a trip to CGO

Just a few short miles south of town, there is an orchard/pumpkin patch called Center Grove Orchard. This year, they had a season pass offer, which was 19.95 per person, 3yrs and older. I decided that since I'm not doing daycare anymore, that I needed to do more fun stuff with the kids and get out of the house more. This was a perfect opportunity for me to do just that, so I got a pass for Fletcher and myself.
Every time we go, the first thing we have to do when we arrive, head over to rope some cattle. Fletcher is all about cowboys and farms these days, so this is one of his favorite things to do. We come back to it at least three times while we are there.

They have tons of different activities in the farmyard. There are pigs, goats, chickens, horses and sheep to watch. The kids really love feeding the goats. Brynlee is such a fan. No fear at all.

They have the houses from the Three Little Pigs. Fletcher and Brynlee run from house to house pretending to get away from the Big Bad Wolf, a.k.a. ME.

The jumping pillow and corn pool are the two must-do things when we go. Some of the best smiles and laughs come from the adults as they jump or watch the faces of the littles they are with.

Adam and I have races on these tractors. More like timed laps, to see who can go faster around the track. The kids like to ride with us.

On the hayride heading to the pumpkin patch. After this ride, little boy always talks about 'going to the punkin patch.' it's usually brought up on a daily basis.

And no fall trip to the pumpkin patch would be complete without pumpkins. I just wanted the photos. I'm too cheap to pay for them there. I went the 3 for $11 route at Earl May.

Since our first trip to the patch, we've been at least five more times. The season passes really came in handy. I will definitely do the same again next year since we had so much fun on our little adventures. We still have a trip or two planned before they close for winter.

momma got an upgrade

we traded my equinox in for this beast.



i've always wanted a truck. and the husband has missed having a truck.
he just went to the dealership to look last wednesday. he came home and told me that we needed to go test drive one truck in particular. we came home with that 'one truck' on thursday night.
i pretty much love it. there are tons of bells and whistles that came with it that i'm still trying to figure out, but give me time.
today, while the kids napped, i practiced pulling in and out of the garage. i thought it was going to be more difficult than it was. now i just need to get comfortable in parking lots. i feel like the bed hangs out way far.

Michigan v. Iowa

my husband is a michigan fan. i was an iowa fan when we got married. i now cheer for both, but who do you pick when they are playing each other? 

one of my good friends has six season tickets and her and her daughter weren't able to go, so adam and i were asked, since she knew adam is a die hard fan. we were looking forward to the game, especially since it was suppose to be 56 and partly sunny. anyway, we left at 5am to make the two hour drive to kinnick. we got there and it was still dark. i don't like to be awake in the morning if it is still dark. we got a very close parking spot, since hollie's dad has a handicap tag. once we were ready to get out of the heated van, we set up for our tailgating breakfast and early morning beer drinking. 

 we got back in the van while john made breakfast. sausage croissants and everything hashbrowns...yum! i knew one of my college roommates was going to be at the game, so i called her up to see if we were even semi close to one and other, and we were...only a parking lot away.

 oh, how i miss my steffani. we walked over to where she was tailgating with her family and hung out. she said that another girl we played softball with was on her way there too. we had to get a picture for old times sake. jessie, steff and me. i think the last time we had a picture like this, we were all underage.

 we got in just as they were announcing the honorary captain, who just happened to be tim dwight, former hawkeye. it was pretty neat seeing the teams come out and the cheerleaders/dance team do their thing. although i was wearing michigan, i was secretly rooting for iowa (don't tell the hubs).

 it was a pretty good game. the game came down to the last play with just a few seconds left. michigan had the ball and was very close to the endzone. they just needed to score and it would have been tied, going into overtime, however, the ball was batted away by an iowa player and they won. this was a huge win for them, considering they had lost to minnesota the week before.

we had a good time. we were frozen by the end of the game because 56 was really 30...boo to the meteorologists who predicted WRONG...and boo for me wanting to believe them and not taking enough warm clothes.

about a month ago, my mom came up to help teach me how to can tomatoes. so basically, she did everything while i watched. 

 i was busy tackling this bucket of apples though. washing and peeling and coring and slicing...oh, the hard work! thank you pampered chef apple peeler-corer for making the job a bit easier.

a third of that bucket ended up in my crock pot to make homemade applesauce. such a simple thing to make, aside from getting the apples in peel-less slices. all i add is cinnamon. no water. no sugar. cook on high for 4 hours. stirring occasionally.

 fletcher wanted in on the action. he got the camera and took a picture of us.

 my mom thought it be fitting to get a picture of me, actually 'working'.

 the B didn't want to be left out either. she was playing in the bucket o' apples. pretty sure she bruised half  of them from dropping them on the floor...numerous times.

 hard work does pay off. we got four and a half quarts of tomatoes and two and a half quarts of applesauce. one isn't pictured because it didn't seal, so we started eating from it. it was oh so good.

today, i finished the bucket o' apples. i got another three and a half quarts from what was left and we had some for dinner. i think i have a blister on my finger from how i was holding the knife. anyway, job complete. i'm done canning for this year. 

about three weeks ago, we loaded the car and headed north. we went to visit my brother and his family for a nice weekend getaway. we arrived later than we thought we would, due to an unplanned trip to wal-mart to replace the sunshade that crapped out on us, a much needed dinner break and a stop to soothe an unhappy baby girl. we arrived, said hi and chatted for a few minutes, got two littles ready for bed and we all were asleep probably before we hit the pillows. 

saturday morning was great. the hubs got up with the kids and let me sleep in...until 8:15. the rest of the house awoke, breakfast was served and then sonja and i went to do a little shopping while the boys stayed at the house with the kids. it was so nice out, that when we got back, we suggested a trip to the park.

 {experiencing the slide...kinda}

 {not face, fletch}

 {gracie and fletcher trying to climb the slide}

 {tent the showoff} 

 {sliding with my boy}

 {jason and gracie}

 {brynlee loved the swings}

 {adam loved the slide. he went down more than once}

more people started showing up, so we gathered our troops and walked over to the school playground. the curly slide was amazing and the teeter-totters were just as fun at 31 as they were at 10. we had a good time playing and letting the kids get rid of extra energy. 

 {alycia and fletcher walking to the playground}

 {teeter-totter time}

 {b enjoyed swinging with aunt sonja}

 {gracie, fletcher and alycia climbing to the top}

{i think they love the teeter-totter as much as me}

on sunday, we got up and went to church. we came home and just hung out the rest of the day. it was dreary out, so we watched nascar, football and the world series game. it was a nice time just relaxing and hanging out with my brother and his family. we got up monday morning and headed back home, with a little stop to ikea in minneapolis. no huge purchases, but i will be back. it's just an excuse to visit more often.

more halloween happenings

since halloween is probably tied with christmas, i wanted to do a little more to 'celebrate' the day. i decided that i would make pumpkin cookies and have the boys frost them. we did a little halloween craft and i put the kids in their costumes to take pictures. the boys loved wearing them and pretended to 'chick cheat'.

 {showing me that he was going to be a gnome}

{pressing out his cookie}

{trevors turn}

 {waiting patiently for them to bake}

 {sad she didn't get her own cookie}

 {frosting time}

 {cheese!}

 {finally able to eat them}

{gnomie, skunk, spidey}

wordless wednesday-pumpkin carving