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!

Seven Months!

Elizabeth turned seven months old in October! While the big girls were inside watching Sesame Street, Elizabeth and I spent a little time together outside taking pictures.

Our red Maple tree had just lost a bunch of its leaves, and Elizabeth had a great time learning all about them (including how they tasted).

It was a bit chilly that morning, so she got to test out her new cat hat. I think she likes it.

 

 

 

 

 

Happy Seven Months to our precious Elizabeth Grace! We're having so much fun watching you grow. You are a mover and a talker. You are so patient and content, you have a wonderful glowing smile, and we love you with all our hearts!

October Snow

October brought our first snowstorms, and with the snow came bundling up and exploring the backyard and neighborhood. Emily and Addison have really developed quite a taste for snow, but have also learned they can only eat the snow from our yard, and know to always avoid the yellow snow.

The very first snow was just a dusting, but it was enough to deserve some bundling and boot stomping.

Addison was so excited to show Elizabeth the snow.

Emily literally ran around the yard squealing in delight.

Elizabeth was pretty amazed.

The second snow brought lots of excitement too. Addie was so excited to get out there, she almost forgot her pants!

Unfortunately, we didn't wear our mittens, and cold hands forced us to come back inside with these faces....

 

Playing Catch Up

It's been so fun to watch the girls' faces light up with pure glee while we begin our preparations for Christmas. I want to share these faces, and I want to do it now. The only problem is, I have two months worth of pictures I need to post before getting to current events. I'm a bit of a momaratzi, so two months worth of pictures is around 400 pictures, and that's after doing some sorting and deleting. Oh boy, I've said it before but I'll say it again: digital pictures are a blessing and a curse. Sometimes I long for the days when a roll of film only had 24 pictures on it, so each picture really needed to count.
So here's what I'm going to do, I'll post a few highlights from October and November and then we'll be ready to dive into December together!

Anythink

We have a great library near our house called Anythink Wright Farms. It has the best kids' play area I've ever seen at a library, and tons of free activities for kids. We've been going to Toddler Tales a lot lately, where the girls enjoy listening to stories, singing songs, and playing with scarves, bean bags, and bells.
 

On this particular Toddler Tales Tuesday in October, we stopped by the blue park after the library to have a picnic lunch. This picture I took reminded me of a time we visited the blue park last fall after gymnastics class. Oh my how these girls have grown! (Click here for a flashback)

 

A Sunday Afternoon at the Park

The day after Rose's party, we took our lollipops and headed to EB Rains park, one of our favorites. We love this park because there's a lake, so there are always lots of geese and ducks to watch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walked one lap around the lake and then stopped at the playground to play for a bit. Emily needed to finish her lollipop before playing. I asked her if I could have a taste, and I bit it and a little chunk landed on the ground. This was her face after that accident:

Mommy broke my sucker. :(

 Very shortly after, though, all tears were forgotten because we go to PLAY! There are two playgrounds at EB Rains, one for toddlers and one for big kids. Last summer, the girls were playing on the toddler playground. This time, though, they had no interest in the baby stuff and ran straight for the big kid structure!

 

 

Elizabeth was in her stroller most of the time, but she was so happy to just sit back and watch.

 

 

We made a stop at the toddler swings, where all three girls got to swing together!

 

 

 

Bye Bye park! We'll be back soon!