Rainy Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend, my dad had a conference in Portland, and Jake and Stacey had a Groupon to a pumpkin patch up here, so they all came up to spend the weekend with us.  They arrived Thursday evening, which was great because Landon and Davis didn’t have school on Friday.  My parents arrived a little before the rest of the clan.  My mom made James an ABC photo book of pictures of him and things he likes, so he was excited to see it.

Unfortunately, the forecast showed lots of rain, so we tried to make our plans around when the driest time would be to go to the pumpkin patch.  Friday morning, Stacey, Mom and I went to Ikea with the older kids while Jake stayed home with the youngest three.  James and Ethan had fun eating apples and playing with our ridiculous amount of Lightning McQueen cars while we got some small things at Ikea and grabbed some 50 cents hot dogs for lunch. (I know, it sounds disgusting, but I was surprised at how good it tasted!)

   

James and Ethan, and James hanging out with baby Maggie.

When we got home, the rain had let up, so we hurried and got rain boots, rain coats, and umbrellas and loaded up the cars.  By the time we got Shane at work on the way, it was starting to rain, and it was pouring by the time we reached the pumpkin patch.  We decided to hang out in the barn area eating the delicious pumpkin and apple cider donuts hoping for it to dry out.  It finally let up a little bit, so we went out and tried to enjoy it as much as we could.  Shane, Landon, and Davis had fun in the big hay maze and slide area (it was covered), and then Stacey and I took the kids on a hay ride (it was covered).  That was about all we could do with the rain, so we headed home.

The three kids ready to go.

   

Looking at the baby chicks.

 

Yum!  Donuts!

     

On the hay ride, and Jake keeping Maggie dry.

James driving the tractor and checking out the baby pigs.

Saturday, we went to Landon’s rainy soccer game, then watched the BYU football game.  My parents had to leave that night, but Jake and Stacey stayed around and we had a fun game of Ticket to Ride.

 

James, Davis, and Kallie eating waffles for breakfast, and Landon in his soccer game.

 

We were sad to see them leave as always.  James was sad to see his buddy Maggie go.  He shared his blankey with her and gave her kisses before she left.

A Forest Walk and Park Visit

Friday afternoon, we decided to go on a walk through the forest park at the top of our road.  There is a trail that winds through the trees, and the boys like to walk and explore through there.  We ended up walking a little farther than normally do, continuing through the woods to the other end and walking to a park to play.  The boys were a little tired by the time we got there, but they had a fun time at the playground and were rested enough for their walk home awhile later.

 

Lately, when I ask James to smile for me, I get a frown like the picture above and the picture below.  When I tell him again to smile, he gives me a smile with his big eyes.  Not sure why the sudden change . . .

 

     

Their favorite thing at the park was definitely the swings.  We did all sorts of under-dogs.  I always make a barking sound for an under-dog, so we did under-cats, under-pigs, under-monkeys, and even an under-ghost (boo) and an under-wind (whoosh).  The last two were Davis’s special requests.

     

Landon took this last picture to prove I was there, and of course, Davis with his non-smile again.

We also had some fun that day making apple chips, although none of us were too thrilled with the final taste.  They were fun to make anyway!  James helped put on the cinnamon, and you can see his reaction again when I told him to smile. :)

 

James then walked in with the block bucket on his head.  He thought he was pretty funny!

 

Make-a-Pumpkin Game

Last year, I found this game idea to make a pumpkin, but I never followed through and made the game for the boys.  This year, I followed through and made the game.  We modified it a little from the original version.  The boys thought it was pretty fun, so hopefully we can play it again a few times this year. 

   

Sunday Burritos

One of the boys’ favorite things to have Uncle Kelly do is to roll them up like a burrito in a blanket.  They beg him to do it on Sundays, and he pretty much always obliges.  Here are a few pictures of our three little burritos.

 

First Day of School

The first day of second grade!  Landon’s teacher is Ms. King, and he is excited for a new year of school.  Davis is in his second year of preschool with Mrs. Abeyta.  I didn’t get a picture of him on his first day, but here he is with Landon before his first day.