Fall Festivities with Friends

Last week we had a playdate at a Pumpkin Patch in Del Mar. It was really big and had lots of rides and things for the kids to do. CJ had SO much fun with his friend B. 

Posing with pumpkins

Checking out the sunflowers

How about this one?!

How does that corn taste? (ew.)

Running through the pumpkins!

CJ was SUPER excited about the train ride, and loved getting to "ding the bell".

There was also a car ride, and CJ was excited about the firetruck!

They had bouncy houses and giant slides. CJ loved it. He must have slid down and climbed up at least 20 times!

These two are so cute together...but they can also be trouble! Ha ha!

Come on B, let's ride the train again!

While we were waiting for our turn on the train, CJ kept telling me how he wanted to ride #3. I kept looking and looking and didn't see any numbers on the train. I told CJ "I don't think they have a #3 honey..." The train operator heard me and let me know that the numbers were on the back of each car (I had been looking on the sides) and that my son was indeed correct. Ha ha! Well, he got to ride in his #3.

One last turn on the firetruck!! 

What a fun time we had! Thank you so much for inviting us to join you, B!

Pumpkin Patch

There is a pumpkin patch really close to our house; which is so fun! We went one day just to get our pumpkins for this year. 

Checking out the pumpkins! (I remember last year all CJ could say was "punkee"...crazy how much things change in a year!)

Our little scarecrow, ha ha!

Choosing one

I can carry it...

Pumpkin girl

My three favorite people!

What is this scratchy stuff you are making me sit on Mom?!

We went back another day to go on the hayride!

The tractor stopped by the sunflowers field. The driver told us that many of the sunflowers that are commercially sold to florists all across the country (and world!) are grown around here.

There are a few sunflowers that are taller than the rest of the crop. These are called the "watchers" and they watch over the rest of the field and keep them safe at night from theft. Supposedly, if you steal a sunflower, you'll get bad luck.

The boys on the hayride

The girls. E was so tired, but was a trooper!

Best shot of the two kids we could get. HA HA.

Our family, Fall 2012 :)

This is seriously my favorite time of year! So many fun things happening! First comes college football in August & September. Then Halloween in October & Thanksgiving in November. Christmas in December, then  CJ's birthday in January! And all of these holidays will be even more special this year because they are E's first! :) 

The Quotable Dory

One of my favorite Disney/Pixar quotes is from Dory in "Finding Nemo". It comes to my mind quite often when I'm holding my kids, worrying about them, praying for them and loving them. 

Nemo's Dad says: "I promised I'd never let anything happen to him." 

And Dory says "That's a funny thing to promise. You can't never let anything happen to him. Then nothing would ever happen to him."

So true. As much as I want to protect my kids, and "never let anything happen" to them...then they would never get to experience anything. I often find myself being a borderline "helicopter" parent...I guess I just have to find the balance between helping them through things and protecting them from things completely. 

I found this picture in my "drafts" folder in my email. HA HA. I guess CJ was coloring on the iPad and somehow exported his picture into my email. Glad he did. What an artist, huh?! ;)

My parents arrive tomorrow for a visit and to meet E. I am SO excited!! We haven't seen them since December, so we are so looking forward to this time together! Lots of fun things we can do, but top priority is just family time!

Go Gamecocks...

...are words a Clemson alum like myself would NEVER EVER say...except when you have these three cute fans living in your house! ;)

Go South Carolina, beat LSU!!

Superhero Birthday

Our family was invited to a kids birthday party last weekend. The theme was Batman, and all the kids were asked to come dressed as their favorite superhero. I couldn't find an "Incredibles" costume, because that's probably CJ's fave, so Superman was his next pick. But he refused to wear the actual costume, he was only interested in the cape. Ha! 

I couldn't pass up the chance to have little sister be "Supergirl". :) 

The "in flight" position...I think she's just the cutest little supergirl ever!

The party was at a park, so the kids could play on the playground or dig in the sand. They also had great activities at the party for the superheroes! This was the bottle cap necklace station. CJ enjoyed picking out all the different color beads and putting them on his necklace. 

A super cool photo area!

And the mask making station, where you could decorate a mask!

The bouncy house was a BIG hit. Even though CJ was one of the younger kids there, he was having a BLAST jumping with all the big boys!

They had a "real" Batman come to the party in an actual Bat-mobile! It was pretty cool! The birthday boy was so surprised, and all the kids loved it when Batman took out a couple of bad guys.

CJ was pretty intimidated by Batman and adamantly refused to take a picture with Batman, the Bat-mobile or his little sister. Ha ha! E didn't seem to mind though. She slept through most of the party, but the rest of the time she enjoyed getting pushed around the park in her stroller! It was a "super" party...yes, I'm a dork.

Naptime

Knock on wood, but CJ has been napping. He's been sick (just a cold off and on) for the last month, and when he's not feeling 100%, he wants to nap! I'm enjoying the naptime for however long it may or may not last. ;) After E wakes up from her afternoon nap, CJ and I go together to get her. Sometimes he'll climb up into the crib to "play" with his sister. 

Doesn't she look thrilled?! E looks like "Ummm, can you people please get out of my crib and get that camera out of my face?! I just woke up." Ha ha!

Touch a Truck

We went to a Touch a Truck event in Ann Arbor last year. This seriously feels like yesterday.

Anyhow, I was so excited when I found out they had Touch a Truck here! Our ALL BOY boy loves trucks! CJ is especially into firetrucks right now, so we knew that that was the top priority of the day! The line for the firetruck was about 5 miles long. Apparently EVERY boy in San Diego wanted to see that truck too. Ha! CJ did a great job waiting though!

So excited when his turn came to "drive" the firetruck!

How do I look Mommy & Daddy? Future firefighter?

"There's the ladder!"

Touching the hoses!

Now, THIS is a cool seat! 

Checking out the hose attachments

On the back of the firetruck with Daddy!

This is what CJ did when all the horns started beeping and the sirens turned on. I think he was trying to cover his ear with his shoulder?! Ha! Love that smile!

They had a great learning area near the firetrucks and there was a demonstrator teaching the kids how to "Stop, Drop & Roll." CJ did pretty well for his first time! 

Then, Robosaurus started up...and our visit to Touch a Truck went south...JT and I had seen this crazy machine on Pawn Stars. It breathes fire and rips apart full sized cars. It is huge. Well, CJ was SCARED!!!! It was pretty far away from us, but the roaring and fire were still daunting to our little guy. He wouldn't take his eyes off of it, and kept saying "Dinosaur all done now!" & "Dinosaur go night night?!" Poor thing. 

We walked even further away from Robosaurus, but the damage was done. He was too worried about that "Dinosaur" to have fun. Standing next to the scooper, but still worried...

Daddy trying to explain to CJ that it's okay and that the Dinosaur isn't going to get him...we ended up leaving.

And I can't forget E. Sweet girl slept through it all!! :)

Hopefully next year we'll be able to see more trucks, but the important part was that CJ had fun, he got to do the firetruck and we understood and respected that he needed to get away from Robosaurus. Three days later he was still talking about the "scary dinosaur went night night"...