Graham's birthday weekend

Monday the 22nd was Graham's 37th birthday, so we decided to spend the weekend with our friends Tim and Summer Gilstrap who just moved to Spokane, WA about two weeks ago. They're currently living with Tim's parents, so we were able to stay at their place in their nice guest room.

We got to Spokane from Ellensburg in about 3-1/2 hours, including a slight detour in Moses Lake in search of food. But in general, the drive wasn't bad. Highway 90 is pretty barren with the exception of Moses Lake and a few other very small towns. What's funny, though, is that as soon we saw the sign for Spokane county, it was instantly full of beautiful green trees.

Saturday morning we met up with Tim's brother and four kids. We headed north to a little community north of Spokane called Green Bluff which consisted of very nice homes and several farms hosting fall festivals. The first place we went had a corn maze, several craft booths, two different trains to ride, a pick-your-own pumpkin patch and a country store. Unfortunately the activities weren't free, so a few of the adults took the bigger kids through the corn maze while the rest of us strolled through the pumpkin patch. Hannah loved it and ooohed and awwed at all the different colored pumpkins. The only problem was that it was FREEZING cold, so we didn't stay there long.

The second farm we visited was an apple farm which had pony rides, a train ride, a U-pick apple tour, a corn cob launcher and the most popular attraction: outdoor heaters! They also had a live singer/guitarist which made for a fun, upbeat environment (by the way, Graham asked me to mention that the guy sang, "I am my own Grandpa" which was hilarious!)

By the time we got to the third farm, both of our kids had fallen asleep and I refused to get out of the car before my hands and fingers defrosted. But this place featured homemade apple everything: pie, cider, wine, apple butter and made-on-site donuts! Yum!


Tim - a pumpkin with a pumpkin :)

After a bit of rest, Tim's sister, Abby was sweet enough to watch the kids while we went to a movie. Yep! An actual movie, in the theater, just us adults. It was wonderful. We saw Elizabeth which we highly recommend if you're in for a good historical piece. We ended the evening with a good ol' game of cards.

Sunday morning we decided to attend the Episcopal Church in downtown Spokane. It was right next to the hospital where Summer works and is an old, Gothic style cathedral. The inside was absolutely gorgeous with beautiful stained glass windows, a magnificent pipe organ and gold threaded tapestries. I was in the nursery most of the service, but Tim, Summer and Graham got to hear a woman practicing "Ave Maria" for a wedding that was being held there that evening. Afterward, we were able to talk to one of the priests who explained a little about the structure of the church and some of their beliefs. It was really interesting.

For Graham's actual birthday we just stayed home and had barbequed tri-tip dinner and homemade cake. It made for a nice birthday celebration!