Pumpkins and Presents

Made our annual trip to the pumpkin patch a couple weeks ago....

This was last year....

 Look who has grown a lot since then...

And who's grown a little.....

Yep, I definitely think that Tesa and Tyce have grown the most!

Hit up the hay maze....

The stroller didn't fit through the maze so we just waited and watched.  I could only see Kyle.

They could only see me.  Not that exciting.  But they had snacks so they were content.

Had one Kade sighting.

Then we just waited patiently to see them come flying out.

And they did!

They were kind enough to stop for a quick picture for me.

Then back to the hay maze they ran and me and these tots were back to waiting on them again.

Next stop, petting farm!

Sure, Ryne, pet the animals and then stick your fingers in your mouth.  Great plan!

We liked all the baby animals.

Even Tesa and Tyce enjoyed observing the animals from the comfort of their stroller.

Next up...

Tractor time!

Getting tired of just watching everything.  Tesa thought trying snacks from Tyce's cup might be more exciting.

Boys and tractors are such a cute combination.
Then came the tractor that was really going somewhere....it was pulling the hay ride.

Oh yes, they planned on taking that ride.

All aboard and ready to go.

I still have no idea why they picked the middle???

See ya later, fellas!

Watching the boys ride off down the dirt road.  Now what???

We strolled around to watch the goats climb up on their goat walk.  That was interesting.
Then I just couldn't stand it for them any longer....

I turned them loose!

They were thrilled with their freedom.

I really enjoyed watching them explore the pumpkin patch.

I think they were afraid of me putting them back in the stroller because every time I tried to get in front of them to take their picture they turned their backs to me and took off in the opposite direction.  So I don't have many pictures from the front. 
We were waiting for the boys to get back from their hayride adventure so I could get a pic of all four of them in the pumpkin patch together. 
As soon as they made it back Ryne found a mud puddle that he did NOT want to leave.

So, Kyle had to coax him gently over to the pumpkin patch where Kade was waiting so patiently.

Thankful that at least one of my kiddos cooperates for pictures!

But seriously, what was I thinking????
You and I both know that my history with taking pictures in which all four of these kiddos are looking is not a good one.

I tried anyway.

Tesa was just interested in eating mud.

Getting closer. You can actually see Tyce's face here.

Then Tesa looks away.  To tell her brothers just how delicious pumpkin patch mud is, no doubt.

And everyone looks!!!  But it is blurry and no smiles. Oh well.  I love it anyway.

And apparently Tesa was happy with that performance.  Either that or she is now cheering about just how yummy that mud was.

Then my sweet girl practiced her "cheese" for the camera!

Tesa and Tyce really did enjoy wandering through the pumpkins.

Ryne found his way back to the mud puddle.

Most certain that was his favorite part of the trip.

But we still had to pick out pumpkins to take home with us.

Loaded up the wheel barrel and headed out to do some pumpkin picking.

How will we ever be able to choose?

On the hunt!

Apparently Ryne thought standing on them would help determine if it was a good pumpkin or not.

Looks like maybe we have a winner.

Great choice.

Then comes the hard job of getting these guys to leave the hunting grounds.

Here they finally come.

Isn't that a barrel full of cute pumpkins???
Guess Kyle was tired of me being the only one pushing around cute pumpkins in a stroller. Ha!
As we passed a nice little flower garden I saw these...

Mom, don't you use these cool purple flowers as filler at the flower shop all the time?  I know where to get some now if I ever need to get some for myself.
We had such a fun time at the pumpkin patch.  Thankful for that family tradition that started four years ago as one of our very first things to do after moving to Washington....

 Kade in the same pumpkin patch October 2008.  He might not have grown much from last year to this year but he has grown a WHOLE LOT since 2008!!!

What to do with a pumpkin from the pumpkin patch???

Carve it of course!

Nice work, guys!

Then we had to do something not so fun the next week.
Flu shots!
Let the boys pick out a cupcake for dessert after dinner since they were having to get a shot.
Asked them to give me their best "this is how I feel about getting a flu shot" faces....

Followed by their "this is how I feel about eating my 'flu shot' cupcake" faces...

Yay for cupcakes!

And yay for things that make me happy.

Like Tyce practicing his vacuum cleaning skills.  I do think this is his favorite toy right  now.  I like that!  I see good help in my future!

And I also like that Tesa loves to say "cheese" for the camera!  If she sees the camera or Kyle or I with our phones she immediately starts chanting, "cheese, cheese, cheese" until she gets her picture taken.  Now if I can just teach her to keep looking at the camera while she's saying cheese I'll have it made. 

To wrap up this blog post I'll share my birthday with you!

It was a fun day.  Got to have lunch with these cuties and their Daddy.

My birthday was on a Friday and Kade was so distraught because he had school all day and then he and Kyle had a Watch Dogs meeting at school that night.  He could not figure out how he was going to be able to fit a birthday party into his schedule.  I do love that my children love to celebrate birthdays!  So when Kade got home from school we had this for afternoon snack...

My own little party!

Got to celebrate with my favorite peeps!

Yes, I love this birthday party gang!

And the fact that birthday cakes are a necessity when it comes to birthdays in our family.

Thankful for only 4 candles.  Didn't need a reminder that I am now closer to 40 than 30. Ugh!

What could be better than chocolate birthday cake but chocolate birthday cake AND presents!

Tesa and Tyce enjoyed the party from their high chairs.  It paid off for them because eventually they were given some chocolate cake of their own for their patience.

Had some help opening my gifts, of course.

Then I realized, these guys were only after my boxes!

Isn't it amazing how exciting cardboard boxes are for children?

Look at Tyce pushing Ryne around on the car. Funny!  I think they were after Kade's box.

While the boys were too busy with their boxes to pay me any attention I did get a look and quick smile from our princess. 
So thankful for my precious family who were all so excited about my birthday.  I am blessed!

And today that precious family is going to transform into their Star Wars characters and go get some candy!  While we are not a big fans of Halloween, we do enjoy dressing up and having an excuse to have a party.  So that is what we are going to do.  Stay tuned for pictures of that!