It's Pumpkin Time!

There are several pumpkin patches around here, but one that is sort of more popular than the others.  And also pricier.  So, we've always visited one of the others.  But, this year we were operating on a very restricted schedule and had to go to the expensive one.

Where I determined it was completely worth the price.  It was sort of like a miniature, albeit hillbilly, amusement park.

These little scooter things were only the beginning.

They had a full-size replica of CandyLand.  So cute.

Peppermint Forrest.

That's the gingerbread house in the background there.

I tried to get a picture of Trey being a flower.  But, he got a little distracted by those yummies beyond the flower garden.

At least, she was willing to be a beautiful flower.

I wish I could have been on the other side, so you could see how ridiculously happy and excited he was over these giant-sized yummies.

She's only pretending, but this photo makes me ill every time I look at it.  I can only imagine how germ-y that ice cream cone is!

Jumping of bales of hay.  I said it was sort of hillbilly.

This reminded me of another 2-year old I once knew having fun playing in the hay:

I miss that sweet little face sometimes...

Always following his big sister.  See those two huge slides in the background?

Then there was this giant bouncy thing.

I don't remember Trey doing a face plant, but he sure looks like he's about to.  The kids were having a ton of fun on this.  And then Blake and I watched another boy hurl all over it.  Add that to the nice smokers standing nearby, and I was quite done.  I rounded up the kids and we left the bouncy things for good.

Good thing there was a nice hut full of corn for them to dig in.

It's amazing how many uses people can find for corn.

And how much fun corn can be.  This little guy didn't want to walk much after this point.  We thought it was just because he was tired.  But, after we got home, we discovered quite a bit of corn in his shoes.  Poor little man.

This was my favorite part.  These were kind of like a cross between a dune buggy and a paddle boat.

Bet you never thought to combine those two methods of transportation.  But, they were quite a bit of fun, as you can see.

I realize I look a tad eccentric here.  In my defense, my steering wheel was disabled and I was at the mercy of a not-totally-focused five-year old.  It was a tad frightening at times.

She's ridin' solo...

Blake was in hopes of being voted "Best Dressed" at this year's Pumpkin Patch Gala.

Getting some speed was more work than you might think.

Trey was not interested in participating in the Paddle Buggies, so he wandered off to these slides.  I never thought he'd go down by himself--you can see how long they were compared to his tininess.  But, before I reached him, he was on his way down.

And these two couldn't wait to join in the fun.

Then we went to the other side and toured through a Haunted House (ask the kids about the "Chicken Exit", very entertaining until I finally explained to them the other meaning for "chicken"), a little petting zoo, a "ghost town", and some other fun.

And then hitched a ride on the final hay rack ride of the night.

They were really disappointed because someone else won the "Best Dressed" award.

We tried to smile through the heartbreak.

Doesn't Lanaya look adorable and so cuddly, though?

Super awesome photo of our pumpkin haul.

Goings On At The North Pole

Quick Tip:  Best way to catch up on your blog when having Baby #4 gets you totally behind--Forget to bring your camera anywhere.

If I don't have pictures, I don't remember it.  No pictures = It Never Happened.  Sad, but mostly true.

A couple of weeks ago, the kids put on a "show" for us, and this time I remembered my camera.  I'm not sure why, but Kayli always has us sign in when they do a show for us.

I realize it's a little hard to see, but this is the "sighning sheet".  I love it when my kids spell things the hard way.

And directions to the North Pole.

This was the most bizarre show they've done yet.

They were elves.

This is Kayli making dinner for Santa.  There was some yelling, too.  The audience appreciated the time spent creating this, but we were also very confused.

And I couldn't resist throwing in this sweet sleeping picture.  This little guy is still really struggling with the transition from Baby to Big Brother.  He's sad and/or angry a lot of the time.  We're really trying to help him, but he's a Mama's Boy for sure.  And it's hard when that Mama's arms always full with a beautiful baby.

Fortunately, he loves her too.  He even calls her "Banaya Bear".  Which makes me smile every time.

And what blog post is complete without a random crazy carrot pic?  These are just a sampling of what we're growing in our garden.  I love how home grown carrots are shaped.  We even grew a purple carrot this year.  I didn't take a picture.  But it was fun and pretty in some pasta primavera.

Three Fabulous Months!

My baby is growing.  Surprise.

Unless you live nearby and are familiar with these cheeks:

She just loves all of the kisses and pinches and smooches they get.  Loves it.

The rest of these were taken by a talented friend of mine.  You might notice a slight difference in quality. (c:

At three months, Lanaya is a delight.  She is still unbelievably happy, content, and sweet.

She gave us her first giggle the day before this photo shoot, but showered us with plenty while getting these photos taken.

We thought she maybe had an ear infection just before our camping trip, so I took her into the doctor to make sure she was okay before making her spend a night in the cold night air.  And they weighed her.  I can't remember exactly how much, but I think it was around 13 lbs. 12 oz.

We are so in love with this little princess.

I think the rest of the world is, too.  We never go out without almost every stranger we cross paths with commenting on "those cheeks!"  I've actually started ignoring them unless they talk to me directly.  Otherwise it takes forever to go anywhere or get anything done!

To our beautiful, sweet, and giggly princess--We love you!

Best Family Camping Trip Ever!

Thus far, anyway.

As always, it was a ton of work ahead of time and I found myself wondering if it was worth it.

And it was!

During the summer, we got into some bad bedtime habits, so to help get us back on track we set up some incentives for getting to bed on time every night each week.  We decided to start off big and reward the kids with camping by the lake.

The prep was a lot of work for me, but once we got there I was really impressed with how well everyone helped out.

And of course, it's always cutest to see the youngest helping.

But, they're all pretty cute helpers when you get down to it.

It was a little late by the time we got up there, but Blake and the kids had the fire going before too long (this time we remembered to bring our own firewood, so there was plenty of time to cook the hot dogs until they were actually hot and finish dinner completely before roasting marshmallows).

I loved camping by the lake.  The sunset  was so pretty!  I was walking Kayli the super long trek to the bathroom for the most beautiful part of it, but it still looks pretty here.

Love this pose here!  That first bite is always exciting!

As is the last.  She still thinks this is a smile...

We got to bed at a reasonable hour for camping and the majority of the occupants in our tent slept great.  But, Kayli and I were woken up by the super intoxicated neighbor who could not contain his team pride and kept on cheering loudly and yelling that "we're going to beat 'em in three days!"  Not really sure what that meant since the game was the following afternoon, but he was enthusiastic about it anyway.  For about two hours.

Fantastic.

But this little darling slept so amazingly well!  She spent most of the night sleeping on her own, but wound up with me in my sleeping bag by morning.  Such a sweet face to wake up next to.

And this one was on the other side.  He did so great!

A happy face in spite of getting his sleeping bag too close to the side of the tent and thus, waking up with a wet bed in the morning.  Just condensation, Friends.

My little goofball.

Sleepy sleepy Daddy.

You'd think I'd manage to look a little less sleepy when I'm the one taking the photo!

And then, spontaneously, this happened.

It was just so cute.

And sweet.

It made me happy.

Look closely and you'll see what makes her happy.

Did you find this in the above photo?

It's no wonder she's so fond of saying, "I'm not a girly girl."

Morning camp fires are hard to beat!

I just really like this picture for some reason.

It was a chilly morning.  Somehow my jacket got left at home and Blake was kind enough to let me steal his.

Skipping rocks.

This pretty princess kept begging to get in the lake.

So, we told them to have at it.  Fully expecting them to dip one toe in and come running back.

Testing out...

There is nothing better than a beach walk for exfoliating the feet.

Love this face!  Water's great, Mom!

Zima loves going for a swim.  But, on a leash...?  Not her favorite.

And this is the photo proving that I am a good mama.  At a distance I'm comfortable with.  That is me holding Trey on the far right, Kayli in the middle, and a very chatty new friend headed out to join us on the left.

Kayli begged and begged for Blake to come out all morning, so someone could go out deep with her.  It was chilly.  He refused.

Lesser known fact about me:  I grew up on swim team and experienced my fair share  of chilly swimming pools.  So, I put on my suit and headed out to the sweet music of Blake shouting to Kayli, "I hope you know, you've got the best mom in the world!"

That was nice.

And, honestly the water wasn't too bad.  Not fantastic, but bearable.

And then it was time to head home.

This was one sleepy little bear.  He slept long after we returned home.

And this one was just plain happy!

Hooray for camping!