Pumpkin Patch and the Park

The weekend we were supposed to be in Utah, we figured we needed to get the kids out of the house since there was no school.  The weather was finally great, so we headed off to our favorite pumpkin patch.  The kids were offered a ride on the "train", which was very bumpy, but so much fun.

Matthew found a pumpkin he liked, but it was a bit too heavy for him.  He was not happy about that at all.

Andrew decided he could handle the wagon full of kids and pumpkins.  He did it too!  I couldn't believe he could pull all that.

Andrew tried to sneak this monster by me.  I told him that it was a little too big, and made him put it back.

Grace found one she loved, too!  It now is carved with Cindarella, and lights up our front porch every night.  Andrew's is carved with a Storm Trooper, of course, and Joey decided on a dragon.  We haven't carved the other two yet.

Each of the kids had to stop and put their faces through the fun cutouts.  This was their favorite.  Here's Joey as Batman:

We then went to Pizza Hut for lunch (that's our tradition), then we took the kids to the 3D movie "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs".  We went to the bargain show, and it still cost ut $57!

The next day, we went out to our favorite park.  It's in the next town over, but it's worth the drive.  It is huge and set up like a castle.  The kids absolutely love it.  We had sandwiches left over from the trip we never took, so we made it a picnic.

It's been a rough week, but we're still plugging along, trying to keep busy.  We're looking forward to Halloween.  The boys were just invited to a party at their favorite girl pals' house next week, and tomorrow is a playdate with Ryan and Reece, followed by Hiram's birthday party. 

I'll try to be better about blogging.  I just haven't felt like doing anything lately!

This Week...

We haven't done a whole lot this week, just normal stuff.  I'm trying to teach myself to quilt and to play the guitar.  They're both very fun, but I don't have time to devote to each one.  One of these days, probably when I'm 50, I'll have time.  But I just have to keep reminding myself to enjoy these kids while they're little -- even though I don't get much free time.  I know I'll miss it when it's over.

Matthew learned how to say "get down!" and "No!" this week.  Now I just have to teach him how to say them softly.

We're getting ready for our trip to Utah this week.  We leave on Wednesday, and we're looking forward to seeing our friends the Grahams, and our cousins!  I have all these ideas about fun things to do: The Children's Museum, The Zoo, Thanksgiving Point, Lehi Pool.... but I'm sure we'll just be playing at Lindsey's most of the time because we won't be able to tear them out of the house!  Let's just hope I remember my camera...

Stay tuned!

Trip to Uncle Sam's

This past weekend we took a trip to Wyoming to visit Uncle Sam.  The kids had been dying to go, and we decided to take Shoji to visit her friend, Mojo.  Mojo is Sam's dog who comes to stay with us when Sam goes out of town, and they have become great friends.  This time Shoji was on Mojo's turf, and she loved it!  She was free to roam around and go wherever she wanted, with no leash!  That's how a dog should live.

We were very impressed by Sam's work.  He and his partners built this house, and they're building another huge one down the road.  The bigger house will be used for weddings and other events.  I can't wait to see it when it's all done.  It is beautiful! 

The house Sam lives in is one that he and his two friends built, and is on the same property.  It's in a little valley with a view of the mountains.  It has a little creek running through it.  It's a really nice piece of property.  I love the porches on the house, the hardwood floors and open floor plan.  The front porch is awesome!  Here are some pictures:

This is the big house they're still working on:

This is inside Sam's house.  It's really beautiful!  Nice job guys!

Matt had to check out the kitchen.

This is Adam, another builder and the kids' new friend.  He was so nice to humor them with a game of Operation.  The kids really enjoyed his company!

We took a walk on the property over to the big house, and stopped to look at the shop and barn.  Grace had to hold on to her Sam.

Matthew was trying to immitate the boys throwing rocks.  But then his hands got dirty and he didn't like that.  He's trying to clean them off.

Here's Shoji enjoying herself.  We're going to have to buy some land so she can run free again.

There were some old buildings built into the side of a hill.  The boys decided it made a great slide.  Good thing they dressed in their newest jeans!

This is the maze of doors the kids loved.  It was in the back of the barn.  Sam and his friends had set them all up to stain them.  They almost all got tipped over from the kids running through them, but all survived.

After riding on the 4-wheeler (no pictures, but I got some video) with Sam, he took the boys up on the hill behind his house.  That was one of their favorite parts of the day, after the 4-wheeler, of course.

Sam took us up to this great spot in the mountains that had this waterfall.  There was a walkway, bridge, and some lookout points.  It was really a beautiful waterfall, especially with all the changing colors.

This was just a weird rock out in the middle of nowhere, so I snapped a picture.  Right after this rock, we got to Shell, WY, and Sam bought everybody ice cream.

The kids were tuckered out!  It was a great day, and we'll do it again soon.  The weather was cold, but we have plans to go back when there's snow.  We scoped out some really great sledding hills.

Thanks for all the fun, Uncle Sam!  We loved visiting you and seeing the great work you do.  See you soon!

Woodbadge

Ben returned from his last day at Woodbadge last Saturday.  He was home for a couple hours, then I went off to play for the Rimrock Opera.  Woodbadge is a Boy Scout Leader Training Program.  He had to go a couple weeks ago for three days, then last week for three more days.  It was held at the same camp that Haley and I went to for Girls' Camp in June.  Ben had a good time with his friends Russ and Remington, but he's really glad it's over!  (So am I.)

This is the only picture Ben took the first time he went.  It is of the crazy set up of the outhouse.  I can't imagine sitting right next to someone doing your business, or doing your business while having someone do theirs standing right in front of you.  I think maybe a man designed this.

This is a picture of the main area at camp.  That cabin up on the hill is where I stayed in June (Ben wasn't so lucky -- he was banished to a tent).  The cabin right in front there is the mess hall, where I spent the majority of my day from 5 a.m. until 10 p.m.

It is a really pretty area.

Here's Ben and his friend Remington.  They had fun and didn't get into too much trouble (I hope).

My Son, the Plumber

That little butt is so cute, I might just have to pinch it!

Some Stuff I Missed...

I had forgotten about a few things we did this month.  I guess my brain cells never grew back after I had kids.  I knew that a woman's brain shrinks 8% during pregnancy, but I don't think mine has ever reconstituted.  I guess that means I'm 40% dumber than I was 13 years ago!

We took advantage of the nice weather last Saturday, and washed both cars in the driveway.  The kids had a blast, and I mean BLAST!  That water hose is fun!  Even Matt got in on the action.  He has recently decided that every substance he gets on his hands needs to be shampoo, because he rubs whatever it is into his hair.  I've been cleaning out carrots, apple juice, spaghetti sauce, boogers, garbage, etc. out of his hair.  At least when we washed the cars, it was soap he was smearing around up there.

Joey amused us for a little while by taking a teeny bit of time away from playing with Andrew to scrub a tiny spot on the van.  We used our cleaning socks (old socks that I drew smiley faces on) to clean the car.

Andrew had decided to have his birthday party at the corn maize (bring back memories, Mandy?!).  He wanted to invite everybody he knew, but I decided I could only keep track of 6 little boys in the tall corn.  It was perfect weather, and even though it was a Friday night, we got there before the crowds and were able to enjoy the maize and all the fun stuff they have there by ourselves!

Haley and Kalin took a break from pushing the little ones on these go-carts to have a little race themselves.  Those things were heavy and hard to steer!

The birthday boy had a great time racing!

Ben challenged me to a race, and of course I had to do it!  He cheated though.

We had a fun hay ride pulled by a really old tractor.

Group photo.

They had this huge play set with a really big slide.  I think the kids would have played there all night.

We had a rubber duckie race.  Here is Joey concentrating to get that water pumping!

It was a really great time at the Corn Maize.  Joey was the only one who didn't want to go back in for the second half, so we sat out together.  Can't say I was sorry, although I did have a great time!  And thanks, Grandma and Grandpa, for watching the little ones.

We went to the Zoo yesterday and saw some of our favorite animals.  I think my kids have our zoo memorized.  We're looking forward to the SLC zoo in a few weeks.

Visiting the River Otters, who were wrestling right by the window:

Grace caught me taking a picture of them walking.

"Horsey races":

Matthew went over to the playset, and then turned around to tell me a long story.  I love his jibberish.  He tells the most interesting baby stories!  This is him looking at me after his story was over, making sure I understood him:

September was fun, and we're looking forward to our travels in October!