To walk or not to walk...

Technically for the record I am credited with taking my first steps at Camano during the second week of September, but after those first couple of steps my progress regressed faster than the national economy. I had heard the slogan, “watch your step” and I didn’t really feel like watching all my steps, so I decided to keep crawling. After Reese filled me in on what the saying actually meant, I went right back to practicing my walking. I love taking two or three steps and then lunging for my destination with a smile and laugh—I’m also known for giving myself a round of applause after a successful journey across the room.

We took multiple trips to GP and BB’s house in October to visit them and Grandma Hannah. GP is a great walking assistant. As I was learning to walk during our trips to GP and BB’s, Reese was perfecting her craft as a dog walker. She loved to take Devlin for walks with GP or BB. I think Reese is going to love having Dakota around at Nana and Bop's.

Our trips to Seattle also included multiple trips to the zoo and Grandma Hannah's. At the zoo we saw animals in semi-natural habitats that were fed a strict diet on a regulated schedule and had lots of visitors come to see them, at Grandma Hannah’s we saw…   On our last visit to Grandma Hannah’s we showed off our Halloween costumes and they were a huge hit.

For Halloween we showed off our costumes on Woodin Ave in downtown Chelan where all the shops gave out candy. The street was full of kids in costumes and parents with cameras and of course candy. Reese did her best to keep up with our cousins and get as much candy as possible—though I did share her frustration that after lots of hard work collecting candy all night it seemed unfair to just have Mom and Dad take it away when we got home. Personally it was easier for me because I only had two pieces of candy that I had gotten on our last stop, our landlord/neighbors.

After a long day of traveling and visiting friends Reese’s love for pizza may have been cemented when she made this comment one night; “My tummy really hurts, I need some pizza.”

 Slow to walk, Mom says I have become a world class crawler

 Reese warmed up to the goat at the pumkin patch and led him eat out of her hand

Reese loves her rain boots and mud puddles, fortunately at the same time

 GP & BB came to the pumkin patch with us to help us find the perfect pumpkin, unfortunately there wasn't any room in the wheelbarrow for a pumpkin

 With her costume, Lighting McQueen candy bag and her purse Reese was ready to trick or treat

We got to trick or treat with our cousins at the shops in downtown Chelan

Love to all,

Reese Bronson & Kendall Starr

Here comes the off-season

For the past three years, September has always marked a dramatic change in our lives. Slidewaters closes Dad returns for weekday dinners, bath time and bedtime and even made a couple appearances in the middle of the day. The past two years we started our road trip back to Tucson, but this year we decided to stick around Washington a little longer.

Kendall and I made sure we spent as much time as possible at Slidewaters. During the last week of the season, we got to slide with our cousins, and we started to teach Kendall to slide solo on Bugaboo. Sammy took me down three different big slides and took his job as protector very seriously, which Dad says gives him great peace about the future.

After Slidewaters closed and we settled down a little bit, we took our friends the Peterson’s to the Bordner family cabin on Camano Island in Puget Sound. Our week was bookended with beautiful sunny days and we had a great time with great friends playing in the sand, on the hammock and with our food. GP & BB visited on our last days and we loved sharing our time with them at this special place.

We spent the rest of September catching up on family time we miss from our busy summers. We took a couple boat rides, checked out the lazy river project at Slidewaters, and went on more family jogs in two weeks than we had in four months. And as some of our loyal readers have certainly noticed, we have worked hard to catch up on our blog.

As the Slidewaters season was ending, I made sure to get in plenty of sliding with my cousins

Mom and Kendall always have a great time sliding together

 For Dad's and my money, two of the greatest smiles ever

I love to slide with Mia

Sammy and I went down slide 1, 4 and Whitewater by ourselves!

 Kendall took a tough fall at Camano, but rebounded quickly and had a great time

Kendall joins a long list of Bordner's who have enjoyed this beach

 Bathtime may be Kendall's favorite time of the day

 We love to go to the park for some dry sliding

 Kendall loves to drive the boat

Mom and Dad tell me it is important for me to look out and protect Kendall

Love to all,

Reese Bronson & Kendall Starr

August was a blur

We started August off with a rush of visitors from dad’s family. Reese and I got to renew friendships with so many of our young cousins. During the week we played with; Ryder, Payton, Owen, Siena, Hunter, Gage, Cody, Jackson and Peter. It was especially fun because GP and BB were there plus Uncle Rhett, Uncle Roy and Aunt Erin. Not only did we get to go sliding with everyone, we got to spend time at the beach at Wapato. Now to me the sand was as appealing as a diaper rash, but the water felt great. Reese was the opposite; she was so in love with playing in the sand that it took her until the last day to get in the lake (Mom’s blood I guess).

Some of our favorite guards started heading back to school in August, so we spent a lot of time at the park making sure we could say goodbye—as well as making sure we got in plenty of sliding before the end of the season. August was a fun month.

Not much beats splashing in the shallow end at Slidewaters

Ok, this beats it.

I've been building my walking skills slowly over multiple months. 

Any chance we get to help dad at work is openly welcomed and when the time to go home comes we dramatically protest. 

Reese showed Aunt Erin the best rides at Slidewaters, they have similiar taste in rides. Uncle Roy has a bet with me that Reese will ride purple haze before Aunt Erin

The Bordner's visited in August and we hosted them for some after hours sliding

Notice a theme, the Slidewaters season was winding down and we wanted to get as much sliding in as possible

Reese became a pretty good solo slider this summer

Reese and baby Hudson are usually together. Reese is a great mommy to baby Hudson (not to be confused with Cousin Hudson-who lives in Tucson)

Mia is a great cousin to both Reese and me, as you can see we look up to her a lot

Mommy chose to go on the boat to the Alpenhorn for her birthday dinner. We had a great time.

Love to all,

Reese Bronson & Kendall Starr