Tag Archives: aunt

Boys at the Pumpkin Farm

My daily quiet time hasn’t been going any better than the last time I blogged.  In fact, it didn’t happen at all on Saturday or Sunday.  How am I going to make this a habit if I can’t seem to even start?

Saturday I took the boys to a pumpkin farm with my sister, Rachael.  We had SO much fun!  The weather was amazing and the farm was filled with so many fun activities.  Bounce houses, mirror mazes, hay piles to jump in, two trains, pumpkin hay rides, corn mazes … and the list keeps going!  I think the only thing that went wrong was that we didn’t plan enough time for everything.  Ok … Jaden was kind of a pistol the whole day … but we still managed to have a ton of fun & Rae and I vowed to do it again next year (with the plan to stay the whole day).

Here are a few pictures from our adventure:

 

TeeTee won the “Greatest Aunt in the World” award and went into the bounce house with the boys!

 

Bah haha!

 

OK – Logan flew down the slide on his own – going head over butt the whole way down.  He landed laughing – thought it was the greatest thing ever!

 

When I zoomed in to see Rae’s face I laughed so hard I cried!

We went through the Batman corn maze!

 

This is Weston throwing a fit because I didn’t want to carry him any more … laying in the middle of the maze kicking and screaming.  Classic.  Rachael thought it was funny enough to take a picture – I just got annoyed.

 

We made a game of hiding in the corn and jumping out and scaring whoever was behind us!  (which was always Rachael haha but it was still fun!)

 

Towards the end the only thing that would keep Logan walking was his apple juice.

 

This isn’t very flattering, but all of us were racing to the end of the maze – final stretch!  Not to mention Weston was laughing hysterically while bouncing on my hip.

 

Jaden went through his first haunted house – it was a mirror maze.  I tried to take him through it but, because I’m a huge sissy, I convinced him to turn around and not go.  Rachael called me a whimp (rightfully so) and took Jaden through instead.  I’m such a scaredy cat …

 

While Jaden and Rachael were in the mirror maze, Weston, Logan and I hung out with the goats and llamas.

 

Don’t tell anyone, but Logan actually let one of the baby goats out!!  The gate wasn’t locked and he just pulled it open.  Thank goodness I was able to herd the little guy back in before he got away and anyone saw – man oh man …

 

There was this huge jumping pillow – it was just that, a ginormous pillow of air that the kids could run and jump on.  They loved it!

 

What pumpkin patch isn’t complete without a train ride?!?

 

And a pumpkin Xpress?

Logan – my little lover :)

Jaden and Rae loooooooove each other!

 

The two babies sitting side by side – they LOVED the ride!

 

 

The very last thing we did was shoot pumpkins out of this huge bazooka thing.  The man was so nice :)  Jaden even hit the huge pumpkin target (on the right hand side of the photo) a few times.  He LOVED it!

 

Logan & Weston got a turn shooting too!

Like I said – there was just A TON to do at this farm.  We had so much fun – and were SO tired by the time we headed home.  Can you believe we didn’t even come home with a pumpkin?  I had planned to stop at one of the pumpkin carts in Sussex, (after spending so much at the farm, I thought it would be better to just get the affordable pumpkins in town) but we were running late.  Soooo looks like we will be getting our pumpkins another time – it’s only the beginning of October, we’ve got plenty of time!  Right?  I AM looking forward to our first batch of pumpkin seeds tho …

Love, Mel

 

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Filed under Holidays, Outings & Field Trips, Posted by Melissa

The rest of the weekend

After our traditional Black Friday shopping, we hit the road later on Friday morning and headed up to DePere (Green Bay area) to visit Doug’s family. I am really lucky that I really love my in-laws and Doug’s extended family.

On Saturday we headed up to Doug’s grandma’s house to make holiday candy and cookies with all of his aunts. The tradition wouldn’t have been complete without stopping for cup of coffee first. The drive-thru line was long so I decided to run in quick. Everything has a reason. I had the blessing of meeting a blog reader (Hi Katee!) When a blog reader introduces themselves, it’s like a little hug from God. A nod from the big guy that I’m on the right path and I’m following his word. These encounters usually happen on the hardest of days or the days that I could use help to smile. I am always humbled by the words and kindness I receive from these meetings.

Saturday could have been a really hard Owen day … I was all worked up. It was the 6 month “anniversary.” The term anniversary is almost sickening … it’s not something to celebrate. I often thought about what that day was going to be like. 6 months later, gone almost as long as he was alive. How was I going to feel? I was on egg shells, just waiting for grief to knock me over the head and take over the day.

A piece of “advice” we talked about in my grief support group was to let your wishes be known. Let your family know when you want to do something in memory of your loved one. So I did … I brought an orange candle and asked that we light it. I spoke his name when I was thinking about him. It helped. The aunts chimed in. We cried, we laughed. We remembered what it was like to be in the hospital. Grief was still visiting … still pulling at my heart-strings, but family came together and didn’t let it steal the day.

We created memories. True, Owen should have been there to complete it, but he wasn’t. It’s the just facts. He wasn’t there but we were.

Here are a few pictures from the day:

Al the ladies sitting around the table (taking a small break from all our cooking)

Abby & Nya were loving the babies!  Here is Abby having her turn at feeding Weston.

Doug’s cousin Kayla feeding Logan

All I had to do was say “squeeze in for a picture” and this is what I got!  Such good picture-taking kids we have in our family!

Owen’s light

The kid’s table at Great-Grandmas.  Doug eat many meals at this same table.  In fact, he wrote his name in a Sharpie on the chair Logan is sitting at.  The first time Jaden was over, he had to write his name on the other “just like daddy.”  His name is on Weston’s chair.

That face that Weston makes gets me every time …

What grandma doesn’t love naked babies in her sink??  Auntie Krissy gave him a mohawk – lookin’ good!

Nya was super excited to help with Weston’s bath.  Weston wasn’t digging the bath that night though …

Here is all of our hard work!

At the end of the night, Logan – so fresh and so clean after his bath – sat belly up to the table and helped himself to hand full after hand full of popcorn puffs.

It was a really nice visit in Green Bay.  I only wish we could visit more often.  It’s hard since my side of the family doesn’t see each other any more.  They are the only extended family I have.  So … they kind of are stuck with me :)

Love, Mel

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Filed under Holidays, Outings & Field Trips, Posted by Melissa