Alice in Pumpkinland

So, most every year we head up to my parents' house and go to the pumpkin patch, although last year we went to the pumpkin patch down the street from my house. So, this year was no different. We headed up to my parents' to meet them and my sister at Craven farms, just outside of Monroe. The theme of their maze was Alice in Pumpkinland. It was great. Well, I'm sure you can imagine I have a ton of pictures. We also went with a friend of mine from high school, Chad and his two kids. His wife Margo had to study for school and was very happy for the peace and quiet for studying. So here are some pictures of our trip. There are a lot of them. Enjoy.

Here's Addie in the tree in front of my parents' house. She insisted on this silly face before the cute one below. Crazy girl.

We tried to get a picture of both of them but Addie did not want anything to do with it.I took about 6 pictures of this. I always had one of them looking cute and smiling so since this is the only picture where they are both doing the same thing I went with it, even if it is funny faces. They were facing the sun though.Ethan is always trying to help out his baby sister.Addie, Alisha and my dad. Love it!!Sweet Clover girl stopped running for half a second for a pictureOne of many tacklesEthan and Calvin showing off their mud!!Ethan loves the mud. He kept "accidentally" tripping

Clover is ready to go and Addie just wants to stay put and poutAddie is a child of the cornI just love this pictureIs this the way out or what??

Okay! Let's get moving!!Clover wants Addie to come with herBut Clover is a little fast for Addie and down they goClover likes the mud tooChad was trying to teach Ethan how to whistle with grass or corn leaves but his hands were too littleClover says it is okay for Ethan to get muddierEthan was pretty good at the Pumpkin slingshotBut Calvin thought he could use some helpSo Ethan helped CalvinClover wasn't a bad shot eitherAddie could care less about a sling shot when there was a tent right next to itAddie thought she wanted this pumpkin until she heard the rule that she had to carry itSo she searched for another one with AuntieThis one might be okayLet me taste this one and see if it is okayWhy get a pumpkin when there are perfectly good gourds??Ethan's pumpkin. It took forever. Everything was either huge, completely green or tiny.Our final pumpkin lootI hope everyone has a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Gone for the weekend

So, last weekend Derek and I joined the rest of my family in Leavenworth for Oktoberfest. We always try and take the kids but this year I decided that I wanted a break. I had asked Laura but she had some other stuff going on so Iasked her friend Brooke if she would want to watch the kids this weekend. She gladly accepted and watch Addie and Ethan along with her daughter, Brianna, for the weekend. It sounds like they had a lot of fun although I'm sure Brooke was exhausted by the end of the weekend. Good practice for that big family she wants. I think she wants 4 kids so she was able to get a little taste of more than one for a little bit. Don't worry Jack and Niki, your turn is coming. I will make sure to provide you with sufficient birth control as soon as we have a weekend that comes together. Anyway, Brooke took them to a kids fair in Lacey and to the park and even took some pictures of the kids I thought I would share. I threw in a few extras at the end here.

Addie is always okay if she can find her belly button

Addie got ahold of a pen and attacked herself with it.

Addie loves Sassy Kitty

Addie playing with Sassy

Here's some videos Derek took of Addie playing with the cat. She is too dang cute.

Erector Set

For his birthday my aunt got Ethan an erector set. Of course the first thing he wanted to make was the robot that looked like Wall-E. Anyway, here he is...