More Pumpkins!

After our first pumpkin patch experience this fall, we moved on to another location the following week. My MOPS group had a group outing to a local orchard and I couldn't wait to go. It was on a Tuesday morning, so I was sad that I couldn't take my Maura, but the boys and I loaded up and headed out for some real fall fun. Tristan spied the playground with the tractors right off and there was no peeling him away from that yellow and green one! Alexandra had to take a turn too!

This orchard had...more corn!! Tristan was so excited. He jumped in and promptly stole a dump truck from a little boy. Awesome. I finally talked it away from him.

Below: Sweet Alex wasn't feeling very well, but she still agreed to pose for a photo. Too bad this was taken in a giant plastic pipe--they look like an advertisement for a children's clothing company!

Aunt Lorie enjoyed some cuddle time with little "Boo"bear! He liked his time at the orchard--he slept through most of it like always!

Below: We hopped on the wagon for a fun hay ride. Look at Tristan--he couldn't keep his eyes off the tractor! It was definitely the highlight of the day for him.

We took a little wagon ride down to the pumpkin patch. The kids loved the huge wagon and were excited to pick their pumpkins. They picked up the first pumpkins they saw, driving their mommas crazy. We wanted the perfect pumpkin!


Below: I LOVED being at the orchard with two of my best boys! I missed my girl so much, though!

Lorie and Alex had a wonderful time too, despite the illness. It was so great to have Lorie there to lend a hand to me.

Below: I could just eat these two with a spoon! I love, love, LOVE these two boys and they love each other. I can't wait for them to grow up together as brothers. They'll have so much fun together.

My little pumpkin! Sweet little chunker-monker!! He loved the bright colors and the beautiful day and I loved introducing him to the pumpkin patch.

Below: My boy would NOT leave the orchard without taking a picture on the big pumpkin. So funny! He truly has grown up with a camera shoved in his face! What an awesome day--only having Maura there would have made it better. It wasn't our last trip to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch, but it was my favorite trip this year!

Fall is in the Air

Bring on the pumpkins. There's finally a chill in the air and I can tell that fall is approaching. Fall Break was so late this year that I feel like we went directly from summer to fall in the middle of October. We came home from our beach vacation and I realized that it was only about two weeks until Halloween. I broke out the Halloween clothes and decorations in a hurry and braced myself for the fall activities to begin.
Those who know me best know that all fall activities center around pumpkin patches for me. We generally try out at least three pumpkin patches each fall and this one was no exception. On Friday the 15th, we headed to the pumpkin patch on a field trip with Maura and Tristan's school. Grammy came along for moral and physical support and Daddy made a last minute addition to our party as he was taking a sick day for a doctor's appointment. We LOVED having him there with us. We piled onto the hay wagons and prepared ourselves for major fun.

This farm had a really great corn maze. Last year, Maura lead us through and got us out pretty quickly. This year, we wondered for quite some time and finally exited through a hole that was probably not the exit!

The kids loved picking their pumpkins out of the patch. They were all pretty little, but the kids really liked having one their own size.

What a sweet pumpkin pickin' family! I love that we were all there for all the fun. Tristan LOVED his Daddy time. I don't think he allowed Daddy out of his sight the whole day.

We had an attempt at a class photo. Yes, that's my little non-conformist exiting off the right side of the photo. When she doesn't want to take a photo no power on earth can get her to be happy in said photo. Below: Snuggling with Grammy. She got her grumpies out and we were able to continue on with the day.

They have some awesome exhibits at this farm and I love the baby animals the best. The kids were just entranced by the baby rabbits. They were just so cute!

Below: The baby ducks were lots of fun climbing up the ramp and sliding down.

We loved feeding the animals and were lucky to avoid any animal nips unlike Maura's first pumpkin patch experience!

Below: Once again, Bennett slept through a good portion of our outing. I'm really considering putting him to sleep in the Moby wrap during the night. Maybe he'd sleep through the night!

We had so much fun checking out all the playground equipment, but the train was a highlight for Tristan. Maura loved the tractor tire and the big tubes, but the big draw was the...

Corn Bin! Forget sandboxes--I want one of these in my backyard. WAY less messy than sand and the kids just played and played in it.

Below: Daddy and Bennett loved spending time together. This sweet baby just soaks up all the attention you give him and gives the sweetest smiles in return.

My little dragons were "sleeping" in the corn box and getting filthier by the moment. I don't think I've seen two dirtier kids than these two were after our day at the dusty pumpkin patch. They didn't mind the dirt!

Below: Bennett got up close and personal with some poultry. He loved watching the chickens and pheasant.

Measuring our height against the scarecrow. I need to dig up the photos from last year and the year before. It'll be fun to track my kids growth year by year. Bennett was slumping a bit and watching his mommy adoringly. We had such a fun day at the farm that we stayed until after 4pm! We headed home filthy and exhausted to get some warm baths, indulge in some pizza movies and fall into bed!

World Equestrian Games Part Deux

I have this odd sense of melancholy now that the World Equestrian Games are over. It makes no logical sense. I didn't have plans to go to the games again and even if I'd wanted to, I probably couldn't have afforded another trip. I guess I felt like the Games made our city important and exciting and for a few short weeks, we were part of something really big. So, it's all over and I'm feeling a bit let down! I guess it's WEG withdrawal. I suppose I'll get over it pretty soon!

On the 9th of October, I had the opportunity to go the the Vaulting Freestyle Final with Mom and Emily. I was SOOO exciting. When I visited the games in September, we didn't actually watch any of the competition, so this was my first opportunity to see actual horses! We got to the park early to take in all the fun exhibits and exhibitions. Emily and Mom liked the "Where the Wild Things Are" horse.

Below: Emily met Molly, a pony with a prosthetic leg which was rescued during Hurricane Katrina.

I look like a dork, but I had to get a photo in front of the huge outdoor stadium. I'm representing for my MOPS group--that's our group mascot I was posing with!

Below: We walked up to one exhibition at the very end. The little girl was demonstrating vaulting. She was seven years old and had been vaulting since she was two. She was A-MAZING!

This was easily one of the most beautiful horses that I've ever seen. It was HUGE. We watched some farriers shoe it earlier in the day.

Below: Em and I were excited about getting to the arena for our event. It was a LONG walk!

Mom, Emily and I all set for some great entertainment. We should have, perhaps, read up on the sport of vaulting PRIOR to attending this event. We watched and watched but couldn't figure out why some vaulters who didn't appear to be as talented were scoring higher than more talented vaulters. Later, we realized that the horse's behavior affected the score too. The judges could mark a vaulter down in their horse twitched his ears or swished his tail in displeasure! The sport itself is amazing. It looks like something you see in the circus with the vaulters slinging themselves on and off the horse, doing jumps, flips and handstands. Below is the girl who won the gold medal. She was from England and she was CLEARLY the best woman's vaulter.

It was so incredible to see the vaulters launch themselves around on the horses' back and even more incredible that the horses were so calm and quiet while it was all happening!

What an experience! I'll always be glad that we were able to attend this event. It was a never to be forgotten day.

Great Grandparent Time in Tennessee

On our way back from Gulf Shores we stopped off in Tennessee. We knew that we didn't want to drive straight through from Gulf Shores to home and Nan and Poppa's house is conveniently located along the way. Nan and Poppa weren't able to be there, but we decided to log some Great Grandparent time instead. We planned for breakfast with Great Grandmother and lunch with GG and Grandpoppa. Fun times--my kids were excited to see their great grandparents.Cracker Barrel was the location and Maura and Tristan loved seeing Great Grandmother! The pancakes were a pretty big draw too. Grandmother is lots of fun and she jokes with the kids and makes them SILLY!


Grandmother thought that Bennett had gotten huge! She hadn't seen him since he was two weeks old. She loved playing with her newest great grandson, who looks a whole lot like her oldest grandson. Bennett's ready smile won her over completely.

We loved our quick visit with Grandmother. We had some great conversation and LOTS of great food!

Below: We headed over to GG and Grandpoppa's for a visit soon after. As SOON as we pulled in the driveway, Tristan spotted Grandpoppa's tractor and there was no stopping him. He would not be content until Daddy took him for a ride.

Michelle, Taylor, Joslyn, Riley, and Jackson met us at GG's house for a visit and the big kids just had to jump in a trailer or behind the tractor. So cute! They went around and around and around the house. I think Tristan would have ridden all day long!

Below: We brought out the marshmallow gun and the kids had a ball blowing marshmallows at each other. Actually, only Maura and Joslyn blew marshmallows. Tristan and Riley were busy eating the leftover marshmallows off the ground.

Maura and Joslyn are starting to play really well together. They got really quiet when we went back into the house and when I went to look for them, they were playing dress up with GG's clothes.

Even Riley got in on the action! These three girls are going to get into some trouble together as they grow up together.

Below: Two more kids that are going to have some major fun and some major trouble as they grow up. Bennett and Jackson are only two weeks apart in age. This was our very first time to meet him and he was just precious. I can't wait to see Bennett grow up with a close cousin. SO much fun. I had awesome times with my cousins when we were growing up and it makes me happy that my kids will have a similar experience.
I would love to say we took lots of pictures with GG and Grandpoppa, but we just didn't. Grandmother didn't feel up to it and I had to respect that. I hope to get some photos in a few weeks when we celebrate her birthday. We loved our "Great" visit and the kids made some great memories too!