Rats

 On Thursday morning we baked pies, made mashed potatoes, and prepared a few other things,

then we drove to Eugene for thanksgiving. We  had a nice visit with family, and much food.

We went home full and tired 

and slept in and had a sort of lazy Friday morning. However, when we eventually did try to go out our car wouldn’t start. After a little troubleshooting and some phone calls, we were instructed to have it towed to the dealership. Any problem should be covered under the warranty. 

Late in the afternoon we got a call from the dealership, with a surprising and unsettling verdict: rodent damage. We have to wait until tomorrow to get an estimate, and we will probably need to file an insurance claim. Very frustrating to have this happen to our brand new car! Fingers crossed it isn’t too bad 🤞

Brownies

Maren joined Girl Scouts this fall, and last week she had her investiture ceremony. She is now officially a Brownie. 

Maren is third from the right 

Fitting, then, that we found ourselves on a walk in a magical forest today.

At least that’s what Linden said: “It’s like we opened a door to a magical forest!” We went for a walk on a popular hiking trail in the outskirts of town today, and needless to say the kids loved it ❤️

Boardwalks

Friday morning the kids had no school, so I took them on a little adventure to find a playground in a part of town that we hadn’t been to yet. When we parked, we were surprised to find a boardwalk path right in front of us. Even though it led away from the playground, we decided to explore. 

The path led us through a wetland where we saw slugs, ducks, and lots of autumn leaves. It was lots of fun, and Linden especially enjoyed it. And it is another example of how much accessible nature there is in Corvallis. This is the third boardwalk path that we have found so far, and boardwalks are easy peasy for me to navigate on my trike. They will be open all year, so even when it’s really muddy there are places we can go to find some nature, just a few minutes’ drive from our house. 

A good reminder of why we moved ❤️

Rain 🌈

 Rain is not snow. Although it has been rainy this past week, it is still pretty warm. We have gotten outside plenty, and are enjoying the fact that fall lasts a long time here. 

Also, we love the rainbows 🌈 

More fall fun

 This week was Jeff‘s birthday. We had one 4 candle and some regular candles, so Jeff decided he would be 4×11 years old instead of having enough candles lit to start an inferno 😁

We also did our now traditional annual Halloween cookie decorating,

and today we went out to the mushroom festival at the Mount Pisgah Arboretum. There was a scarecrow competition with many fun creations:

Lots of fall fun! 🍰🎃🍂🍄