Pumpkins, Pumpkins

Obligatory blog pumpkin post here!  We were determined to get to a pumpkin patch on the only non-rainy weekend this fall so far, despite traveling out of state during the first part of the weekend. 

Sam and Anna loved running through the corn stalk tunnel over and over again.

There was a small petting area (anything to make extra cash, I guess) and so Sam and Anna both got to hold bunnies, feed various animals like ponies and llamas and even a camel.  Like usual, Sam preferred to enjoy most of the animals from afar, rather than up close.  On the reverse side, Anna stuck her face right into the pig's while he ate.

They attempted to use "teamwork" to lift this pumpkin on their own.

 (Look!  I can carry this one myself, so we can get it, right?)

We settled for two small pumpkins instead, since we already have a bunch of pumpkins at home courtesy of my MIL's garden.

Another big hit was the mini-corn maze: just the right size for toddlers to confidently run around in it over and over again.

  Sam was more interested in pushing chairs than posing with his Mama.

Amazed at the size of the pumpkin they were sitting on.

Life.

What a week.  What a weekend.  I had fully intended to get back on the blogging wagon with my short burst of a few posts a week or so ago.  Then life happened.  As in, new state mandated standardized testing for kindergarten in which I spent no less than 8 completely dedicated hours assessing my students this past week.  And I'm still not done.  Then a college friend of mine succumbed to the aggressive cancer she was first told about 6 short months ago.  She was 28 when she died- and one of the few truly wonderful women without a fault that I can identify in this world.  It's been a tough week.

We drove Friday night after work to our home state to attend the funeral on Saturday.  Luckily, my MIL lives 30 minutes from where it was, so we had a babysitter for the day.  Unluckily for us, but that looonggggg car ride meant that our still WON'T SLEEP IN THE CAR twosome fell asleep Friday night at 11:30 pm.  Slap-happy overtired toddlers can be entertaining, but stressful too.   (My favorite part was telling Anna to "hang on" in a gas station bathroom  and after grabbing the coat hook and dangling her feet, said "I hanging on!"  Also unluckily for us, but Anna forgot she was potty trained and peed in her car seat, with several hours to go to our destination.  Luckily for us, my MIL had a washer we could use when we arrived.  What's even more awesome than driving with two overtired toddlers for 6 hours and then doing laundry at midnight?  That it was all so we could attend the funeral of my 28 year old friend the next day.

We returned home on Saturday night because I was determined that we would a.) go to a pumpkin patch this year and the wet weather had prevented it so far plus my husband will be on a work trip next weekend so it was Sunday or never as a family this year. b.) have some good aspect of the weekend so it wouldn't completely blow and c.) rake our leaves because our leaf pickup for our area starts Monday and again, the wet weather had prevented it so far so it was now or never.

Anna had yet another accident in her car seat  with hours to go in our drive on the way back and so I waved my white flag, bought diapers at a gas station and told Sam and Anna that we now wear diapers for long car rides.  At least that meant we weren't stopping 5+ times for icky gas station bathroom breaks.  Sam and Anna went to sleep at 10:30 pm (so at least a little earlier than the night before) after again, NOT SLEEPING IN THE CAR ONE SECOND and the side effect meant they slept in the next morning until 8:30 am.  We salvaged our weekend with a perfectly fun time at the pumpkin patch Sunday morning, decent naps to catch up on their sleep deficit, ample time to get the millions of leaves in our yard to the curb, 8 loads of laundry,washing and changing sheets on three beds (and I thought changing the bedding on cribs was a pain), and pumpkin carving since Daddy's leaving town in a few days until Halloween morning. 

Whew!

I have high hopes for a less stressful, less of a downer week. 

More Fall Fun

The weekend before we went camping was gorgeous and in the 70's, so we took advantage of the weather and went up a literal mountain to look at the fall colors. 

The ski lifts were open for fall color viewing, and I felt brave enough to attempt it this year with two 2 year olds.  I am a little afraid of heights, so I had a death grip on Sam the whole way up and down, but we made it. :)  Apparently I didn't hide it very well from Sam and Anna though, because they are still talking about me being scared on the chair lift.  Whoops.

I may have been  a little scared uncomfortable, but Sam loved riding the chair lift.

Fear of heights aside, the fall colors were worth it!

Camping Weekend

Wow- an almost 2 week absence from blogging.  I don't know if I've ever gone that long without posting.  The day after my last post was my 33rd birthday.  Then we all got nasty colds.  It was a gorgeous weekend and any spare time we had was spent outside enjoying it.  Then, I worked very hard to finish Sam's 2 year old photo book (yeah, my duo is closer to 3 years old than 2, but better later than never!) because my code for a free 12 by 12 photo book was expiring.  The first year books were about 45 pages long, and the second year book ended up being 93 pages, so it took me a monumental effort to get it done! 

Plus, we tried to fit in one last camping trip before handing back my parent's camper.  It was a lot colder last weekend (like 40's in the daytime and a low of 25 degrees F at night), but the heater in the camper made it just fine.  The cold weather gave us the opportunity to to try out Sam and Anna's new winter coats!  This was their 3rd camping trip.

Photos from our camping adventure:

(because it was so overcast, the photo just doesn't do the fall colors justice.  The leaves were more vibrant than it looks)

 It was quite a hike climbing the "mountain" wearing a 30 lb toddler stapped to our backs!  Boy, am I sure glad we have an Ergo and Mei Tai to be able to do something like this though.  I couldn't imagine trying to get them to climb up by themselves, and carrying them the whole way just wouldn't have worked.

Sitting by the campfire.

Eating smores- a camping must!  (Sam and Anna's second smores)

It was a wee bit chilly.

Peek!

And peek again!

Sam and Anna really liked using Grandma and Grandpa's camper this summer and fall!

Hello, Fall!

Fall certainly is my favorite season of the year.  There's just no comparison to the crispness in the air; the richness in the beauty of fall colors, and the unmistakable smell of autumn.  My summer bucket list was a such a great tool in maximizing our summer, I thought it might be a good idea to carry the idea forward to the next season, so that in spite of the busy-ness between holidays and working full time, good intentions don't fall short as ideas for ways to enjoy fall get forgotten.  Here's my list of fall goals for our family:


Fall Goals

• Go camping
• Take a nature walk
• Create leaf art
• Go to an apple orchard
• Make homemade applesauce
• Bake fall goodies
• Rake a leaf pile and jump in them
• Sip apple cider
• Visit a pumpkin patch
• Take a hay ride
• Go through a corn maze
• Carve pumpkins
• Trick or Treat

A few just-for-me goals:

• Decorate for fall (because unless I put it in writing, it probably won't happen!)
• Drink pumpkin spice lattes (2 under my belt already, and fall technically hasn't even started yet)
• Enjoy fires in the fireplace