Saturday, September 29, 2012

Fall Fun

Just like summer, fall, has it's own list of fun things to do, adventures to go on, things to see.
Pumpkin finding, leaf jumping, lots of snuggling, nature walking, beauty spotting, craft doing. Nothing profound, nothing life changing but smile bringing, joy filling, memory making fun.

We went to Center Grove Orchard the other day, and despite being an orchard we only picked one apple (although I'm pretty sure it would have been frowned upon, I just wanted my kids to try an apple right from the tree so I grabbed one on our way in). It is FALL FUN. If you want to know what fall fun is, go there. There was so much to do I felt like we barely even scratched the surface and we were there for over 3 hours.

We had the privilege of spending the day with our dear friends the Larson's. You may not remember but Chuck Larson left last October and spent the next 11 months serving our country overseas as a Captain in the Marines. He left his wife Laurel, daughters Millie and Stella and son Bo (born in November) to serve. He literally came home for Bo's birth and left while Laurel was still in the hospital, Sacrifice. I wrote more about them in this post, SACRIFICE. Chuck arrived home about 2 weeks ago. He will spend the next several months in Minnesota during the week to finish up his work but will be home on the weekend. We are glad that he is back in the states and so thankful for his service. So this particular outing was even more exciting having him home.
                                     
 Laurel and all the big kids checking out the animals.
 Dan and our sweet kiddos.
 Chuck and Laurel.
Titan enjoyed all the adventures as well. I had a friend comment the other day while we were at the park that Ty is more like like a two year old in his physical abilities. HE IS SO DETERMINED AND AMAZING. He conquers flights of stairs, both up AND DOWN, makes his way down any slide all by himself, can easily climb onto anything, and runs, runs, runs with the rest of the gang. He refuses to be left behind. I just love this boy.
There were the three little pigs house at the orchard. Laurel and I laughed because the kids could have spent all day hiding in the houses, being scared by the wolf (one of their parents) and running to another. We had to pry them away from the little houses


Laurel being the big bad wolf.
 Quinton in the house of straw.
Titan in the house of bricks.
Myla, Millie and Stella
 
Sweet baby Bo. He is such a little stud.
 Millie and Stella helping Titan along. Sweet little helpers they are!
 Then it was off to ride the tractors. Titan was a happy guy, doing the same thing as the big kids.
 Quinn enjoyed these.
 They were a little tricky to peddle.
 Millie and Stella driving the tractor.
 Love this picture, huge smile on Millie, a little sass on Stella.
Next was the giant, giant, giant corn pool. Who ever came up with the idea of a corn pool for kids to play in is a genius. They all LOVED it.
 The hay bales around the outside provided for some great jumping platforms.
 Check out this awesome jumper!
 Love his smiles.
 Titan had tons of corn in his diaper.
 He didn't even want a picture snapped with Daddy he just wanted to get right back in the corn.
 Bo, did not feel the same way about the corn.... Happier later after he got used to the strange feeling.
 Quinton jumping.
 Millie was all smiles.
 Bo was a little happier sitting on someones lap.
 Oh Myla.
 Titan and I.
 Once again we had to convince them that there was more to explore and drag them out of the corn pool (we did make a second stop at the corn).  And it was off to the big jumping pillow.

I love this picture.
 It is a huge pillow to jump on, kind of crazy.
 Laurel, Chuck and Bo.
 Then it was off to ride blow up horses.
 Me and the love of my life!
 A hay bale maze
 Which the kids spent most of the time jumping from hay bale to hay bale rather than running through it.
 Quinton giving a big thumbs up. I think he really enjoyed it all.
 And then there was a giant slide, you're thinking to yourself, it is never ending. Yes, it was non stop fun and we didn't even do everything there was to do there.
By this point Titan was ready for nap, I'm not sure he enjoyed the slide.
 A sweet, sweet picture.
 And a little picture of my family of 6. We rarely get these, I just love them.
Such a fun fall day. Amazing friends, great adventures, perfect weather and tons to do. Loving all the memories we are making!


Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Biking

Biking has become a favorite past time of my children.
Quinton got an awesome bike from Nana and Papa for his birthday back in March and his siblings longed for their own all summer long. We have been blessed in funny ways with amazing 12 inch bikes for Rex and Myla (both from goodwill that people have graciously given us). A couple dollars are they are happy as clams to join their brother in his biking excursions.
We just received Rex' bike a few days before these pictures so we had not bought him a helmet yet (we have one now). Rex tends to be a distracted biker. He likes it, but is very interested in what's going on around him.

Myla is a natural at biking. She is so motivated and peddles as hard as her little legs can go to keep up with Quinton on his 16 inch bike. It's amazing how much faster Quinn can go with a little bigger wheel.

I love these next few pictures and how the entire time Quinn has a smile on his face. (blogger is being funny with my pictures today.)


Rex getting a little hand from Daddy.
On his own.
My turn to help him out.
Dan showing off one of the marvelous bugs they caught after biking.
Rex always picks flowers for me. He will stop and grab any dandelion, flowers from the park, even people's yards. I have to catch him before he takes other people's flowers. It is so precious. Always unprompted, always for me! I love this boy.
Quinton following Rex' footsteps.
The Bug Hunter's in action.... again.
Quinton has really taken off this summer with his bike. We attempted 2 wheels for a few minutes. He did alright but got tired and frustrated. It might need to be a one on one event. I think he could catch on quickly!
We are loving their bikes. So thankful for the wonderful ways that we received bikes for Rex and Myla. So blessed!