Annual trip to the pumpkin patch!!

The week-end before last (yes, 2 weeks seems to be the average of how far behind I am getting these days! :o) we made our annual trip to one of our local pumpkin farms. We have been going to the same one each year since moving to California 4 years ago. It has become a fun tradition and the kids feel right at home here. The boys were disappointed that they did not have the "spooky maze" this year as they normally do. They did say they will be bringing it back next year as apparently there were many disappointed kids!

Pumpkin painting.............

And new this year were pony rides!!! I have been wanting to get Faith on a pony for the longest time!!! I was not sure how she would react to being on one for the first time, but she was a natural!!!

She hopped right on and was so comfortable.

So much that it has encouraged me to look into riding lessons for her.

It seemed to have a calming affect on her.

Look at that smile!!

The boys love to ride these every year

Faith had fun climbing on this huge hay stack

Is that Reed in there???

One of my few photos I was able to get of the 3 and Reed has hay sticking out of his mouth!! Leave it to Reed!!

Can you tell by those faces it is about time to go home!!

Dean was so funny because as I tried to get a photo of them by the pumpkins he said "no fair, then let me get one of you guys too." As he took our photo he was acting like I do when trying to take their photo. lol

Great day at the pumpkin farm and we even left with a little hay on our pants!

Bubble Gum Anyone??????

I am STILL getting caught up on my posts from our Cambria trip we took a couple weeks ago!!!

While our stay in Cambria we decided to take about a 45 minute drive to the town San Luis Obispo and have lunch there. I had never been and I have heard it is a really pretty town worth seeing. We didn't have too much time to spend there so we parked down town and walked around to find a place to eat. I heard about an ally there that is called 'bubble gum ally." It started many years ago as a place that people would go and stick their gum and it just kind of grew into this yucky bubble gum "master piece" of gum. I told the boys about it and they insisted that we find it!! It sounded like the coolest thing to them. So off we went in search of 'Bubble Gum Ally." All the locals knew exactly what we were talking about and they lead us right to it........

"Found It"!!!! Bubble Gum Ally!!!
It really was the grossest thing ever!!!! Gave me the creeps to walk down it!

The kids were pretty fascinated by it and of course had to find a spot to put a piece of their chewed gum!

Faith ended up not wanting to stick her gum on the wall. I think it grossed her out too. Notice how she walked with her arms folded!:)

It was kind of cool in it's own "yuk" kind of way! I had the hand sanitizer out immediately!:)

We didn't get to see too much of the town, but definitely would like to go back and spend some time there. And I think I can skip on "bubble gum ally!"

I just got through washing off over 50 pumpkins that I picked up from the pumpkin farm this morning for Reed's school Harvest Festival tomorrow. We will be working at that all day tomorrow. Can't believe only 1 more week until Halloween!!!

Have a great week-end!!!!!!!!

i heart faces..PINK WEEK!!!!!

This weeks theme at "i heart faces" is PINK in honor of breast cancer awareness month!!!!

Cancer, as well as breast cancer, has always been a part of my families life for as long as I can remember. My 4 Grandparents each battled cancer in their lives as well as my Mother-in Law.
Because of cancer my daughter was never able to meet her Grandmother. In fact it was the month that we signed papers to begin my daughters adoption journey, that her Grandmother lost her life to cancer. We have always believed that our daughter has had a guardian angel looking over her, her Grandmother.

I love this photo of my daughter Faith, pretty in pink!!

You can go here to see all the pink photos in honor of breast cancer awareness month

"Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires Faith and believe in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe." ~Gail Devers

Cambria Trip......

It has been a crazy week and I am just now getting caught up on photos from our Cambria trip. Can't believe it is already Friday and a week since we got back.
We spent 3 days on the central coast of CA in the beautiful and quaint town of Cambria. Our hotel was right across the street from the ocean so we spent most of our time walking the beach and exploring. It was absolutely gorgeous!
I have to admit this was the first trip that we have taken in our 14 years of having children that I really wished we could have taken this trip just as a couple without any kids! We are so fortunate that our children have always been great travelers and for the most part are very well behaved. BUT. We did have to hear a lot of the "I'm bored." "I just want to stay in the room." "Why are we going there?" "I don't want to do that." Blah, blah, blah!!! It was so funny because as we were walking one morning and I was trying desperately to take a photo of the kids, a couple walked by and asked me if I would like them to take a family photo. We got to chatting and they said this was the first trip they had taken without their 12 year old son and they were having the time of their lives. They said it was so nice to not hear any complaining. Dale and I just looked at them with envy. Sigh. As they walked off I realized we never did take that family photo. Oh well.
Here are a few from the beach called "Moonstone Beach" that was right across from our hotel......

I don't know what it is about the ocean and sand, but when my boys get near it they become possessed. All they want to do is wrestle and fight with one another. I know they are only playing but it can sure get annoying when trying to take a relaxing walk on the beach or trying to take photos! :)

Morning walk

These little squirrels were everywhere along the boardwalk. Dean saved some of his waffle to feed them one morning.

The beach is full of these colored stones. We spent hours collecting them.

And to show that Faith is not always full of smiles.....here is her pout!

Stopping to let a squirrel pass by

We also visited the Hearst Castle which was amazing!! And took a drive to the town of San Luis Obispo. Still downloading those photos so I will take you on a tour of the castle next post.

Our week has been crazy and I am so looking forward to the week-end! Reed had a pretty rough few days after getting his braces on. His mouth has been so sore and he has not felt like eating anything. I let him stay home from school for 2 days (I'm a softy!) and I am bringing him a Jamba juice for lunch today.

Have a great week-end!!!!!!

Braces for Reed.....

I will miss this little boyish "overbite" grin of his!!!!!

Today was a big day for Reed!! After 2 years of discussing it with the dentist, his braces were finally put on!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

It is kind of hard to tell here, but he chose black and orange bands for halloween and is already talking about how his next appointment he will have red and green ones put on for Christmas.
He is not too thrilled about wearing braces, but he is handling it like a trooper! Especially with all of his favorite foods being on the "absolute not" list!!! Braces are a lot to cope with when your 12!



I have been fighting a head cold since we got back from our trip Friday night. We had a great time and I will post photos as soon as I get them downloaded.

My Little Individual.......

On Saturday Faith was invited to a friends birthday party that had a "princess theme." Most of the little girls were planning on dressing like one of the Disney princesses. For those of you that know Faith by now, this really is not her "cup of tea." :) She would much rather be a "super hero" than a princess.
We talked about ideas on what she could wear and we even looked at princess costumes at the Disney store. She said she wouldn't mind dressing up as Ariel because she is a mermaid, but it wasn't long before she became distracted when she spotted the Captain Hook costume! lol The big feathered pirate hat and hook was just much more exciting!
After deciding I wasn't going to pay a fortune on a mermaid costume she probably would never wear again, we came up with the idea of wearing a tulle skirt and tights with one of her shirts. Faith liked this idea. As. Long. As she could wear her "president not princess" shirt with it!! I agreed that would be a great idea!!!!

Off to the party!!!!!!


Faith was so cute because she was concerned on whether her shirt was ok to wear to the party. She asked me if I thought her friend would be upset if she wore it. I told her I didn't think she would mind at all.
I just love Faith's thoughtfulness, spirit, and individuality!!!



(The kids are off of school this week on their Fall break. This is something new this year so I'm not use to a break so soon into the school year. I was SO ready for it though! Between the 3 different schools this year and preparing for our move I was in need of a little get away!!! Dale is taking the next few days off and we are taking a little trip to the central CA coast. Will catch up when we get back:)