Halloween fun

 

Parading around the Roundhouse.

~lalalala~

 

Hi, Daddy!!! 

 

 

Thumbs up for 4th place!

 

 

Night Eyes at Blank Park Zoo.

Riding the train.

Toto got to ride on the train, too.

 

Searching for spiders on the train ride. 

 

We also just happened to celebrate my birthday with dinner at Hickory Park with Papa Steve, Gramma Connie and Uncle Brian.  And trust me, I saved room for ice cream!  We also drove through every implement dealership on the way home.  There were at least four stops.  :)  It was a fun, family weekend!

fall fun

I love fall.  I love the weather, the harvest, football, apples and pumpkins, fun adventures when it isn't blazing hot... or frigid cold.  We explored a petting zoo and family center on a beautiful Sunday afternoon with the Vander Wilts, Andersons, Berans and Tripps.

Jonah and Lucas.

Miniature horses and a zebra!

Hannah was interested to feed the donkey but didn't want to get too close. 

Riding the teeter-totter with Ellie.

The kids could have done these duck races for hours! 

Genius idea of pumping water to "push" the ducks, the water recycles in a big tank.

 

sooooo big!

 

The soybean maze was pretty easy.

The kids loved being able to see over the beans.

 

And Hannah... well, Hannah is consumed in a bean field by all of the little beans that have fallen out of the pods.  She feels the necessity to pick them up. All of them.  She did this in Papa Steve's bean field, too.  Hand fulls!

 

The corn maze was more difficult and we *may* have chosen an early exit. 

Shh! Don't tell the kids.

They were happy to exit!  Hugs for Garrett, Lucy, Jonah and Lucas.

 

 

 

 

Climbing in the hay castle.

 

Woohoo!

* * * * * * * * *

 

 

 A group of mom friends took all of our kiddos to another pumpkin patch close by. 

Some of the same, some different - still lots of fun!

 

 

 

 

Hilarious sign:

 



decorating pumpkins

We take the safe attempt to decorate pumpkins at our house. 

It isn't necessarily any cleaner - we are dealing with paint... but no stringy pumpkin goo in the hair.

 

Our stacker pumpkins from a visit to see Nicole.

This photo doesn't do it justice, but the way the colors of the kids' pumpkins ran together made them so pretty. 

 

 

I usually get to do the fun parent days at preschool and go on the field trips, but this time I shared with Brent. 

 He helped carve pumpkins with Lucas and a couple of classmates.

Proud little guy.

Happy Halloween!

A bow hunter and Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz."

Don't miss Toto in the pumpkin... affectionately referred to as "Tu-tu" by Miss Dorothy.

fallin' for the leaves

Before the recent cold spell, we headed to the park at the lake to play.  We did play for a long time, but we found lots of leaves to play in, too.  We don't have a lot of trees at our house and the leaves that do fall seem to blow away.  We don't even have enough to rake (no one is complaining).  But there were plenty of leaves to play in at the park.

 

Burying Lucas...

 

 

 

Burying Hannah...

 

 

 

 

 

 

my turn

After all of the riding in the tractor buddy seat the last few years, I finally got my turn. 

As the youngest on a crop and livestock farm growing up, I was a pretty good helper to my dad.  I learned the basics of driving in a tractor.  It first came in the form of a riding lawnmower as a kid.  By eighth grade, I was driving the tractor to pack silage.  In high school I was chopping silage, discing, cultivating and hauling wagons and unloading to the dryer and bins.  I always enjoyed my time in the tractor.  Even in college I spent several weekends helping my dad cut silage and harvest.  He was an excellent teacher and it was a very special time for us.

When I started my new career as a stay at home mom, I was excited that I would be able to help more with the farm.  I love it. 

I was a little nervous getting started, but Steve is a good teacher.  It was a little like riding a bike - you never really forget.  I spent most of my time chopping cornstalks; it was peaceful, quiet, and I enjoyed every minute of it. 

 

Steve even offered to wash the windows of the tractor one morning.  I assured him it wasn't necessary since I don't think I ever drove a tractor of my dad's that had freshly cleaned windows. :)

 

I spent some time in the grain cart, catching on the go.  So nervous. 

There is something neat about night harvest... the big dark sky, machinery lights and the cool, crips temperatures.