Pumpkin Patch

Stephen surprised us and took us to a pumpkin patch.

We were so excited!

First we did the corn maze....

Occasionally Stephen would ask one of the kids which way we should go....

Clyde had to think,

think,

think,

then we took a hayride to the pumpkin patch where the kids picked pumkins,

we had to limit the over-enthusiastic Clyde to a pumpkin that he could actually lift

then we went to the petting barn...

there were actually many things to do there, but since I already have WAY TOO many p ictures, I'll spare yall and skip to this part

Clyde drew for us what he wanted us to carve into his pumpkin. The other one is mine and Stephen's.
FUN!!
(forgive me for always using WAY too many pictures!)

Days of Yesteryear

We spent last weekend at my Dad's.....AKA Grandad and Grandmom's house.

This is always TOO fun and the kids just eat it up.

But this time was probably even more fun than normal, because we trick-or-treated Grandmom style. (this means the kids make several rounds through the house knocking on doors where different adults greet them and give them Grandmom-designated treats in their costumes). Then we went to the Days of Yesteryear Antique Tractor Show....

we saw a blacksmith, kids rode in tractor-pulled-carts, we saw the many uses of a tractor engine (pumping water, grinding grain, all kinds of craziness) had the kid's faces painted, dug in big containers of corn and soy beans, admired Grandad's old truck, sampled some on-site pressed apple cider, etc, etc....

Then we topped it off with Grandmom buying The Incredibles and watching it together!

Scavenger Hunt

I am the impulsive spontaneous one in our marriage. Stephen prefers steadiness and planning ahead. I also am sadly oblivious to how much things cost. Stephen said one day that he would faint dead away if I ever came up with something to do that was free.

Really? Am I that bad?

Shortly after his declaration I declared I wanted to do something fun.

"How much is it going to cost?" - Him

"NOTHING!" - Me

(No fainting or exclamations or anything) yeah I KNEW he was exaggerating!

So we had a scavenger hunt at the mall. We split into two teams (kids got to pick).

Me and Iris VS. Daddy, Lucy and Clyde.

This was our list:

child wearing crazy headband
child in front of punch bug
child on escalator
child with sunglasses
child wearing boots
parent watching a tv
child wearing wings
child with necktie
child eating cookie
child holding pomegranate lotion
child sitting on a bed
child with photography magazine at Barnes and Noble

here are some of the highlights

yeah so Stephen got smart and would put two things in one picture....hmph.

you could do the list in any order, except the last one had to be last so we would meet up and know who won

oh my goodness
THIS WAS SUCH A HIT! They absolutely loved it and have been wanting to do it since.

Oh and Daddy's team won BARELY! Iris and I DID have to wait FOREVER for our cookie!!

....but I am still waiting for Stephen to pass out ;)

Nana Visits

Stephen's mom, AKA, Nana came into town for Sherry's wedding and stayed for a week.

Of course all were thrilled! It was wonderful.

She and her friend Bill got to help us keep this precious swollen foot of Lulu's propped up all week.


We did the zoo.

The walking bridge. Stephen had to carry Lu.

The art district.

etc.etc.

And a belated surprise birthday party for Nana...

Good times :)

The Cave

I am WAY behind on blogging, due to not being well adjusted to our Mac. Stephen has had to Mac-train me. Sorry.

But I digress...

My Mom hangs out with us MOST Thursdays and often takes us out. One particular Thursday she had researched a local cave and bought us tickets. The kids had such a great time. They talked our tour-guide's ears off making our tour probably longer than it should have been. We were the only ones on the tour, though, and she was most patient.

After our cave tour the kids got to do something they have wanted to do "their whole lives" (yeah really long time, I know).....gem mining. They loved that the best!

Lucy and Iris did gems.

Clyde did arrowheads.

Thanks Nina!

Fail

I think I'm going to leave that inner musician buried.

She messed up badly today and I'm too embarrassed to pull her back out.

There is a bride out there right about now saying, "Honey, the wedding was perfect....well, almost. It would have been perfect except for my walking-down-the-aisle song."

Ugh.

Sigh.