farewell, summer. hellllllllooo fall!

hello fall! suddenly it seems to be that time of year again. i'm craving meatloaf (made the best ever with this recipe on monday) and longing for fresh pencils. it might be just the calendar talking, or it could be all of the apples, or the crisp mornings, the start of the rain or it could be the sweaters.  i've still got flip-flops on, but that's currently only because of my bandaged toe...

we went out to pick up some late raspberries today and stopped for a fun visit with our friends lindsay, james and mason.  apparently i didn't get my camera out for the actual playing, but between the amazing fort, exciting toys and a tea party, he was talking about all the fun the whole ride home! that hat might have been a bit of overkill - it's not actually cold, of course - but coco likes it and tells me he looks "like an old hoot owl" in it.

we stumbled across port moody recently!  until now, i'd only ever been there by mistake when i was lost out in coquitlam (or is that port coquitlam - i can't keep them straight!) but we went on purpose last week to a toy store out there to pick up cole's new balance bike. what a little shopping area it was in - a glorious thrifty foods and an exciting impromptu nature walk along the shore nearby made for a great day, and it's only about 20 minutes up the road from us.  cole is fond of gathering cumbersome moist sticks and saying "you wanna hold this?"  of course, he doesn't really take no for an answer.  today, at the berry farm, i tried to leave a large rock behind and he kept me honest, saying  "you forgot your rock!" and delivering it back to me.  

we headed back out to port moody yesterday, fractured/sprained/broken toe and all. next to the toy store was an optometrists office, specializing in kids exams. last week i had booked one for each of us.  they were great with cole - he had quite a good time apparently!  cole has better than expected vision for his age but i need stronger glasses...  no boardwalk walking this time - we hobbled to starbucks instead to get coffee and hot chocolate.  cole brought his doctor's office lolly and a bath mitten full of buttons.  

we popped out to the garden shop last week to buy new plants to freshen our pots.  i had a hanging basket that had looked rather unpleasant for quite a while and i got impulsive and ripped out things like the zucchini that never sprouted a single veggie.  cole was a big fan of the halloween decorations they were putting out, petting lily and butternuts the cats that roam the place and he was remarkably patient while i hemmed, hawed, hemmed some more and ultimately didn't get a basket full of spring bulbs.  i was feeling rather indecisive and hungry at that point and (uncharacteristically!) decided to think that through first...  by the way - note that price tag on that pumpkin...  who pays $37 for a pumpkin, no matter how martha it is?