Today was a return to the barn and pumpkin patch.
The kids have been asking to go since last weeks birthday activities. After a hearty pancake breakfast, we eventually got in the car and headed out.

Sidenote: Sometimes, as any parent will attest, simple things like getting ready to go out, can take an extraordinarily long time. I think it actually took us 40 minutes to have the kids get dressed, brush hair, and put on shoes and socks. Seriously!

So we get there, and there are about 200 people there! This place is getting too popular. But we got in and both David and Isabelle went right to the bunnies. Then after about 60 seconds, David was up and ready to move on. There are so many animals to pet ans things to do! I really thought he just had to pee, because of the little dance he was doin'. But he just wanted to move on and catch everything right now!

Isabelle loved holding the bunnies, and the baby kittens. I think in the first 45 minutes, she and I only saw those two pens, while David and Julie ran all the way around the farm, petting piglets, ducklings, goats, a pony, a cow, more ducklings, kittens, chics, and chickens. Eventually, we all got to see all the animals, and go on a tractor ride.


Then came a wheelbarrow and a trip to the pumpkin patch. Of course, both kids wanted to get all the biggest pumpkins they could hardly lift. Eventually, we convinced them to find good solid round pumpkins that would make a good face for when we carved them.
"Are we going to carve pumpkins, Daddy?"
"Yes, Isabelle."
jumping up and down and smiling lots...
"Well, you guys will draw the faces, but I'll probably do the only carving."
"Oh. Can we get this big white one?" says Isabelle.
"Put it in the wheelbarrow." I say.
We ended up not getting it, but I did get to haul it around the farm for a while first.

Then Isabelle saw one of those little tiny pumpkins, about the size of an orange. And she had to have it. So each of them got one of those little pumpkins. (pumpkinettes? pumpkinis? pumplet?) And we got two Mommy and Daddy sized ones, and two David and Isabelle sized ones.

Carving will commence later tonite.

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Now playing: Mixed by Chris Aidy - Welcome 2 My House Vol 29
via FoxyTunes

This weekend we had dueling birthday parties to attend. The first was at a mini amusement park called 'Funderland'. We were there early, and the kids wasted no time getting to all the rides and the roller coaster, again and again and again. Then there was the picnic lunch, which we ate in a bit of a hurry, as at the same time, birthday party number two was starting about 30 minutes away.



Sadly, we had to skip on the birthday cupcakes. (There was no way we were going to have two tired, hot, and sweaty kids in the car all amped up on frosting, with a little bit of cupcake and juice box to wash it down!) But we were at the second birthday site soon enough. This was at a place called Impossible Acres. There was a hay bale maze, hay bale pyramid with tunnels, regular climbing hay bale pyramids, hay bale animal pens for baby animals. Yeah, hay bales all around. We also went on a tractor ride. I know, not a hay ride, just a platform pulled behind a tractor. Kids still have fun. They had fun pointing out the occasional scarecrow or farm animal in the pasture as we meandered by.

Then came the birthday stuff: pizza, juice boxes, and cake! The kids also got to pick a 8" pumpkin which then decorated with Mr Potato head parts, which later turned out to be recalled items! Well, not exactly the brand we had, since ours were more of an animal design, and we now have two cat themed pumpkins in our front yard.

My favorite part of the day was when I asked the kids what their favorite parts of the day was, and Isabelle said'' "holding the bunnies."

Kids at the ArtBeast in Sacramento:

One year gone, and I thought I'd update this blog again. There is no way I can cover everything we've done in the last year, but here are some highlights.

Isabelle has started kindergarten! Yeah, she's 5, and did pretty well at preschool. She really enjoys kindergarten. They do lots of singing and movements and of course the random art project. She's learning the alphabet, or relearning it actually, with a big interactive mode called zoophonics. http://www.zoo-phonics.com/ One night last week, Isabelle, and her class mostly, put on a show as they all sang a song and did hand guestures matching the letter/animal. They also performed a good morning song and a couple of interactive social greeting songs. Then came the finger food and play time outside. That got David very excited to go to kindergarten next year!

Speaking of David, he is now in preschool, which he started during the summer, and he loves it. I think he mostly plays on the swings, but every now and then he brings home some art that he made or tells us about story time. We're waiting to see what activities he gets involved in during the rainy season.



The kids are continuing their swim lessons, and doing very well. Isabelle is in level 4 of 10. ( 10 is equal to competitive swimming) She's swimming freestyle over 15 feet (4.5 m), jumps in, and can reach to the bottom of the pool to grab toys. She also swims on her back, and is currently learning to do an 'otter' roll. David can also swim 15 ft, when he really wants to, and is learning to swim on his back. He's prety good, but not quite at the level that he can do both by himself. David gets SOOOOO excited just to be in the pool, sometimes he just splashes and jumps around wih his classmates so that no lessons are taught, nor practiced. Davis is at a level 3, which is kinda a really dangerous level, as he'll jump right in a pool, but then only be able to swim a few feet before needing help.



We've moved to a new house, which is a bit bigger, and has a better layout. We're also right next door to a park. Unfortunatley, David has had a bad dream with something being right outside his window, and he now has frequent dreams about that same topic. Anyone have any ideas how to help kids get over recurring scary thoughts?