A Golden Autumn

So Spencer, never to be outdone by his brother Ben, learned to ride a two-wheeler at about the same time. This has turned out to be really handy for me, now that it's too cold and dark for me to go running before getting the kids up for school. Now, we can get the kids off to school and go for a bike ride/run together! We have a lot of fun, and I actually think I get a better workout, because I'm trying to keep up with him and having fun at the same time. Yay!

I must say, the Lagoon Trail is gorgeous this time of year. We have had some really fun bike rides there this fall. The boys think it is a "golden trail" because of the leaves, and it's always fun to feed the ducks at the pond at the end of the trail.

Pumpkin Time!

The kids had a long weekend so we decided it was time to make our annual pilgrimage to the Pumpkin Patch to pick pumpkins. We called a couple of friends, took all the kids to Arctic Circle for lunch, and headed west to farm country. It was an absolutely beautiful, crisp fall day. The kids played hide-and-seek in the ever-popular hay maze, took each other for wagon rides and picked a perfect pumpkin for their carving pleasure.

Spencer gets the award for the "best trudger." He was determined to find the best pumpkin and was willing to climb over hill and dale and thorny pumpkin vine to find it!

My Five Pumpkinheads

Aubree & Claire--BFFs Forever!

Black Island Farm

A couple days after we went to the first pumpkin patch, some friends called and asked if we wanted to go to Black Island Farm with them. What a fun place! It's our new favorite fall hang out. There was tons of fun stuff to do. There was a bouncy pumpkin and things to climb on...

A hayride where you got to get out in the pumpkin patch and pick your own pumpkin....

GIGANTIC slides and tube slides.....

Lots of animals to check out, and pig races (who knew you could train pigs to race with Oreos, of course I guess that would work with me too)....

The cow train (I think Ben & Spencer went on this about 10 times, we couldn't get them off!), a corn maze, paint ball targets, corn slingshots, and other stuff. If I sound like a commercial I'm sorry, but this was definitely the coolest pumpkin patch we've ever seen! Thanks Jason & Melanie!

Birthdays

For Ben & Spencer's birthdays we went to a place we had never been called Kangaroo Zoo. Talk about fun!! It was full of giant inflatables and had a super cool glow-in-the-dark mini golf course. Our cousins Brie & Amy got to come too. Everyone had a great time!

Ben's Big Summer

You know, it just seems like it has been a big couple of months for Ben. He has really accomplished a lot! He learned to ride his bike without training wheels, he learned to swim, he got up on waterskis for the very first time, he had his first real soccer game, and he started Kindergarten. Whew! It all makes me tired just thinking about it. But he is a happy and enthusiastic boy, ready for every new adventure and fun to have around.

Here's Daddy and Uncle Ryan getting Ben ready to go. They forgot to remind him to let go of the rope when he fell down, so he did the classic face-pull through the water for a ways. But the second time, he just popped right up. It was awesome!

Ben was super-excited to ride the bus and go to school with the big kids. Mom was a basket-case worrying that he would get off on the wrong stop when he came home, but his cute bus driver made sure everybody got to the right place. Ben loves Kindergarten!

The day of Ben's first soccer game was like Christmas morning. He got up early, and had his uniform on and was ready to go hours ahead of time. He and Spencer practiced all week in anticipation. And it paid off--Ben's team won and Ben scored his first goal! He was one excited kid.

New Additions

There are two new additions to our family: Lily and Fry. As many of you know, Aubree has a bit of a frog obsession. Her whole room is decorated in frogs. She has been begging for a while for some real pet frogs. I told her if she saved up enough money to purchase the frogs, the tank, and everything she would need to put in the tank, and if she would be in charge of feeding, cleaning and taking care of them, then she could have them. Still, when the time came, I begged her to buy some cute stuffed frogs instead. But she insisted on the real thing. I have to admit they're kinda cute--until it's feeding time (only LIVE crickets will do). Still getting over the creep factor on that part.

Boating

We've had a lot of fun boating the past couple of weekends with the cousins. The new tube is a very big hit. I can't help but think that the kids look like little bobble heads out there just bouncing around. It's pretty comical! But the winner for the most spectacular crash off the tube--Daddy!

Cam, Aubree, Adam and Ben ALL got up on the waterskis this year. Could it have anything to do with Daddy's bribe of a Wii game for the first person to stay up for a full minute? Grandpa was grumbling the whole time about how his dad bribed him with a 5 cent candy bar. Inflation, Grandpa, inflation!

Here's Aubree:

Here's Cam:

Adam had the best attitude. He kept saying, "Let's try again!" when everyone else was begging to get back in the boat after a couple of tries. Good job Adam! Also Adam had the 2nd best crash on the tube. When we pulled around to pick him up, he said: "Mission accomplished!"

All right Uncle Ryan, let's see you beat THIS gun show!