Poth loves both AND both love Poth!

We were fortunate to have our close friend, Molly Poth, visit this past weekend. The timing was perfect as the weather was changing into typical fall weather in Western Washington. The weekend flew by and was packed with the "Crawford Tour" of Whidbey Island, meeting friends, boating, and visiting downtown Seattle. The pictures pretty much sum up our wonderful weekend with Molls! The photos are not in the correct order, but if you really want to I bet you can sit and figure it out.

Bringing Molly to our home in WA!

Visiting the notorious Seattle Public Market Center.

Prepping the boat!

Grabbing some homemade ice-cream and waffle cones at the
local produce farm near home! They certainly decorated for Halloween!

Bundled up for the ferry ride over the Seattle!

Ice cream was amazing!

Robert couldn't get enough of Molly's hat.

Bentley put his "mark" on Molly the second she walked through
the door! She became his new best friend.

Ready to go boating!!!

Not sure we would be able to fly a Prowler anytime soon.

Reading the dedications at the Prowler Memorial on base.

Molls is ready to take off and so is Bentley!

Game Night with some Whidbey friends!

Bentley and his new girlfriend.

After multiple attempts we finally had a great "family photo."

A couple hours before Molly left Bentley became very sad!

I think he wanted to jump in Molly's bag and head back to San Fran.

Pulling a "Deadliest Catch" shot.

Braving the rain and wind on the ferry.

Thank you Molls for a WONDERFUL weekend visit!!!

Reeling in the Fall in Whidbey

Fall has certainly arrived in Whidbey Island, WA. The temperature during the day ranges from 62-70 degrees and the morning and nighttime is a cool 44 degrees. We have found that layering if the best fashion sense for the area. Compared to growing up in Buffalo, NY this weather is perfect and Bentley certainly loves the cool nights and beautiful days. I know Robert enjoys being able to go on a run and not sweat the second he hits the road.

Thanks to the seasonal changes we were able to have our first indoor fire, spend time fishing at Fort Casey, and enjoy Oktoberfest activities. Bentley has officially mastered the art of "Shaking" with his paws and I could not be more proud (Bentley is kinda of a big deal in the Crawford Household, if you haven't noticed). We are slowly getting Bentley used to evening runs so he can expel some energy and we can see the gorgeous sunsets over Mt. Baker. Robert has had a very busy start to the fall and I have been busy with my ENERGETIC kiddos and parent-teacher conferences. We were thrilled to spend Sunday evening with the Wright family and hear their stories of Nana from their time with her in good ol' Portsmouth, VA.

Our first visitor, Molly Poth aka Molls, arrives this weekend from CA and we can't wait to show her around!! We will have plenty of pictures from our weekend events to share!

Bentley was tired of practicing "Shake.

While having Fondue they just happened
to give us PURPLE AND GOLD fondue forks!!!

Fantastic dinner date in downtown Oak Harbor at Frasers!

Picture day at OHE
(Mrs. Crawford's "official" teacher picture. Yes,
even teachers get dressed up for picture day).

Watching the moon rise after dinner downtown

                   

Beautiful and warm fire place for our first cold night!
I am very glad Robert knows how to work it and I will eventually have to learn.

Enjoying coffee from our deck while watching
the sun rise in the sky.

Downtown Langley, WA for Oktoberfest activities.
Very quaint and friendly town.

This delicious salted caramel chocolate filled
cupcake made Oktoberfest even better!

We decided why not try some Vietnamese beer?!
Very refreshing and highly recommended.

Fishing at Fort Casey.

After not catching anything but seaweed I decided I would
have a better view watching Robert continue to fish (still not fish biting).

Certainly was a sunny day!

Capping off the weekend with our new hand-painted mugs!

Life is the Sum of your choices...and we think we made a GREAT one!

This post is going to be really short as the weeks have been jam-packed with events, work, and our own family time. We are still enjoying the beautiful weather here on Whidbey Island and have to laugh when we see the weather forecast for the east coast as...rain. Only because we heard multiple jokes about the amount of rain we would receive when actually, if you researched the weather on Whidbey Island, we receive the same if not less than Virginia :)

Robert has been very busy with work, but loved his CFL training. We are both trying to stay in shape so setting the alarm clock for 4:30 a.m. is not always the fun thing to do at night, but it pays off at the end of the workday. Bentley is growing bigger each day, but still has an adorable, loving personality. I am becoming more happy with my teaching experience and instead of seeing it as a difficult year am looking at it as an opportunity to grow. I still think teachers should get paid the big bucks for what we do, BUT I am not the president nor do I want to be ;)

Our upcoming weekends are filled with our dear friend MOLLY POTH visiting, a trip down to Langley for Oktoberfest, more Poker nights for Robert which means more girls wine nights for Shannon, school events and fundraisers, and of course Halloween. Bentley will NOT be wearing an outfit...unless it is JMU colors!

Hope y'all are having a great start to the fall!!!

Bath night for Bentley

He enjoys the bath at first....

...and then he hates the water and the towels. 

The Dohms got a look at the large and in charge sea lions on our way to Friday Harbor.

A delicious lunch at "The Blue Water" bar and grill.

So tempted to get this for Bentley.
We could use this for upcoming visitors.

Something I would LOVE to do to our house in the future.

Gorgeous sunset after our workout on base.

Who knew the grocery store was only a hayride away??!!

Each year on Whidbey Island there is a farm tour and we decided we just couldn't pass it up! On our list of must-visit places was an Alpaca Farm, Blueberry Farm, and the 3 Sisters Family Farm (Grass Fed Beef).  After taking Bentley Bear on a nice morning walk we jumped in the car and began our farm tour! One thing we love to do is just drive around Whidbey Island and look at the beautiful landscape and homes. While the history is certainly not as old as Virginia, there is still a lot to learn and see. Some of the highlights from our farm tour:

1. Tasting and buying some delicious honey and BBQ Blueberry sauce at the Blueberry Farm. 

2. Feeding one of the alpacas at the Alpaca farm and realizing that they tickle your hand when they eat. 

3. Taking home some farm fresh hot dogs and cage free eggs from 3 Sisters Family Farm.

Lastly, my wonderful fourth grade students from Arlington Traditional School, gave me a gift certificate to dinner at the Oystercatcher. We decided it would be a great date night after a long first week of school and before Robert left for a training. The quaint and cozy restaurant is located in Coupeville and has been raved about by newspapers near and far. The menu changes every couple of weeks and you find yourself wanting to order everything. The chefs are fantastic and so welcoming as they work their magic in the kitchen. We already made reservations for Mom and Dad Thacher as the restaurant is closing in January!!! They are moving to NC of all places, so we might have to pay them a visit in future years :) What a beautiful and wonderful gift my students and classroom parents gave us!!!

Oystercatcher: 

http://www.oystercatcherwhidbey.com/

I added some photos of my new second grade classroom! You will notice the ceilings are much shorter and the room is much smaller, but the love for teaching is still present. I have to admit the first couple of days were difficult with the constant talk of nap time and potty time, but I have become used to a slower pace and enjoy their funny quirks. 

The beautiful blueberry farm

Amazing Alpacas

Thank you for your eggs!

A very friendly and hungry little man

I wish I could relax like this all the time :)

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Perfect date night at the Oystercatcher!

Using the BBQ sauce at our cook out this coming weekend!

Step into my classroom!

I had to bring my kiddos from Arlington.

They truly are my little "Incredibles." 

No One Should Be Crabby When Their Pots Are Full!

The past two weeks have been filled with BBQ's, wonderful time with new faces and friends, and WORK! Robert has been more busy now that the summer vacations are coming to a close and I have been busy preparing my classroom for a new set of second grade students. In addition to prepping my classroom, after completing the Ombudsman course, I graduated as a Naval Ombudsman with the intent of serving in this position in the future. Bentley has been busy chewing up some furniture and spending time with his new love, Ms. Piggy. Needless to say, we have found time to relax and enjoy life on Whidbey Island. I apologize that the next couple of weeks will be scarce with pictures and updates, but we will try our best to keep y'all posted! We realized the other day that Robert has been here for over three months and I for over two months. Time flies by when you are having fun! While we both are missing the start of JMU Football season, we balance it with a nice sunset ride on the boat while cheering for our JMU DUKES! I even bought Robert a purple and gold Dr. Suess hat to wear in honor of GAMEDAY!

I asked him if he had any last words...
he didn't, but tasted good!

Hopeful of catching some crabs with the Dohm's

Ms. Piggy who is already missing his ears,
tail, and stuffing!

Not so lucky...

NHOH Ombudsman Graduation

Bentley loves to do what his dad does!

We think he may have been a model in his past life!

Lesson planning was much better with this view :)

The many crab legs (picking them is a lot of work!)

The other "Crawford's" on the island joined us for a beautiful day.

These chatty kathy's were quite loud and huge!

Date night at the drive-in movie theatre!

Waiting for the sun to go down to see "Brave."