Pumpkin Patch Day!!

Grrr! This post did not do what I wanted it to! I downloaded a lot of pictures and then in my moving them around, many of them were somehow deleted. Once I realized it I downloaded the lost ones again, but because of the way I arranged the pictures to start with, I am not able to move the newly added ones back in, in order. So . . . . here are a bunch of disorganized pictures from the pumpkin patch. Scroll all the way down to the end of the post and these pictures at the top will make sense. :)

I always joke about how all of my friends have girls and poor Ryan has no little boys to play with. This is SOOOO true--right down to his cousins . . . he has male step cousins, but biological cousins are all girls. Come on friends . . . lets have some boys :)

On Saturday, my friend Kara and her girls Lynnea and Olivia went with us to the Hess Pumpkin Patch. Soooo fun! It cost a little more to get into than I had really wanted to pay, but there was a lot of stuff for the kids to do! Soccar ball bowling

How cute are these guys? They always have so much fun together! I promise, Kara and I did not coordinate our girls clothes! :) Again, Ryan and the estrogen :)Rubber Duckie Races while pumping water. The water would run out from time to time and the ducks would not slide. The child this would happen to would not be happy.They had a cow train. This was too funny! Kara and I rode too!! Very bumpy ride. They all loved it, but towards the end of the ride Lydia wanted to get off. She is like me and does not like it when she does not feel in control of something. The last half of the ride she was yelling "stop!" and Ryan, Emily and Lynnea were yelling "faster!" :)Musical pots and pansMilking cowsThe bunny house. Olivia fell in love with the bunnies! All the kids were trying to pet them through the chicken wire and then would pull away when the bunnies would try to nibble their fingers--laughing the entire time!! One more at the bottom of the pictures. Olivia and Lynnea "Back home on the Farm"The Corn Deer tractorThey had a slide that went underground. The kids would ride down on their burlap sacks and then walk back up the hill and go again--over and over! In the corn maze at the end of the day. LtoR-Lydia, Emily, Lynnea, Ryan--Olivia in front. We decided not to go through the corn maze because we had already been there 3 1/2 hours and they told us the maze would take at least 45 minutes to get through and that is just with adults. No thanks! Maybe next time :)

Finally, they had pig racing. They had pigs race to the finish line to eat Oreos. It was too funny! Absolutely the greatest day! Awesome weather! Awesome company!

A Close Getaway

We live about 45 minutes from a place called Chris Greene Lake. It is a beautiful lake that is surrounded by

(Ryan and Lynnea making "sand angels")

trees and hills and is mainly for fishing and boating. In addition to the boating and fishing area, they have a beach area for the kids to play and parents to relax. Not only is this place absolutely














beautiful, but it is located
behind the Charlottesville Airport. As a result, every so often you get to see a commercial airline fly very low over you while you are swimming in the lake. It is very cool! I have known about and been to Chris Green Lake for many years, but my kids have not been too much. This past Saturday, the kids and I invited my friend Kara and her daughters




Lynnea and Olivia to join us on our trip to Chris Greene Lake. We packed lunches and spent the entire afternoon there. It was amazing weather and the water was so nice! The kids all had such a great time! They did get a little tired since no one had naps, but when we ate dinner at the Wood Grill, they were the best kids you have ever seen. We starved them to behave :)

Ryan jumped off the dock a few times and they played in the sand and on the playground a little bit, but mostly swam in the lake. It is a beautiful place!

(Me with Olivia)

It's Lawn Party Time Again!!! YEA!

I am a lawn party addict. I love them! In a post last summer I explained our local custom of lawn parties (click on lawn parties in my labels). Last night was the first one of the season for me. They don't really start full force until summer actually starts, but some areas get theirs in earlier. Last night was the last night for the Elkton Fire Department Lawn Party. After having spent all day with us, Kara and her girls agreed to go with the kids and me to the lawn party last night since Mike could not go with us. The thing that I really love about this lawn party is the fireworks. There are other lawn parties that set off fireworks, but this one sets them off in a field and you park so close to the field where they are letting them off (not dangerously close) that you can actually see the people lighting them. We always get a good place to park so that when it is firework time, we can get our lawn chairs out and have a great view of both things. We ate dinner at the lawn party and we rode a few rides. Ryan rode his first roller coaster (small kiddie size) and loved it! All four kids rode the barrel of fun (we called it the cups) for the first time (well first time for my three anyway). The car they are in spins around while the entire ride spins around. Lydia HATED this one. She screamed "STOP SPINNING" the entire time she was riding. She never actually started crying, but when she got off she said "I don't like the cups!" After sharing some cotton candy and snow cones we headed out to watch the fireworks. They ended up starting late and the kids were tired so we decided to go ahead and go. As we were leaving they started so we pulled into a nearby street to watch them. It was a great view and we were inside the car so it was not as scary--well at least to Ryan and Lydia. After I heard them talking about the fireworks a little bit I turned to see if Emily was ok since she was not talking--it was then that I saw Cousin It (from the Adams Family) sitting in her seat. She had taken her blanked and put it over hear head. I asked her why she was covering her head with her blanket and she said "because the fireworks are too loud." I couldn't help but laugh. Best thing, from this street, I could still see the people setting the fireworks off. The pictures and movie are not very good--they were taken with my phone. In the roller coaster pictures, Ryan is in the first car.

Play Date

I love to get together with other moms (parents) and their kids and have a playdate. Not only is it a GREAT time for the kids, it is a GREAT time for the moms!! The kids entertain one another and the moms get to visit. A definate win win! :) Today we had a backyard full of kids and parents all around. This weekend is Mike's weekend to work nights so the kids and I tend to make plans on these weekends that involve other kids since the weekends that he is off--we tend to cram in family things that we can't do the weekends he works. My friend Kara and her two girls, Lynnea-6 (who is in Ryan's Kindergarten class) and Olivia-1 (who goes to my center) came over to play on the swingset and swim in our little pool. Since I knew they were coming I invited Benita (the wife of a guy that Mike works with and is working this weekend too) and her little boy, Tommy-2. They all had such a great time! Kara's sister, Claire stopped by, Benita's husband (who is on the day shift this weekend), Tommy stopped by in his patrol car to see everyone for a bit. The kids played with their water guns, diving toys and even tried to bring the horseshoes into the pool. Even Olivia had a good time trying to ride the bike we traded/loaned to Lynnea. Too fun!!

Olivia Turns1

Olivia is Lynnea’s little sister. Lynnea is in Ryan’s kindergarten class. Olivia goes to the center where I teach. Olivia’s half brother, Cass, went there as well. Kara is Lynnea and Olivia’s mom. Kara is the step-daughter of Sarah, a lady I used to deal with regularly when I worked in Property Management. Crazy—we have quite a few connections. As a result, Kara and I have become good friends. Olivia tuned one the other day and Ryan, Lydia, Emily and I were invited to the birthday party. While there, the kids broke out Lynnea’s collection of princess clothes. It really has become an epidemic with Lydia and Emily. Once they started sporting sunglasses (Emily could not figure out how to keep her sunglasses on with her eyeglasses) we felt a picture needed to be taken. I just thought they were too cute not to blog about.