Pumpkins and Monsters

We visited the Rock Creek Pumpkin Patch again this year. We like it because there are acres and acres of pumpkins to explore, plus there are bouncy castles and farm animals. This year we may have waited a little to long to get there, because the fields were pretty picked over. We didn't mind, though, because we already had our King Soopers pumpkins waiting for us at home. So we tramped around in the dirt a bit, explored some mushy pumpkins, and then headed to the entertainment zone.

Welcome to the pumpkin patch, Elizabeth!

 I remember when we brought Emily and Addison to the pumpkin patch for the first time, they ate a lot of vines. Elizabeth was content to just sit and observe everything around her. She was very serious as she studied the pumpkins, vines and dirt.

Off to the hay bale maze, animals, and bouncy houses.

We got to see a calf drinking milk from it's mama. 

Look! Baby!

Jump!

Happy Halloween!

 The Saturday before Halloween, my Twins' Mom's club put on their annual Halloween party. A friend and I were in charge of putting together a "Halloween House" (we put up a 10x10 EZ pop up tent with black plastic tarp walls, glow in the dark decorations, and a black light. The average age of the party-goers was 2, so it was quite a hit!)

The day before the party, I was decorating the tarps in the driveway with glow-in-the-dark puffy paint. Some neighbors came over to help and it ended up turning into a bit of a block party. While we were all hanging out, Addie walked across one of the tarps and slipped in the moon, giving it a shooting star effect. Here we are admiring the artwork.

The party had a carnival theme, so there were lots of games for the kids to play. Addie and Emily had a great time knocking over cans at this station.

An old friend and co-worker from Big T, Mary Kay, brought her daughters to volunteer at the party. It was so great to see Lauren and Michaela. When I started working with Mary Kay, Lauren was in Kindergarten. Time flies! Now Michaela is getting ready to go to college!

What fall post would be complete without a little leaf play? Our front tree is getting bigger and bigger, and dropping more and more leaves each year. That means plenty of big leaf piles to play in!

Pumpkin Patch Adventures, Part III

 The highlight of the third trip to the pumpkin patch was the fruit snacks. We met our twin friends Ian and Abbie and their older sister, Ellie in the hay bale maze at the farm. The kids all worked up quite an appetite wandering through the maze, and since they were momentarily still while eating, I snapped this group photo.

Emily and Addison had their good ol' dried fruit strips, but the Kadlecek kids had something the girls had never seen before...freeze dried fruit. Luckily, these kids are the sharing type and the freeze dried deliciousness was sampled by all

Emily asks Ian for more, but he's already shared plenty and is hanging onto that apple!

Big Sis Ellie to the rescue, shares with little Em

I just love this picture because Ellie is so happy to have shared her snack! 

Ian flees the scene before Emily can start asking for more

Before heading home, we burned off some energy in the bouncy castle. Emily was not into being bounced around by big kids at all and only lasted a few seconds before practically jumping right back out into my arms. Addison, on the other hand, couldn't get enough. I actually had to crawl up in there to get her out when it was time to go!

Bounce!

Addie has had a way of adopting grandmothers since she was able to reach her arms out to people.  There was a grandma over here watching her grandson, and Addison kept coming up to the mesh and giving the grandma the biggest grins. On a side note, last week Addie adopted her first grandpa, climbing up into his lap at the mall play area. 

We will definitely be visiting Rock Creek Farm next year for our fall outdoor entertainment. And we promise that we'll actually buy one of your pumpkins next year!

Pumpkin Patch Adventures, Part II

The second time we went to the pumpkin patch, it was a sunny but very windy day. Most of the moms and kids we were going to meet there backed out after seeing how strong the winds were going to be. We didn't stay long because the cold gusts sent us running to our cars after only a few photos.

Emily and Addison get to drive their pumpkin friends, Nora and Lyndi

Already arguing about who gets to be at the wheel.... good thing we have some time before 16!

Blow-your-hats-off windy!

Say cheese!

All that wind got the dirt blowing, and that night the girls were ready for a good scrubbing!

Look what Dad does to our hair at bath time! He is so silly!!

Pumpkin Patch Adventures, Part I

There is a great pumpkin patch not too far from our house that offers acres and acres of pick-your-own pumpkins, gorgeous mountain views, farm animals to oooo and ahhh over, and free bouncy castle entertainment. We had so much fun the first time we went, we ended up going back two more times before Halloween came.

The first time we went, it was with our twin friends Sophie and Oliver. They are a little younger than the girls and weren't quite as sure about exploring the bumpy pumpkin patch terrain.

Oliver is telling his mom he's ready to go home!

Emily and Addison had a great time exploring the patch, and while I thought  being a whole year older might make dirt less appetizing (see last year's dirt and stick eating here), I was wrong.

Addie makes a face and offers me the rock she's munching on. Wasn't as tasty as you were expecting, hu?

Mmmmm! Pumpkin!

Ooooo! Vines!

Mud Muncher!

 After getting our fill of pumpkins, vines, and dirt, we headed over to the farm animals to say hello. The girls have been getting pretty proficient in their animal sounds, and were able to converse quite smoothly with several of the animals.

Emily came up to this guy and was ready to greet him with a "Cock-a-doodle-doo!" He taught her that turkeys say
"Gobble Gobble!"

Oink Oink!

Addie was fascinated with how the big kids were feeding the animals. 

She observed those big kids closely and then tried to copy. Mom read the sign and said "No way Jose!"

Not to be deterred from her feeding mission, Addison brings her sister on board to see if they can sneak one past Mom

"Hey kid! Look over there! That's the good straw...go get us some!"