we slow time down so that we may savor these moments longer.  It goes by so fast!  Now my little man is truly on the cusp of becoming a little man!!!