Pumpkin Patch

On Sunday, we were lucky enough to spend the afternoon with Matt's family at a pumpkin patch in Corvallis.  I am amazed at the beautiful weather we have had all of October!  Our day at the patch was perfect...even a little too warm!  The kids loved running around with their cousin, Judah, and being with their older cousins, Jacob and Ashley.  Such a wonderful family outing!

 

The farm we went to had the cutest calf and little pig!  Laurel told me that she is going to save her "monies" to buy the calf.

This fun slide inside a barn was the hit for all the kids.  Laurel missed her footing while trying to sit on her bottom and ended up going down on her tummy.  She loved her mistake!

There was another fun slide outside that they went on over and over again.

This was Levi's reaction when we told him we were done sliding for a while.

 

Laurel trying out the fun tractors.

Judah's legs were too short to pedal the tractors so Erika helped him out.  She loves her cousin!

Going through the hay maze.

Laurel and Judah.  Laurel felt very responsible for his safety in the maze. 

Levi was still a bit grumpy about the whole sliding situation when I forced him into this picture.

But he cheered up when I told him we were going on a tractor ride.

Riding out to the pumpkin field.

 

My three pumpkins!

 

Cutest kids around!

 

Thanks, Joe and Barb, for such a great day with a great family we love!

Apples

I love fall!  And we have had some amazingly beautiful fall weather lately!  My friend, Nette, came over last Sunday and we took the girls to a U-Pick apple farm.  The place is just about 5 blocks from our house so super convenient!  They must have had 20 or more apple trees and the fruit was barely picked over.  We picked 3 boxes of apples, and ate a couple as we went!  The girls were too short to really pick any, and the owners didn't want them on the ladders, so they had fun running around the trees and playing with a little boy who lived there.  It was the perfect fall activity!

 

Erika testing the apple

Nette and I reaching the super big apples on the tops of the trees.

Laurel wanted a chance to pick an apple.

We did let Erika step on a small ladder to grab an apple.

It came off a little more forcefully than she was anticipating!

Doesn't this picture scream "fall"?

Glamour Girls

This past weekend, Sarah and I took the girls for their first spa treatment.  We found a really great nail place that had kid sized chairs and prices and did a great job on their nails!  Erika and Laurel thought they were pretty hot stuff having their fingernails and toenails painted.  They both chose pink polish and the ladies did some flower details on their big toes and thumbs.  It was so much fun!

 

Erika loved that the water in her foot bath changed colors.

Laurel was so focused on what the lady was doing to her nails.

Beautiful girls!

Laurel knew how to be pampered!  She was so funny to watch enjoying her time in the little massage chair while they worked on her feet.

The princess package came complete with fruit snacks and a Capri Sun!

And, finished it off with a glamorous lunch of Sonic at the food court.  Best day ever for a 6 and 4 year old!

School Activities

We had a busy day full of different school activities this past Thursday.  The day started off with Laurel and I going with her preschool class to a local pumpkin patch.  How fun it is to watch a bunch of 4 year olds in their adorable rubber boots tromp through the mud to get a pumpkin!

 

Laurel with her buddy, Raedyn

Climbing the hay bales.  Underneath the hay bales was a little maze that was pretty fun too.  And reinforced with wood beams for the structurally minded!

Cute little pumpkin!

They had a bunch of hazelnuts in a little wading pool type area that was a lot of fun to run and play in.

This ginormous slide was so much fun for them to go down!  So thankful that Laurel's teacher brought a towel with her to dry it off first.  Always thinking, those teachers!

Laurel loved all the silly pumpkin heads

On the tractor ride to the pumpkin patch

We had to go through a corn maze to get to the patch

All the 4 year olds in her class!

 

After the pumpkin patch, Laurel and I raced home, collected Grandma and Levi who were at home, and walked to Erika's school to watch her participate in her fun run.

Racing around for her first lap!  Each lap is 0.5 miles and Erika ran/walked 4 laps in 30 minutes.  She did great!  The entire school combined to run over 900 miles.  It was a perfectly cloudy day so the runners didn't get too hot, but it wasn't raining either.  Score!

Erika and her buddies, Jack and Gracen after the fun run is over. 

Her first grade class, post race.  They were the green team so everyone was suppose to wear some kind of green.

Backyard-Almost complete

Our backyard is almost looking like a real backyard!  After months of not being able to play in it, the kids finally got to play in their yard this weekend!  It was awesome!  And it looks amazing!

 

We just planted grass seed to get this gorgeous lawn.  The next step, that Matt is doing in this picture, is to burn the remaining stumps.  Once they are burned up, we will fill the hole with dirt and then plant seed.  So, by spring, we will have one nice, level, beautiful lawn!

 

Anniversary Trip

Last weekend, Matt and I were able to get away for a long weekend to celebrate our 10th anniversary.  We rented a cabin on the McKenzie River and it was the perfect place for us!  About an hour after we got there, Matt got out his fishing stuff and fished on the river that was right in our backyard.  While he fished, I got to read, watch television, nap, and generally be lazy and quiet.  Could not have asked for a more perfect vacation for the two of us.

 

 

Here is the cabin we stayed in.  It was so awesome!  Cozy and warm and great views.

 

 

This was our view when we were sitting on the couch.  Pretty incredible!

 

 

As true northwesterners, we hiked in the rain.

 

But were rewarded with picturesque places like this.

 

It was so much fun to get away for a few days, but it was just as much fun to come back to these three crazies!