One more trip

I had to leave so quickly the last time I was at Lombardi Ranch, that I didn't get a chance to buy the pumpkins I needed to get for Leah's Halloween party at school on Monday. So we had to take a trip back up there. Since we were there (again), I figured we might as well enjoy it a bit.

So we went on the train ride through the corn maze. Brandon loved it.

Carter not so much. He was kind of freaked out, but was fine once I snuggled him back into me. Well, sort of. I think he was mostly just happy to get off. It was a bit too bumpy of a ride for him I guess.

This is in honor of Paul's roots. His Iowa corn roots that is. Have him tell you the story of the summer he spent being a corn detassler (did I spell that right?)

Have you read the story of the "Bumpy Little Pumpkin"? It's a sweet little story of finding the good in all things no matter what other people think. 

And since I got a shot of the girls at this height board, I had to get Brandon too. Lucky for me he was in a picture taking mood. 

Carter's Walking

Despite my best efforts this little guy has decided to grow up! In less than one week he will be 1 year old and while he has been taking steps here and there for probably a month or so, he just now (as of yesterday) decided to really walk. Like across a room. And he's doing it more and more. I'm sure by next week, he'll be a pro. It makes me happy and sad all at the same time. I will miss having a baby around the house. But I look forward to the fun years of "childhood" with my four precious little people.

LOVE YOU my little guy!

Star Achiever award and a field trip that barely happened

Last week Ashlyn got awarded the "Star Achievement" award at school for placing in the advanced section of her State wide (STAR) testing last year at the end of 2nd grade. We were very proud of her and happy to watch her accept her award. Here she is with her best school bud Lourdes.

Brandon had a preschool field trip to Lombardi Ranch last Friday. We didn't last too long. Now granted it, it was a pretty darn hot day and he was pretty red in the face. But still! He had TWO shirts on and if any of you know Brandon at all, you know he is barely ever seen wearing even ONE shirt. So I told him he could take his shirt off and keep just his school shirt on. Well, we had to take both shirts off to keep his school shirt on. And so of course when I went to put that school shirt back on he threw a MONSTER of a fit (seems to be the name of the game these days). I probably didn't handle it too well. I was hot myself and irritated with the constant battle of trying to keep this kid clothed. So we fought over it for a few minutes with him screaming and yelling and running away from me, until I finally told him if he didn't get his shirt on, than we had to go home. Well, it bit me in the butt, because he said, "ok, let's go home". So.....we did. I somehow managed to get him to put his own shirt back on and then we left. And so from now on (as his "punishment") he has to wear a shirt at all times, even if we are just at home, because he is having too hard of a time distinguishing when it is ok to wear a shirt or not.  I thought it was going to be a bigger fight everyday, but when a friend of ours saw him (with a shirt on at home) and commented on how he was surprised to see him actually wearing one (embarrassing I know) Brandon said, "yeah, I throwed a fit so now I have to wear a shirt all the time". And he's done it. So that's that! Here's hoping he keeps it up because honestly he looks better clothed!

See! Proof he is actually wearing a shirt on a regular ole day hanging out in the backyard playing with his brother. It's a mini miracle!

And as a side note, isn't that little Carter just adorable? Even though he's on a major screaming/squealing phase. I still love both my boys.

 I'm a lucky momma (although if you'd asked me that on Friday after leaving the pumpkin patch, I might have had a different answer! haha)

Playdate with Grace

A few weeks ago, my friend Kristina texted me and asked if we could take Grace on the Wednesday of Fall Break. She had to work and was looking for a fun place for her daughter to go. Well of course we said yes. We love having Grace over. And really it worked out perfectly because it was so rainy all day and we would have been stuck inside anyway. 

The girls played great together and kept themselves occupied the whole time with one activity or another. For a while, while Carter was sleeping, they got out a bunch of their polly pockets and set up a whole house for them. I love to see their little imaginations at work. 

And of course, when friends come over, dessert is almost always a must. So after lunch the kids opted for snow cones, despite the fact that it was cold and rainy out. They didn't seem to mind one bit. 

Grape for Brandon and blue raspberry for the girls!

We ended the week with a trip to the park and then to the zoo. I didn't take any pictures there because honestly, I have a TRILLION and one pictures of the kids at the zoo. Plus I just wasn't in the picture taking mood. It was a really nice day for the zoo though and we were able to go with our good friends, Tina and her gang. So that always makes for some super fun times! All in all, it was a great Fall Break. Now back to school and homework and all that jazz. It sure is nice to have some variety. 

Lombardi Ranch

On Tuesday (and Thursday too actually) we went out to Lombardi Ranch. Lots of friends came with us and the kids had such a great time. They get so excited about this pumpkin patch. And I love it too! Seriously between the two days, I only spent $3.00 and that was on 6 little pumpkins, which we came home and painted. Tuesday was the first Fall feeling day of the year. I was fully expecting to sweat my booty off, but I was pleasantly surprised and it was quite enjoyable. Next pumpkin patch, Tapia Bros., this Friday and then hopefully a visit to Underwood Family Farm before Halloween gets here. I LOVE Fall!

If I was smart I'd remember to take their picture in front of this every year. But I think this is the first time I have. Maybe I'll remember next year and then we can start comparing from year to year.

I think I say this all the time, but really it kills me that this little guy is growing up so fast. I'm quite sad about it. And I'm still in denial that his birthday is in just a few short weeks. *sigh* Maybe I'll just skip it this year and make him stay small. Too bad that wouldn't really work.

Brandon was at preschool on Tuesday (the day I took all the pictures), so he's not in any of these. But he was with us on Thursday when we went, and I think his preschool is taking a field trip here next week, so he will get his fair share of pumpkin patch time too!

Dolphin Tale

Monday, after going to the Aquarium all day, I decided we hadn't done enough and ventured out to take the girls to a movie. We went to see "Dolphin Tale". It was a sweet, heart warming movie and I think the girls really enjoyed it. Either that, or they were just really excited to be at the movie theaters because honestly we don't go that often. But it was a fun little outing with them and it made me excited for the future knowing my girls are going to start enjoying movies other than "Strawberry Shortcake" type shows (not that I don't like Strawberry Shortcake but you get what I'm saying). 

I wanted to take their picture in front of the "Dolphin Tale" poster, but we couldn't find one. So since "Puss in Boots" is Dreamworks next big movie, we took a picture there.  

Not great shots, but I think we were starting to bug the people behind us with all the bright flashes, so this is the best I could get. Poor Leah kept getting cut out of the shot. 

A Perfect Aquarium Day

You know...some days your outings go well and some days....well...they just don't. Luckily this was a good outing day. The girls are out of school this week for Fall Break so I asked Paul if he could take Monday off from work so we could head down to Long Beach to the Aquarium there. We got there just a little before noon and knew right away that it was going to be a good day. Why? Because the parking lot was empty. That meant the Aquarium was too. We sat outside and ate our lunches I had packed and then headed in to see some fish. The weather was beautiful. Sunny and clear but not too warm. There weren't a ton of people inside, so we got to walk right up to all the touch tanks and tide pools and pet lots of little critters. 

Including some moon jellies that I thought were just so cool.  Those four rings in the middle are their stomachs and the ones that had lots of frilly stuff underneath were about to release babies. It was really fun to see.

Then we went in and saw a show on their new globe theater. It was all about global warming and taking care of our Earth. The kids thought it was so cool that the screen was round. 

These two can be the best of friends and the worst of enemies. Leah was NOT happy at all that Brandon was getting in her picture. She decided she needed to throw a fit about it. 

I thought it was pretty funny though when Brandon saw this GIANT Sea Bass in his peripheral vision and stopped fighting long enough to see if this thing was coming to eat him. It definitely shocked him. 

Leah, as you can tell, is still upset Brandon is in her lime light.

Silly boy likes me to take random pictures of him.

I was quite proud of Ashlyn taking a picture of us here. She usually cuts off our heads or something.

 But this one turned out pretty good.

There are so many cool sharks and giant sting rays to see. It was so nice that we didn't have to fight our way to the front to get a good look at them. 

Mister Happy Boy, Carter, had a great time looking at all the fish. At one point we had him out of the stroller. Paul was holding him and showing him all the fish in a giant tank. He was really oohing and aahing at them. 

After we looked at the sharks and played in the water area, we got in line for story time. Only no one else was in line. So we asked a worker if they were still having it. He said yes, but since no one else was interested that he would take us back to a party room and let the kids pet some more fish. It was awesome. Like our own private party. My favorite was the sea cucumber. But the sea anemone and sea urchin was pretty cool too. I put my finger in the spikes of the urchin and it literally closed it's points around my finger.  I was glad I wasn't a little fish. I might have been that urchin's lunch.

Afterwards, we got an ice cream and walked out to the lighthouse to let the kids run around on the hill. Brandon decided to throw a knock down, on the ground, red in the face, yelling, kicking and screaming fit. All because Daddy would carry him (yes he was tired, but still....it was extreme). So I sat with him until he could calm down (it was a good 10 minutes or more) and then we walked up to the lighthouse together and met up with the rest of the family. So I guess no day is ever perfect, but that's okay. That's just the way life is.