Pumpkin Patch!

Well, since Aiden got to visit the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago with his class, Cole has been chomping at the bit to get his turn.  We chose a weekday evening because for one, it was free!  And also, I was hoping that by visiting on a weekday instead of a weekend, we would avoid the crowds.  This was so not the case! Everyone else had the same idea that night, it seems.  My friend Rachel, with her two little ones Olivia and Brynn, and another mommy friend Jean with her kiddos Alina and Quincy joined us.  As you can imagine, having six kids under age 5 at a crowded pumpkin patch was a little crazy!  We all took turns chasing after each other's kids and calling out updates over the crowds like, "I've got Liv and Cole!" or, "I'm gonna chase the big kids through the maze, meet us on the other side!"  Overall, the kids had a great time.  We all left dusty, dirty, sticky and tired, but it was fun!

Growing and growing! 

The kiddos checking out the goats and stinky donkey!

I love Lina's laughing face at her hand covered in goat slobber!

Liv ran out of food, so she tried leaves instead.

Cole hanging out with his new buddy.

Pumpkin heads.

The kids loved chasing each other through the corn maze!

Aiden and Alina sharing a moment :)

 

Cole working on the farm.  The light outside at this time was just beautiful!  In the distance, all you could see was flat, dusty farm land and rolling clouds.  It wasn't hard to picture this same land totally unchanged a hundred years ago.

Waiting in line to check out the huge farming combine.  They randomly started holding hands and singing, "HEE HEE, HA, HA!!!"  Goofy kids have been buddies since they were babies.  I love how much they enjoy each other!

A peaceful end to the evening.

A sweet fall treat.

Fall is definitely my favorite season in the Midwest.  The weather is perfection and there are so many fun, harvesty activities to see and do!  I decided one day to take the boys to a local apple farm to pick some apples and see what other treats we could find.  Unfortunately, they didn't have any apple picking tours that day, so we settled for shopping out of the huge barrels of fresh apples that they had in their barn.  The boys each chose a couple of huge, green apples, and we headed home to make a sweet treat!  I sliced the apples to make things a little bit easier, dunked them in warm caramel, and let the boys take over to cover them with whatever toppings they desired.  They had a great time, got super messy and sticky, and we had a delicious snack!

The Verdict is In

It's official, baby #3 is going to be a girl!  We are all thrilled.  Now for the hard part.... picking a name!

Consequences

Aiden did not have the greatest day at school on Friday, so he spent the afternoon writing notes of apology to his teacher and kids he wronged. Hopefully he will think twice next time.

Aiden's first day of kindergarten.

I can't believe my first baby's first day of kindergarten is actually here!  It's a little bittersweet- but that's old news because I know every mom in the history of public school first days has felt what I'm feeling.  I'm sad that he's grown so fast, but I'm excited for him because I had such a good time in school and really enjoyed learning and I know he will, too.  I think Aiden got the love of learning from me.  He loves to ask questions, explore ideas, and teach Cole what he's learned in preschool, from me, or on T.V. ("Cole, did you know that Cheerios are good for your heart and Tide is the stain lifter?")  He definitely got his competitive spirit and outgoing personality from his daddy.  I know he will have a great time in sports and will hopefully keep the in-class antics to a minimum (I'm not holding my breath.)  As he begins his school career, my wish for him is that he will be open to learning new things, that he will be strong enough in his own character to always be himself and not try to be what anyone else thinks he should be, and that he will show compassion and tolerance for others.  Happy first day of school, little man, enjoy the journey that lies ahead!

Simple things

As was the theme this summer, we recently had a super hot day where we were all bored to death in a house where the A/C just couldn't keep up, and we needed to get out before we drove each other nuts.  I've been running out of ideas that are cheap or free, fun, and most of all, cool!  It started out as a quick trip to the pharmacy, and I was thinking of heading to the library (again).  Aiden was babbling in the back seat about seeing ducks at a recent preschool field trip, and it dawned on me that we haven't gone to feed the ducks at the Bass Pro pond once this year!  So, we stopped for sandwiches and hauled our picnic to Waterfall Park behind Bass Pro Shop.  One of the best things about this park is that there are a lot of trees and shade, which helped keep us bearably cool on this sweltering day.  We ate our lunch, and made sure to save most of the bread for the ducks.  I also had a box of crackers stashed in the van that proved very convenient.  After lunch, we spend a good 45 minutes feeding the ducks and watching them swim and "water ski" as they landed in the water.  Cole was so cute, as we walked back to the park he called behind him, "bye-bye, duckies!  I hope your bellies are all full now!"  The boys played in the park for a bit, but by that time it was nearing 100 degrees, and playing in the park was too hot to be fun.  I thought about going home, but decided to take advantage of the free air conditioner at Bass Pro, plus killing some more time out of the house was appealing.  We headed in and the boys ran around checking out the rivers and ponds, and gazing at the huge tank of fish.  We made our way upstairs where we cooled off with some bottled water and rock candy.  The boys sat in big wicker rockers in front of floor to ceiling panoramic windows and were strangely quiet as they took in the scenery.  It was so sweet, and really made me anxious to take them camping!  They reminded me of little old men, rocking in their rockers in front of a lake, playing checkers, and talking quietly together.  For being free fun, we had such a sweet day.

Starstruck

Every year, we get a season pass to the zoo and always get our money's worth.  Even if you only go for an hour to ride the train or carousel a couple of times, it is totally worth it!  Fall is definitely the best time to go, and I am looking forward to some fun zoo trips in the coming months.  We haven't gone much this year because the last three to four months have been so unbearably hot.  So, it worked out nicely that the first semi-cool day in months also happened to be Superhero Day at the zoo!  We heard that Captain America was going to be there, and we happen to have a major Captain America fanatic living in our house.  Aiden was Captain America for Halloween, and he still wears his costume on an almost daily basis.  We didn't tell the boys who was going to be at the zoo until we got there, and when we did, Aiden's jaw dropped.  We had to stand in line for about 20 minutes, which actually wasn't too bad because by the time we got in, the line had tripled.  Aiden was super excited, but as we got closer to his hero, he became more and more quiet and serious.  When it was our turn, Aiden seemed frozen.  Cole ran up to Captain America excitedly and immediately slapped him a big high-five.  Aiden, on the other hand, was so starstruck, he had to be nudged in order to get his feet moving to get near him!  We got a great photo- Cole is giving his best superhero "hiyaah!" and Aiden is standing with his hands squeezed to his sides, too nervous to get too close to him or even say hi!  I don't think he will soon forget the day he met Captain America.