The Pumpkin Patch

The kids and I spent Saturday afternoon at a pumpkin patch.  I did some research to find a laid-back, farm-style pumpkin patch instead of one just out to make a buck.  We found a great one, and the kids really, really enjoyed their afternoon.  We were there over two hours, enjoying the beautiful day, taking a hayride, and seeing the animals.  For these Arizona kids who hadn't been to a pumpkin patch (or didn't remember it from being too little), this was perfect.

 This was a working farm, so they had a lot of animals to enjoy.

 Love this picture with the pumpkins

 We had some friends join us and were so glad they could come and spend the afternoon with us.

 This pony was super sweet and loved kids.

 Luke LOVED the turkey.

Madison with friend, Lexi.

 Alex wasn't sure about the hayride at first, but he didn't protest much because he saw how excited Madison and Luke seemed.  Very quickly, he realized it was a fun time.

Luke has been looking foward to this for days.  He came into my bedroom at 6:45 Saturday morning, completely dressed in his soccer uniform, telling me he was ready for his game and the pumpkin patch. He knew he had a game first and then this.  I think his excitement was evident at his game where he scored two goals.

 Tasting the hay

Definitely enjoying himself now

 The kids loved that there were bees on the property too.  We had to buy some honey to sample it  :)

Our crew-Our friends' dad and Edward are in the same battalion, so they are going through the same thing we are.

 Silly girls

 The four of us

 The three of them

There was a fantastic play area the kids all enjoyed.

Vegetable stand

Back to check on Tom Turkey before heading out

 Luke had to say good-bye to his pony pal.

 The kids asked if I would take a picture of the donkeys because they wanted Daddy to know we saw donkeys here, much like he might see in Afghanistan.

Our pumpkins!  The kids had to follow the same rule I did growing up, "You can buy a pumpkin as big as you can carry."  Little did I know how strong and determined my kids were.

Cookies

The other day, Luke helped me make some of our favorite sugar cookies (pumpkin ones for Fall).  The plan was to send a bunch to Edward, as he loves these cookies.  That was the plan until the kids ate all the cookies!  Seriously, they are already eating me out of house and home.  I had put a bunch of them aside to send to Edward, and they found them and ate them.  I guess we'll be making more. 

Luke loved helping me while Alex was napping and Madison was at school.  I don't know if he enjoyed helping because he got to spend time with me or because he got to eat cookies  :)

Sorry, Edward.  I'm trying to send cookies to you.  Hopefully, some will be coming your way this week.

North Carolina Zoo

Since the kids didn't have soccer games this past Saturday (post celebrated Columbus Day, so no sports), we decided to venture to the North Carolina Zoo. Madison and Luke had been before when they were two and one respectively, but they didn't remember it at all.  We met my sister, Meredith, her husband, Harry, and their daughter, Alaina.  It was a beautiful day to tour the zoo.  I told the kids it wouldn't be quite as nice as our old "local" zoo in San Diego.  That zoo is a hard act to follow, but we really enjoyed the animals we saw at the NC Zoo.

 Our first stop and one of the favorites, the giraffes and zebras.

 The stripes on these animals are so amazing.

 Alex sat like this for most of the zoo experience.  He loved looking at everything.

 Luke had to pose by the bug.  He's become very interested in bugs lately.  Great.

 Mer with Alaina...Mer met me at the zoo once before when I just had Madison.  That was much easier than our trip with now four kids!

 Madison loves her cousin.

This poor duck was crossing the pathway, and Luke thought he could "catch it."  Luckily, the duck found water first.

 A WHITE Alligator!  This was one of the main features, and it was pretty cool to see.

We had to have our picture taken in this part of North America at the zoo!  It's our old home, the Sonora Desert.  It was very cool to walk through this, but the kids were bummed not to see three animals we saw on a very regular (sometimes daily) basis:  jackrabbits (all the time), coyote (every night), and donkeys (pretty often just outside the gate of post).

Shock of all shocks, posing with a cactus.

 The kids loved the bobcat.

 Toward the end of our day, we came upon the river otters.  All three of my kids LOVED watching them.  We sat here for at least five minutes, and you could tell the otters loved people.

Playground

Ready to head home.  Thanks for meeting us there, Mer, Harry, and Alaina!  It was so great to see you.

More Home Improvement

 I know this isn't an exciting post, but it is for me.  We were never given keys to our front storm door, meaning that if we ever got locked out, I really was locked out.  So, I had talked to the guys at Lowes in town about a new handle.  They said that it was a special order, so I went home to get the model number and such.  I happened to be at the Lowes closer to our house the next day for sod (can you tell where I spend most of my time), and I asked about the door knob.  They had it in stock at that store!!!!  Plus, I was able to get a pweter handle that matches the rest of our door knobs.  I changed it out this week, so I'm very excited to now have keys to my front storm door.  Plus, the lock was sticking with the old knob, and I apparently fixed that with the new one because the door locks easily now.

 

 Before

After (Oh, and my dad made that nice bench that sits outside my front door. I love it.)

Hard at Work

Luke came inside the other day and told me their playhouse was dirty and needed to be washed.  I asked him how that should be done, and he told me he wanted to do it with a rag.  So, I got a bucket of soapy water, and away Luke went.

He had a blast and did a good job cleaning the playhouse.

Priceless at Practice

Monday, Alex and I ran some errands while Luke and Madison were at school.  The two-year-old class doesn't have school on Mondays.  So, we were at Kohls, and Alex was like a magnet to the Mater truck. He's become so in love with Cars.  He hasn't even seen the movie, but he loves the vehicles.  I've tried to put Cars on here, but he won't sit through it.  Anyways, this isn't the first time he's become attached to this toy.  He's been really, really wanting it.  Well, since I couldn't remember the last time I bought him a toy (clothing is a different story), I caved.  I'm so glad I did...

 This is how Alex was the rest of the morning in town.  He rode with Mater in his carseat, in stores, etc.  He was glued to him, and he didn't want him out of the box.

 That was Monday.  Tuesday brought soccer practice.  Alex was so sweet and asked if he could bring Mater to practice, "Mater go in car?"  So, Mater went, and what a great decision that was.  The child who normally attacks me the whole time did this!  He played!  I've tried everything.  I've taken balls, books, toys, food, etc, and he just wants to climb me.  Well, at least for one night, he played with his new toy.  Cost-PRICELESS. 

He was so cute.  I told him the edge aroudn our blanket was the road, and Mater spent a lot of time driving around.  As you can sort of see, he pulled grass and had Mater transporting that.

Preschool and Fire Trucks

The boys' preschool welcomed one of the local fire trucks today.  The boys were SO excited about a visit from the fire truck.  Both loved their fire hats and had a wonderful day at preschool.  I'm so glad they are loving their new school as much as they are.  What a blessing it was to find a good Christian preschool for them from 2600 miles away, doing all of the research by phone, prior to moving (registration was in February, months before we moved, and waiting wasn't an option unless I wanted them to be on waiting lists everywhere).  Preschool suites them well, and they've settled into their routines nicely.

Breakfast

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm not a huge breakfast fan.  I eat it, but it's not my favorite.  Give me sweets anytime over breakfast :)  The kids are in love with waffles and pancakes.  We have gotten into a routine here of having breakfast for dinner on Sunday evenings.  We always go out for lunch after church, so the evenings are laid back, and we never have a huge meal.  The kids now plan out our menu a week in advance.  Here, Alex is proudly displaying his homemade waffle. I think they've already decided on pancakes for next week. Madison has the record at five pancakes and three  sausages (seriously, and they are normal sized...she doesn't like syrup though).

Madison's Soccer Picture

Madison loves her soccer team, and this year, she is on the Avengers.  She's got a great coach and has met a couple of nice girls who she likes to practice with each week.  I've seen a lot of progress in her skills from January when she played in Arizona (seasons are all off there due to the heat).

The Harvest

It's the day the kids have been waiting for...THE HARVEST.  Now, the beans were ready right on schedule, and the kids couldn't have been more excited. We'll see if we get anything else out of the garden.  The cucumbers are still growing, along with the carrots, but I'm not sure about the onions, broccoli, and pumpkins (ok, pretty sure we'll get nowhere with the pumpkins).

Luke could barely wait for Madison to get home from school before picking the harvest.

 Searching for beans

 They were determined to find any and all beans.

Some of the beans were really big!

Grandma and Grandpa came Friday afternoon too.  They were here to see the kids' soccer games the next mornig and were also able to participate in the harvest.

The bean crop...not too bad for four bean plants and planting them several months too late.

About an hour later...the harvest in different form. Luckily, we had enough beans for three servings for the kids.  The kids loved them!

It was a beautiful afternoon, and during dinner, a storm blew through.  Literally, it blew our patio table off the patio and really had a strong wind.  It only lasted about 15 minutes, but it was a crazy little storm.  Afterwards, Dad and I were outside picking up the patio table and chairs (it knocked the heavy rocker chair off the patio too), when I saw this rainbow.  It went the full distance, and the kids were able to view it in its entirety.