Pumpkin Patching

Going to the pumpkin patch is one of my favorite things about fall! 

Each year, we've gone to a different patch and it's been fun to explore and do the different activities at each one! Yesterday morning, we piled in the van with Grandma Linda, Grandpa Forrest, and Great Grandpa and drove out to Pleasant Hill. Thanks to the Groupon deal I scored earlier in the week, admission was cheaper for all six tickets than it would be for just three at other places around town (Belle is still free). We packed a lot of fun into budget friendly fun!! WARNING: There are A LOT of photos ahead! 

The kids enjoyed their first teeter-totter experience!

Jackson climbed the mountain of hay!

... and enjoyed jumping into a pile of more hay!

The corn box was Belle's favorite. 

The zip line was Jackson's favorite. He rode it at least a dozen times!

We checked out a few animals.

My family-- a bunch of turkeys!!

The drought of this year really affected the corn crop and subsequently, the quality of the corn maze... but we had fun anyway (and it was a little easier since we could see over the stalks!). Jackson led the way and successfully navigated us through the smaller maze!

Meanwhile... this girl cried the whole time because we left her stroller at the entrance because it was a nightmare to push through maze. Turns out, it was a nightmare listening to her whine and cry too, though it was honestly the lesser of two evils. 

See-- I was there too! :)

The kids enjoyed the barrel train ride.

And we all went for a hay ride!

These bouncy horses are a lot harder to race than it may look!

This photo of Belle and Derek is mid fall! :)

Jackson picked out a "just right" pumpkin and Belle picked out a cute little one. We visited all of the attractions, then ate a picnic lunch, and then let the kids go back to their favorites! Belle chose the corn and Jackson chose the zip line. The weather was perfect and we all just had a great time. And I know the grandparents had almost as much fun as the kiddos!

 Happy Fall!! What are your favorite fall traditions? 

Dashboard Confessional

There are two things that you don't want to see only days after buying a new van:

The service engine soon light and the error light were both present on our van just two days after driving off the lot. How nerve wrecking, but it's part of getting a used vehicle I guess. The good news is that we have a 90 day warranty. The better news is that after I called our dealer guy, he told us just to bring it back and they'd look at it and get it taken care of without even having to use the warranty. Isn't that great customer service!? And the guy sent me home in a different van they had on the lot until ours gets fixed! 

But did you notice that the dashboard also says it's 68 degrees outside?! What great weather for November 1st!! We, of course took advantage and played in the leaves for a little bit this morning.

 {notice our non-Nissan sitting in the driveway? It's a 1998 Chrysler. It comes with a tape deck and everything if you're interested!}

Belle really wasn't having too much fun in the leaves....

But she did in the swing! And check if you look closely-- you'll see our little girl now has TWO teeth! :)

Happy November!

Train, Bonfire, Zoo and Candy fun!

We had a very action packed weekend, which of course means it was super fun! Here's what we did:

Thursday Night
Celebrated Jackson's birthday at Fritz's Railroad Restaurant. Basically, lots of trains everywhere and even a train to deliver your food. Chacey (and her mom) joined us, which made the night pretty much perfect for my little two-year old!

We sat next to a ginormous train track! Little boy heaven!

 Jackson was less excited about having to stop looking at the trains to take a picture.

Friday
My parents, sisters (and "ack" aka Zach, Ashley's boyfriend), Derek's parents, and Grandpa came over for a little bonfire to celebrate Jackson's birthday. It was perfect weather and everyone had a really nice time!

Saturday
Mom had free tickets to the zoo, so we headed out to Boo at the Zoo on Saturday morning! The costume I had planned for our Halloween festivities wasn't warm enough to wear outside for the day, so I had to improvise. Thanks to the overalls that Grandpa gave Jackson for his birthday the night before, we had a great farmer outfit!

The hayride with Grammy and Aunt Laura

Yes, Jackson. Please eat the corn that hundreds of kids have touched all over today.... not to mention that it's dried out and really just a decoration.

So, here is the conversation I had with Jackson at nearly every animal exhibit we saw....

Hey Jackson, Look, A Polar Bear!!!
Water!
Yes, but it's a bear!
Water! Water!
What sound does a bear make?
RAARRHH!! Water! Water! ......

Can you see the Hippos Jackson?
Water!
Yep, they're in the water. Can we count the hippos?
Wet!
Yep, they're wet.......

Seriously, kid!? You're so excited about stinkin' water!? We did get to ride a train (really, just a tram) and that was probably his favorite part. Whether he enjoyed seeing the animals, I'll never know... but we all had fun and that's what counts!

Sunday
We celebrated at the Fall Festival at our church. I love that our church has activities on Halloween. The kids enjoy playing silly little games and getting lots of candy, but we aren't out surrounded by lots of scary costumes or crazy people.

Check out the cutest little Danish soccer player that you ever did see!! (along with his cute little bee-friend!)

Eating a donut from a string

Making Fruit Loop bracelets 

Snack time-- Fruit Loops!

The bounce house that Jackson absolutely loved.

And squirt bottle races (I'm still not sure if I like the idea of him knowing how to work those things...)

Not all of the fun was about Jackson. Julie and I got to meet up with a friend for dinner on Saturday night and went to see the movie Secretariat, which is a great movie btw. Both Saturday and Sunday night, friends came over to roast s'mores, only we used our wood-burning stove instead of a bonfire. It was a wonderful weekend!