My Pumpkins at the Pumpkin Patch

The weather has been just beautiful and we were all excited to take our annual trip to the pumpkin patch. Last year we explored several different pumpkin patches in the area. But this year there is just a lot more going on in our lives so we are just visiting our local pumpkin patch. I've really come to conclude that it is the best one in the area anyway.

They have lots of cute wooden cut outs that little kids love.

Hello Kitty is one of Rachel's favorite characters so she was super excited to stumbled upon them when we first entered the patch.


Of course, big brother was busy-ing himself in the hay maze while we were talking to Hello Kitty.


The kids were so cute together as they ran through the maze.


Nicholas tried to be sneaky but he was a little bit too tall to easily sneak in this short hay maze.


There was a lot of playful chasing and lots of laughter!


Gotcha!


There is a little slide at the end.  Rachel just kept playing on the slide.


My son must be part cat.  He always wants to be on the highest possible perch.


Rachel as conductor, Nicholas as....hood ornament?


Nicholas 2012

Here he is last year - Nicholas 2011
 

Rachel 2012


And last year - Rachel 2011


Here are my cute little pumpkins!


Nicholas is 8 and getting so big.  However, he is still little and wanted to pose in front of the dino cut-outs.


Oh My!  Dora is her favorite of all!  She was just giddy standing next to her!


She tried to hold both of Strawberry Shortcake's hands so they could dance together.


Smurfs!  One of the few cut outs that were significantly shorter than Rachel.


Mickey and Minnie Mouse with Rachel and Nicholas


There are always lots of cute scenes set up for posed pictures but all the shadows from the beautiful trees can make it a booger to get a good shot.

They both tried to life and roll pumpkins that were as big as they are.


My sweet thoughtful little angel.


Cuties staying still enough to pose for a picture.


We love the pumpkin house.  Nicholas is always great at picking his own poses for pictures and calling my attention to him.  He came up with this shot himself.


Then he called Rachel over and had her pose with him.


He counted all of the pumpkins!


Fall sweetness at the pumpkin patch!


My strong little guy trying to show off his muscles.


He possibly overdid it on this one!


They pretended some of the pumpkins were rocket ships that they could ride on.  I love their imaginations!


The pumpkin windows are always a favorite.  Lots of great openings to play peek-a-boo!


We made it over to the larger hay maze which of course has a larger slide at the end.  I loved watching them stay together throughout the maze and sliding out at the end together.


One happy little boy!


On to the inflatables!  My kids could stay in this section for hours!


Rachel takes after Nicholas and has no fear.  She loves exciting slides.


The boy doesn't waste time with the slide.  He just jumps straight down.


King of the Mountain


There is an old playground ride here that we don't see at playgrounds anymore.  I used to love this ride and so do my kids.


There are several little playhouses for the kids to play in.  Rachel gave me the sad face from this jail. 


Hot and tired, we stopped for sno-cones.  Yum!


Happy Fall everyone!

Birthday at Magic Time Machine

Rachel was excited about her birthday dinner at Magic Time Machine. It seems to have become a tradition that the kids get a birthday dinner there. It is so much fun for them to see the waiters dressed as their favorite characters and listen to all the wacky things that go on there.

Rachel dressed up as a princess fairy. Such sweetness!


...and silliness!


We requested a booth in a section with a princess or fairy waitress that Rachel would like.  She was happy to see that Snow White would be serving her dinner!


Our booth was really cool because it was decorated with an explorers theme which is exactly what we are studying in school right now!  Nicholas showed us where we are located on the giant wall map.



Then he gave us a brief explanation about the travels of Marco Polo from Venice to China.  Yes, homeschooling isn't just learning in a classroom from 8:00 - 3:00.  There are learning opportunities all around us every day!


Rachel was doing a happy dance in her seat.  Blue smokey ugly drink and a salad of just green bell peppers and mushrooms and she is a happy girl!


Tinkerbell stopped by to say "Hi" to the birthday girl.

And of course, several people came to sing Happy Birthday including Marilyn Monroe and Waldo.  Odd mix, right?


Although the serenade was quite entertaining, Rachel apparently didn't like their singing very much.


They gave her a free birthday cookie with ice cream and she happily blew out her candle.  Dig in!


A busy day and a tired princess couldn't help but sleep on the way home.


By the time we got her out of the car at home, she was well rested and wide awake.  We got the kids bathed and ready for bed but we still had birthday cake for the sweet girl.  I picked up a beautiful floral cake at Target and Stuart offered to write Happy Birthday Rachel on it in icing.  He did a fabulous job with "Happy" but he realized he wasn't going to have room to add "Birthday" and "Rachel" to it.  He could have just written "Birthday" and it would have made perfect sense to have a cake that just said "Happy Birthday".  However, Rachel loves seeing her name in writing so for her sake, we decided to just add "Rachel".  After all, she is a happy Rachel.


We let her add a few pieces of Hello Kitty decorations to the cake herself.


What a sweet little girl.


Licking the bottom of the candle is a privilege reserved for the birthday child.


Make a wish sweet girl and we pray that they all come true.


Happy Birthday Rachel!  We love you!