One of My Very Favorite Spots in Colorado

It's magical, wonderous, laid-back, real, beautiful...it's Sunflower Farm. We got to go twice this past season (September and October is the length of the season), which I was very pleased with, although I wouldn't have minded at all if we'd gone a half a dozen more times.

The first time we went this year, we brought Jennica, Kaia and Kastor along. Kastor was wide eyed and amazed at the beginning, but then spent most of the rest of the time in the stroller napping on and off.

"Wow, Sunflower Farm, it's all I had hoped it would be!"

 First stop, tractor play!

Kaia wasn't so sure about sitting in the farmer's seat, but wanted to steer the tractor anyway

 Next stop, tree house heaven...

Emily was happy to lend a helping hand to her little friend

These are some STEEP steps, and these are some BRAVE girls!

 A couple great spots for lounging...

 And swinging....

Peacocks roam the grounds, along with goats, chickens, roosters, cats, and dogs. This one was kind enough to pose for me.

And Emily was able to get up close and personal with this one...

Addie found this sweet barn cat taking a nap under one of the trees.

There's a large bonfire pit on the grounds. During the day, it's mostly coals and there are marshmallows available to purchase for roasting. There are nighttime events when the bonfire is burning full force, something we have yet to experience.

Playground, farm-style...

Of course, no trip to the farm would be complete without some goat and sheep feeding!

Happy Goat

Happy Girl

And of course, the corn house. No Addie, the corn is for the animals.

Don't you want to be buried in corn?

Emily became entranced with a stream of sunshine coming into the corn house. Dust floated in the sunshine, swirling and spinning, and looking as magical as pixie dust.

Then it was off to wait in line for a pony ride...

Kaia decided to sit back and watch her big friends ride. Hopefully next year, she'll feel brave and take a ride. Up first, Emily!

Then it was Addie's turn!

After the pony rides, it was time for a picnic lunch. Kastor woke up to eat with us, and Mama even got some smiles out of him!

Mama hen and her chicks...

Addie the coachman, with her little riders Emily and Kaia.

We said goodbye to our Emmons friends, and then headed over to the zipline.

Ready? Set?

Go!

On your marks! Get set!

Go!

This amazingly cool old silo may just look beautiful on the outside...

But on the inside, it's even cooler (quite literally, as it dropped about ten degrees when we got inside) because it's home to a giant sandbox where kids can play and moms can relax...

Because I just had the big girls with me, I was able to relax, look around, and enjoy the unique perspective of looking up at a blue sky peeking through the top of the silo.

One more stop at the treehouse and tractor before it was time for us to say so long.

How does this work?

Let's do this

Meanwhile, Chris and Elizabeth and Cathy, Eric, and Joey were visiting Mike, Rachel and Ezra in Boston. On September 18th when the girls and I were at the farm, Elizabeth was playing at the beach with cousin Joe.

My Little Fashionista

Addie definitely has her own unique sense of style. She's been getting dressed all by herself since she was about 18 months old, and for the last year she's been very passionate about picking out her own outfits every day. This passion soared to new heights this school year. When she started the morning preschool class (which starts at 7:45am), I started encouraging her to set out her clothes the night before for school days. Now it's something she does every single night. She lays out the pants, shirts (usually two, a long sleeve under a short sleeve), undies and socks right alongside her bed.

When she's feeling extra ambitious, she'll pick out an outfit for Emily, too.

On this particular night she was feeling extra extra ambitious and accessorized her outfit with a scarf, bracelet, and ring.

She's started doing her own hair, too. Not often, but when she does, it's so cute to watch her focusing in the mirror.

This was a super cute outfit day, accessorized with a tutu skirt. Please ignore the spaced out zombie looks on my big girls' faces. These are their tv-watching faces. Luckily, Elizabeth hasn't gotten glued yet, and here she's happily coloring while her sisters sit zombified.

At the end of November, I started taking Addie's picture daily to document all the cute styles she was putting together. I was planning to do it for a month and then do a collage of the pictures. It only lasted three days.

For Saint Nick's Day, all three girls got boots, and Addie fell in love with her cowboy boots and began wearing them every single day. She's been asking for "clompin'" boots since the summer, so I knew they'd be a hit.

Addie has been carrying her backpack around with her these days, as it's easier than the grocery cart for toting her stuff around. This is a frequent scene...the two items always on her side by side.

Here she is in her "teacher" pose. She's talking to her kids, Emily and Elizabeth. Note the cowboy boots with pajamas...another popular look these days.

The girls were showing off the chocolate that JoJo had left out for them this morning. On most mornings, this is how the girls look...Addie all dressed for the day (it's the FIRST thing she does when she gets out of bed) and Emily still in her pjs.

And finally, a Santa hat to top off the outfits. :)

Ballerinas

Emily and Addison took a ballet class that ended with a recital last Saturday. I don't have a video available of the actual performance yet, but here's their stage rehearsal from a couple of weeks ago...
For some reason I'm not being able to embed the video, but if you'd like to watch it, click here.

And here are a few pictures of the sweet dancers...

Walking in with their new cowboy boots on!

So pretty in their costumes

After the show, I handed the girls their flowers, which Addie liked, but she was equally excited about the Cheetos I'd picked up at the concession stand.

Great Grandma came for the show

Elizabeth did great in the audience

Pretty flowers for pretty dancers

Elizabeth wanted in on the posing, too. She cracks me up!

Nice work girls!

Happy Halloween

Our neighbor, Frank, had a super spooky house this year. Walking down to Frank's became a favorite thing to do in October because every day he'd add another little something.

Is this better, Wendy? ;)

Niwot Halloween Festivities

This year we ventured to Niwot, a beautiful little town near Boulder with a comfortable small town feel and gorgeous mountain views, for trick or treating along main street, a parade, a patio lunch with friends, and a chance to pet some baby farm animals.
This was the day of the Powerpuff Girls with their professor Dad. We met up with our friends the Crimms and their adorable Charlotte Elsa and Matilda Olaf, along with my cousins Jonathan and Katie and their little Paisley fairy and Porter Firefighter.

The local fire department entertained kids with a talking dog

Charity and her little Olaf

One of the shops made the trick or treaters come in and dance for their candy. Boogie down girls!

Meeting up with Paisley and Porter for the parade

The parade consisted of a fire truck, an ambulance, and a whole bunch of trick or treaters

Addie thought Olaf Matilda was just "so cuuuuute!"

Love this family!

I love seeing my cousin with his little mini-me

Lunch after the festivities...Eric and I mostly ate the girls' pizza as they were too focused on a candy lunch

Baby ponies, a little calf, bunnies, llamas, a donkey. Fun!

Llama Llama Likes His Blossom Pat Pats

Poop on the Potty

What?!?!? She's my baby. My tiny baby. How in the world can she be pooping on the potty?!?! 

Well, on November 3rd, she was blowing fart bubbles in the tub and rather than let her deliver her first floater, Chris asked her if she was going to poop, and she responded by saying "poop poop poop" so he whisked her out of the tub and put her on the potty, where she pooped.

Proud Daddy

Proud Big Sisters

"Poop"

Since the big poop, Elizabeth has a newfound and very strong interest in the potty. Nearly every day, she wanders into the bathroom and asks to get on the potty, and a couple of times she's actually peed. She'll say "poop" whenever she goes pee in her diaper, and she loves sneaking into the bathroom when her sisters are going so that she can observe the whole process.

Snow

Last Monday, we started the morning looking out at sunshine. I began regretting having spent an hour on Sunday putting away all the yard toys, and couldn't believe it would actually snow sometime this week. We left for ballet in light jackets, went to a friend's house for lunch, and while we were playing, the snow began to fall. We stayed longer than anticipated, and Elizabeth fell asleep in the car on the way home. This was her reaction when I woke her up and brought her out of the car....

But it didn't take long, especially after seeing her sisters run out in it, for her to warm up to this stuff.

Addie thought the pumpkins looked pretty funny with their shrunken faces and snow on their tops. She looks like such a big girl to me here with her backpack (lately it's been coming everywhere with her when we leave the house - it's my bag lady's portable grocery cart), blue jeans, and size 4 hooded shirt from Berlin (Addie was so excited about this shirt when she first got it, "It's a shirt AND a jacket!")

Silly (and rotting) pumpkins! 

Elizabeth wanted to walk all around in the falling snow. She kept saying, "colt, colt, colt."

Emily got right down to lick that fresh snow right off the ground!

This girl is EXCITED about the snow!