Berry Patch Farms

We went blueberry picking at Berry Patch Farms this morning. It was about 30 minutes away and a beautiful drive. The kids were so excited to get there. Zoe snapped a cute shot walking down the lane. 

The first stop was by an old playground and tractor. The kids had so much fun. 

 

 

 

 

 

Then we got our buckets and headed out to the berry patch after a pit stop. 

 

I think it's safe for me to say that Jude and Cole ate more than they put in their bucket. At the end we only had 1/4 pounds to show for our efforts- between the twins eating theirs, Jude repeatedly emptying his bucket out and losing our best picker due to a potty break. But they had fun - that's what matters, right? And, the total cost of our outing was a whopping 53 cents- now that is some cheap entertainment, right there!

 

 

The big boys stuck together the whole time.

 

 

Blythe was so sweet and watched over the twins, while Emma did her own thing.

Thanks for going with us Speers- we had such a great time with you guys!

First week of summer

We kicked off summer with a special breakfast of sprinkled donuts last Friday morning. 

 

 

 

 

Later that morning we met up with some of Zane's former preschool classmates at a neighborhood playground. Zane had a soccer game Saturday and we "celebrated" Mother's day Sunday. Luke and the boys went and got me breakfast and we had Dickey's Barbeque for lunch. Sunday afternoon I went to the dollar store to stock up on a few things for the boys to keep them busy as we attempt to watch less tv during the day.

Mother's Day photo...nailed it.

All in all we've had a good week, even with some low points including screaming and fits from the boys (and mom as well). We've enjoyed beautiful weather,

 

logged several hours at various playgrounds,

the boys redeemed themselves from our failed Mother's day photo op

 had picnic lunches with dear friends,

lunch with the Pitts

 

lunch with the Speers

baked cookies,

 

 ate frozen blueberries, which the boys clearly loved, 

 

 

 

climbed trees,

 

had special visitors from our time in MT drop by, met Luke at IKEA for lunch one day, played with the new water table

 

 

 and even squeezed in a little "school work." 

 I am especially thankful for a particularly good day today. Hopefully the next three months will include many more days like today.

Fridays

We have a new appreciation for Fridays in our home this fall. Since Zane goes to school Monday-Thursday, it is the only day we don't have to rush around to be out the door first thing in the morning. Often times Zane requests to have PJ day and I am more than happy to oblige. This past Friday the weather was cloudy and cooler- the perfect day for a PJ day. The boys watched a few Christmas shows (they got up a little earlier than normal so they watched a little more than normal) while I made some muffins  for breakfast, 

 

they played/fought in their rooms and in the playroom, and then I decided we needed to get out of the house for a while and went for a walk with the boys in their pajamas.

After naptime (or rest time, I should say since this was the first time neither Jude or Cole took a nap), we loaded up with the Pitts and headed to the amphitheater/clubhouse to see Santa and some reindeer. Once we got there we quickly checked out the reindeer and then met up with the Speer crew and Zane's friend Gianna and family.

We actually had to leave before Santa got there (remember I said the twins did not nap) and the boys had more fun playing with all of their friends in the leaves and throwing rocks in the trash can than looking at the reindeer. 

The twins were fading so I headed to the van while Meredith got a couple of pictures of the big boys and Natalie in the sleigh.

Once we got back to the house, all of the kids played together for a while outside and at the Pitts' house. Thankfully Luke got home from work a little early. It was a fun day overall. I'll miss our lazy Fridays all together with my boys next year when Zane goes to kindergarten all day Monday-Friday (I need to cherish these special times with him...

Thanksgiving Break

Zane had a whole week off for Thanksgiving. It was so nice to not have to rush around to get him to school for a few days and I loved having all of my boys home with me. We managed to have a nice blend of fun activity and low key relaxation.

Friday morning we finally made it to a playdate at the mall with Zane's classmate Gianna from last year. Her mom Alli has been so kind to invite us to several playdates but it had never worked out. Thankfully it finally did and the boys had a fun time playing on the mall playground. We even had our neighbor Natalie with us- Meredith had watched the twins the day before so I could go to Zane's Thanksgiving party so I was returning the favor so she could go to Jackson's. I snapped a few pics but sadly didn't get any of Zane.

 These two are so sweet!

 Jude

 

 and Cole

 On Saturday, we went to see Santa at the Legacy Park Clubhouse with the Speer family. Thankfully they brought their camera and took a few pics of our kids with Santa and some our family together outside.

our big kids coloring while we waited in line for Santa

 
our sweet boys with Santa- I love the look on Zane's face...

 the best one of all of them

 love Zane's smile here

 the twins loved feeling Santa's suit and beard once they got over being a little shy

 they loved his beard and glasses, too

 they even made Santa laugh...

 a few of our family...love the fall colors

We got to enjoy a few fires in the fireplace over the break...oh how the boys love when Luke gets a fire going.

We got to have another fun PJ Movie day with the Speers. The kids enjoyed watching a show, eating popcorn. making candy turkeys,and playing at the playground- thanks Zoe for bringing the fun craft! We had so much fun with you guys!

 love these sweet kids

 Candy turkey time...

 Jude, Cole and Emma mainly ate candy while the big kids crafted.

 Sweet Emma

 Cole

 Jude

 Zane and his turkey

One day we were able to go to the playground by the train museum, or the "choo-choo playground" as Jude calls it. We pass it every Sunday driving to and from church and Jude always points it out and asks to go. The boys had fun sliding down the slide all together and running thru the tunnel. It was a beautiful day.

Cole

 

 

 Jude

 First down the slide together was Zane, Cole and me.

 

It took some convincing but finally Jude agreed to join us. 

 

Then it was time to run in the tunnel...I think the boys enjoy this more than playing on the playground.

After our outing to the park, we picked up lunch and headed home to see Luke who got off work early! While the twins were napping, Zane got a special invite from the Speers to join them at Menchie's for William's Reading Party...what a special treat! Thanks Speer family for including Zane- he had a great time!

Once the twins were up, Luke and I ran to the store with the twins to grab a few last minute items for our Thanksgiving feast. We stopped at the big park on the way home to let the twins expend some energy. They love running back and forth on the bridge and throwing rocks in the water.

Later that night, Jude found some of Luke's work safety goggles which he called "Papa's glasses."

Thursday morning we had some yummy Rhodes cinnamon rolls for breakfast and then Luke entertained the boys while I started making lunch. The boys watched the parade, played in their rooms and went to the playground and finally it was ready to eat. We had a late lunch and then got the boys down for a late nap and thankfully everyone took a long nap. When they woke up, we headed to the big park again for more throwing rocks into the creek and this time running the bases on the ball field.

I wanted to try and get a picture of the boys by a tree with beautiful fall colors but that didn't go so well

 

 so I settled for a couple with just me and Zane.

We headed back to the house and had some leftovers for supper. The boys got to enjoy some yummy chocolate cream pie for dessert.

On Friday we put up the went back to the train playground and ended up putting up the Christmas tree. Zane helped put on some of the ornaments.

Saturday we headed to to Bottoms Tree Farm with the Speers.

 

 We had such a fun time together! We walked around the land looking at all of the trees, 

 the pond,

the pigs,

and the horses.

 

 

The kids got to roast marshmallows

 

and we went on a hayride.

We even got to see Santa again. This time the boys seemed a little more comfortable with him.

We had a great morning. We will definitely have to make it a tradition to go there every year. The family that owns it was so nice and even though we did not get a tree, we bought a bough of fresh branches for the mantle. I snapped this picture on the way out of their nativity and loved how you could see the barn in the back.

We had such a great Thanksgiving break. It was so nice to have Luke home for so many days and we all enjoyed the time together. We have so much for which to be thankful!