Fall is Here!

The boys and I made our annual trek to the pumpkin patch this weekend.  The Scouts are supposed to go but since I haven’t heard when we are going and there is only one more weekend we decided to go today.  Who knows, we may be going back next weekend too.  Not that the boys will mind if we go two weeks in a row.

This year, we tried a new farm that apparently everyone in the county, with the exception of us, knew about.   The boys were a little dubious about going to a new place since they didn’t have one of their favorite activities (pumpkin sling shot) but they were both excited, tired and very happy when we left the farm so I’d say it was a success.

This farm had a lot of kid things, including a play area.  Our day looked something like this.

We visited the animals in the petting area

Went through a hay maze where the boys slid into a hay pile (and I took some truly horrid pictures)

Played in the sand pile

Panned for treasure

Played in the corn bin

Ran across and jumped off the hay bales

Played in the hay barn (which included more running, more jumping, a little hay throwing and even some hay wallowing.)

(again, this is as close to a decent picture of the two of them as I was able to manage)

Went down the slide, a lot (I understand it is bumpy and feels weird on your bottom)

Rode the “horses”

   

And ate a snack (in addition to the freshly made corn dog we also had freshly roasted corn on the cob, fresh squeezed cold apple cider and an apple cider donut) 

 

The boys also rode the cow train (50 gallon water containers painted to look like Holstein cows and pulled by a tractor.  The ride was insanely short but they both loved it.  I was out of card space so I don’t have any photos of that.

You may notice that our trip to the pumpkin patch didn’t actually include any pumpkins. :)  This is often the way it works.  The boys could care less about picking out their own pumpkins in a patch and would much rather just do the activities.  Occasionally we do wander the pumpkin patch just to look around, however today we had already been there almost 4 hours and the boys were ready to go.  Since it was a good 100 yards or more to just get to the start of the patch, I decided it would be better to head home.  One of the nice things about living where we do is that there are several pumpkin patches within 15 minutes of our house so we can always run down one evening if they decide they want to look.

Going to the pumpkin patch always makes me in a more autumnal mood and I love the smiles and laughter from my boys as they play. 

Today was a good day.

Festivity

It seems hard to believe but K celebrated his ninth birthday earlier this month.  My adorable boy has gone from this

 

to this

(Like this years’ weird smile?  I’m not sure what is with him and his goofy smiles in pictures but he changes the smile every year or so.  I guess just to keep it fresh.)

For K’s birthday, D and I met him at school for lunch and took his class cupcakes.  D loves that he gets to line up with his brother and get the hot lunch at school.  K loves that he gets cupcakes.

We decided that since we weren’t having K’s birthday party until later in the month that he would get to pick where he wanted to go for dinner on his birthday.  He started out with Red Robin (I can live with that), then the next morning he wanted to go to Red Lobster (I can do that too), by the time I picked him up from school it was Chuck E. Cheese (why, oh why).

I do have to say that going with only the two boys was a lot easier than trying to keep track of all the kids at a party.  The boys had a great time and K really enjoyed his family birthday party.  This was as close as I came to a decent shot of both the boys.

 

I mean seriously kids, just a nice relaxed smile.  Am I asking too much?  Sheesh.

For K’s birthday party he wanted a slumber party, however that didn’t work out as most of his friends had plans on Sunday and couldn’t stay.  I do have to admit that I wasn’t exactly saddened by the fact that I wasn’t going to have 8 boys “slumbering” at my house.

This years party was a LEGO themed party and I think it went very well.  We were lucky to have a beautiful day which allowed the boys to play outside and be boys.  They also built lots of LEGO items, including a LEGO race car where they got to take home all the pieces as part of their goody bag. 

This years’ cake; which was the easiest cake I’ve made in years; didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped, however everyone ate it so I guess that was a success.

    

I did something sort of fun with the interior of the cake, but I forgot to take a picture of it the day of the party and the leftover piece wasn’t as picturesque as I’d hoped.  I colored the cake batter so that the inside of the cake was multicolored.  It just added a bit more festiveness to the cake and was a nice surprise when it was cut into.  That yellow cake part was actually colored lime green.  I was disappointed that it turned so much the color of regular cake batter when it was cooked.  I think next time I try this I will find some powdered coloring or a more intense gel so that the colors are brighter.

I also blatantly lifted this idea from the internet. 

These are supposed to little minifigure heads.  They are marshmallow dipped in yellow candy coating.  They were really easy to make and they made a great centerpiece for the table.  The kids loved that they got marshmallows and cake.  For whatever reason I think they are just so cute!

So, K is nine and in 3rd grade.  Sometimes I don’t think there is anyway I've been a mother for 9 years.  Although I will admit that raising K can be a challenge at times I am so grateful to have him in my life.  He is a wonderful kid and I love him more than I could ever express.  Happy Birthday.

Going On A Hike

The boys and I went on a hike with the Cub Scouts and had a great time.  However this post isn’t really about a hike.  It is about a pair of boots.  Specifically, these boots:

These are D’s new boots and he wears them absolutely everywhere.

In anticipation of a said hike, and knowing that we live in what is often a wet and rainy area, I decided that the boys needed boots. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any books for K, however D was more than happy to find these nifty spider web boots.  They even glow in the dark, what more could a 4 year-old boy want?

Because of his new boots, D was delighted to discover that he could walk in the mud and puddles!  Especially since his brother had to be very careful on the hike to not walk in mud or puddles.  I have to say that K did an excellent job of avoiding the puddles and came home with his shoes only slightly dirty.  D spent a lot of time reminding his brother that while K had to avoid puddles he (D) got to splash all he wanted.

The hike looked a lot like this.

   

 

Exhibit A:  K going around the puddle, and D set to go right through it.

D also found a caterpillar and was very upset that he didn’t get to bring it home.  Of course, I’m sad to say I’m not sure what shape the caterpillar is in after D’s tender loving care.  D wanted to put it back on a specific leaf and every time the caterpillar didn’t land on that leaf D picked it up to try again.  And again, and again, and again.  Poor little caterpillar.

When K was young I never purchased him rainboots.  They never seemed to be worthwhile.  Considering D wants to wear his boots absolutely everywhere, I will have to concede they were a good purchase.

Since we have a couple more hikes and a pumpkin patch visit I have feeling the boots will get a lot of use this year.

We also have a new puppy. (Didn’t even try with that segue did I?)

 

The boys are ecstatic.  The cats…not so much.