A Busy Weekend

We took the kids to the pumpkin patch this weekend. I don't know what it is about these places but I always love going. We also took the kids through a corn maze. Curtis was teaching Arabella and Hayden how to read the map. They did a pretty good job of finding their way around. I feel like it's just my kids but somehow everything turns into a competition. And they fought back and forth over who would get to the checkpoint first. Of course after a few checkpoints they quickly got tired and wanted him to lead the way. Tate wanted to chew on part of the corn stalk and tickle people with it. It turned out to be a good family outing.

Here's a picture of Hayden with his tie on for church. He's been so excited because his friend Curtis gave him a couple of ties. He looks so handsome doesn't he?

Okay, this picture of Flash is supposed to be with the hiking pictures but I can't figure out how to move it. Oh well. Curtis' batallion had a Fall Festival last Friday and the kids got their faces painted. They were so excited. That was the part they had remembered from last year. Arabella's is a butterfly, Hayden, a cat and I'm not sure what Tate is supposed to be. So this week we have all been sick with really bad head colds. For the first time in years I stayed home for 3 whole days and pretty much layed on the couch. Thursday was one of Hayden's off days for school so I had him and Tate both home. I was so tired and all I wanted to do was sleep. So I told Hayden if he and Tate would just sit down and watch Sid the Science Kid and Super Why on PBS then afterwards I would let them paint. I managed to get somewhat of a nap in and then had to let the boys paint. And this is what you get when you let a 2 year old paint.....

Needless to say we had baths immediately following our paint time.

And here's Hayden, our OCD child with not a drop of paint on him. It's scary how much he's like me. Since we have all had really bad head colds and have not been feeling well, we were quite excited when the kids got up this weekend and played by theirselves for a little while so we could sleep a little more. Arabella is quite good at taking control and telling Hayden and Tate what to do. So they were playing school as we slept in. When we got up we found they were at the kitchen table with the coloring books and school books doing their work. The crayons and markers were on the table and we see this.......Tate with marker all over his mouth and hands. Nothing a few baby wipes won't take care of. It was so worth the extra sleep. I'm looking forward to the day when they can all fix their own cereal and watch some cartoons.

As many of you know, hiking is one of the things our family loves to do. I used to hate hiking. But somehow through the years of Curtis making me go, I have learned to enjoy it. The kids love playing in the woods, as they call it. They have each been in a backpack on Curtis since they were a couple of months old. They love the leaves, sticks and especially playing in the creek. One of the best parts of our new house is that there is a trail right beside our house. So now on many days we take a walk down the trail and let the kids play around for a while. Curtis has even started teaching Arabella and Hayden names for the leaves and how to identify different footprints of the animals they find. I should also remember Flash, our 8 year old bassett hound is loving this freedom of running everywhere on the trail. He's not just stuck inside of the backyard fenced in all of the time now. Anyways, here's a few pictures I took on Sunday as we took one of our walks through the woods. You'll notice Curtis' orange hat that Tate has on. He's had this stinky old hat since before we had kids. I think every husband has one of those. We have pictures of each one of our kids on Curtis' shoulders playing with that hat that he always wears hiking. Another memory that we'll be talking about when we are old.

On Saturday I took Arabella and Hayden to Disneyland On Ice. I got tickets on the floor, 2nd row. It was great! The story line was that the Incredible Family was going to Disneyland. It had a great range of characters for girls and boys. I of course teared up hearing the music and remembering going to Disneyland as a child and thinking of when we one day will take the kids to Disneyland. One of those dreams every parents has. I had to distract myself to keep from crying the whole time. It was a great time and a good memory. Here are a few pictures of the show.