Cousins, Take Two

The day after Jonathan got his stitches, Jojo and Co. arrived. This group included Aunt Jojo, Cousins Kinley and Kallen, and Bud and KayKay. It was a big group!

We returned to the Fruit and Berry Patch, and Kinley and Kallen got to enjoy their first corn maze!

Zachary, Kallen, Reagan, Kinley, Jonathan, Thomas

After the corn maze, we went to the pumpkin patch, but the lure of pumpkins was nothing compared to the lure of animals. The sheep were out in the pen opposite the patch, and the kids had a BLAST feeding them spilled corn from the ground. Thanks KayKay for picking up so much corn for all the kiddos!

Jojo and her girls (and her soon-to-be boy!)

Since the pumpkin patch did not provide exactly the pumpkins we were looking for, we stopped at the other pumpkin patch on the way home. (It did, however, provide some really delicious apples!)

The next day we went to the East TN Discovery Center. We had never been there before, but had some free passes, so we decided to check it out. It wasn’t quite as fancy as I expected from looking at their website, but the kids had fun! There were lots of science experiments, all very hands-on.

There was even a planetarium there! Unfortunately, the presentation was a bit over the heads of our crew.

Is it love or a need for extra body heat? Could easily have been both! It was FREEZING in the planetarium!

Then we went out for ICE CREAM!!!!! Yum!

Another quick and busy visit, but so much fun! Thanks for coming you guys! We love you!

Next post? BIG NEWS!

Cousins, Take One

The weekend after the backyard camping trip, Uncle Clay and Co. came to visit. It was a BUSY weekend, but we had so much fun!

Saturday night we all went to the Kerbela Shrine Circus. It was JonZReaTom’s first circus! They loved it! And so did their Cousin Tyler! (Cousin Avery was another matter entirely. Poor thing, she was SO tired!)

Sunday afternoon we hit a couple of pumpkin patches. First we went to The Fruit and Berry Patch, a JonZReaTom tradition. It felt a little weird to be there without Michelle, David, and Abby, but it was pretty nice to get to go with Daddy!

Daddy and the kiddos headed to the corn maze.

Reagan is REALLY excited to be there!

Jonathan, Thomas, Reagan, Zachary, Avery, Tyler—at the beginning of the corn maze

The corn maze is always my favorite part. David was always leader before, but this time the kids took turns choosing which paths to take through the maze…that is until the adults got tired of walking around in circles, and then Uncle Clay led!

We lucked out when we came out of the maze and were able to hitch a ride on the tractor.

Daddy with Thomas and Jonathan

Reagan

Avery and Tyler

Zachary (and you can just barely see Aunt Carey behind him)

Unfortunately, the actual pumpkin patch was kind of sad this year. So on our way home we stopped at the “pumpkin patch” at the Methodist Church across the street from our neighborhood.

Reagan LOVED this bumpy pumpkin!

WHY??

Jonathan, Reagan, Zachary, Avery, Thomas, Tyler

And we still found time to just play, play, play in the backyard!

I love this picture!

Avery

Tyler

I love this one too!

It was a packed weekend, but we loved every minute of it! Love you guys!

Camping!!

We promised the kids months and months ago that we would take them camping this summer, but we put it off at the beginning because Zachary wasn’t potty trained yet. Then we put it off because this summer was hot as blazes and who wants to sit around a campfire in that kind of heat? And then before we knew what had happened, it was October!

The first weekend of the month was plenty warm in the daytime, but nighttime temperatures were pretty chilly. Jim and I went back and forth about whether to camp out in the backyard that weekend. We spent Friday night setting up for Saturday’s garage sale and still didn’t make a decision. All day Saturday we discussed it. Finally about 6:00 Sat. evening, we finally decided to just do it! If we got too cold, we could always go inside. If we didn’t do it that weekend, we wouldn’t have another chance until the end of the month.

So we, mostly Jim, went to work. I put the kids in warmer clothes, and they went out to help Jim put up the tent.

Daddy built a fire and we ate dinner outside. We roasted marshmallows to make s’mores and just had a blast! The kids LOVED it! They especially loved getting to use the Coleman LED Quad Lantern Bud and KayKay gave them for their birthday! It’s the perfect lantern for a set of quads because each of the four lighted sections detaches from the base as an individual lantern too.

It was no hardship to get them to go to bed either. They were thrilled to get to sleep in their sleeping bags in the tent and had been begging to “go to bed” all night. Luckily, they had had no nap that day and really were exhausted, so they fell asleep in no time!

Reagan and Jonathan on one air mattress

Zachary and Thomas passed out on the other one

It’s a pretty sight, isn’t it? After the kids fell asleep, Jim and I stayed up awhile talking around the campfire. It was a fun night for us too! Then we crawled under the blankets on our own air mattress, and it was sleepytime for all!

Now, it really was cold that night, but since we were right in our backyard, we hooked up a couple of electric heaters and kept them in the tent all night, so it was quite comfortable in there. Still, Daddy worried that the kids would get cold and constantly got up to check on them and cover them up. Me? I’m not the worrier. I figured if they got cold, they’d start whining, and I’d deal with it then. As it was, the kids slept great! Thomas was the only one that made a sound all night. At one point, he sat up and said, “Daddy?” Daddy answered. “Momma?” I answered. He was satisfied we were both there and laid back down and went to sleep. Poor Daddy hardly slept at all. I slept somewhere in between.

It was a great experience, but kind of bittersweet. My kids slept in a tent in the backyard. We CAMPED with our kids! That means…MY KIDS ARE OLD ENOUGH TO CAMP! It’s just one more example of how they’re growing up, which is both joyous and sad at the same time. I don’t have to explain it. All you parents know exactly what I’m talking about.

Next time…the woods!

A Declaration from the King

Hear ye! Hear ye! By order of His Royal Highness, King Thomas the Wild, that it doth serve his supreme pleasure, all subjects of the quad-dom are hereby instructed to read and enjoy the following tales and illustrations. Due to his unending generosity, King Thomas hath provided these words for the benefit of all subjects, rich and poor alike, that through his wisdom, thine own lives shall be uplifted.

Providence hath seen fit of late to plague our glorious quad-dom with the evils of a most fearsome and vicious dragon. This very dragon hath ravaged the countryside for many a fortnight and didst take refuge in the mountains ere it could be slain. There the loathsome creature hideth, spreading fear throughout the realm

Fear of the dragon didst spread even to the very palace of the king, casting a shadow over the pure loveliness of Our Gracious Lady Reagan.

Good King Thomas therefore didst assemble all his mighty knights, that he might send them out to conquer the irksome beast and free his people of this terror. All the knights trembled at the task, save one. Sir Jonathan the Brave didst feel no fear of the dragon. He set forth on his perilous journey to slay the beast.

Sir Jonathan’s quest was long and full of danger, yet never did he turn back in fear. He pressed on with the utmost courage, til he didst discover the dragon’s lair. Such a battle then ensued that wouldst cause thy hairs to turn white upon thy head didst thou hear its details. In the end, victory was won by Brave Sir Jonathan of the Family Harris of the House of Jim, and he didst incredibly tame the dragon and bring it home to suit the pleasure of the king.

With joy didst the royal family welcome home their brave knight, and all the people of the quad-dom didst rejoice over the taming of the dragon.

Therefore, in his infinite goodness, King Thomas wisheth thee a most Happy and Dragon-free Halloween!

Little Pumpkins

Well, Halloween is TOMORROW, and we have had some lovely fall weather and fun fall festivities, and I have posted about NONE of it! So let’s get started before I find myself sharing Halloween stories in January!

This month we have visited two different pumpkin patches, the same ones we went to last year. First we went to The Fruit and Berry Patch where the kids each got to pick a pumpkin of their very own. They really loved getting to choose their own pumpkin. I told them as long as they could carry it themselves, they could have it! As you can see, we went with our good friends David and Abby (and Michelle, of course). It was a lot of fun and not nearly as bitterly cold as last year!

In addition to the pumpkin patch, there was also a corn maze, which we enjoyed exploring. Michelle and I are sure that it is at least three feet taller than last year! (All the rain we’ve had this year, we assume!)

Children of the Corn

Michelle took pictures this trip too, so if she has good ones that MUST be seen by the world, then this trip will make a reappearance at some point.

Last weekend we went to the pumpkin patch at a church right up the street from us. Jim and I have been buying our Halloween pumpkins there since we moved into this house seven years ago! The kids were fascinated by the odd pumpkins there, like this reddish bumpy one.

(in back) Thomas (in front) Zachary, Reagan, Jonathan

Now we are all ready to carve our jacko’lanterns tomorrow! Very exciting! We hope your month has been as festive as ours! Happy Fall!

Pumpkin Fun

Nothing says fall like pictures in a pumpkin patch! We visited two this year. First, Jim and I took the kids to the local patch just down the road where we have purchased our Halloween pumpkins every year since moving to this house. (This is our 6th Halloween at this house, in case you were curious!) Unfortunately, the day we went, they were having a big festival, so the kids were distracted from the pumpkins by the big inflatable bounce house, so we didn't get a lot of great pictures. But here are a couple:

Jonathan attempts to heft his pumpkin choice.



Zachary, Jonathan, Thomas, Reagan

Next, Michelle and I took the kids (mine and hers) to The Fruit and Berry Patch. We had a lot of fun, but it was pretty cold that day. Next year we'll have to make sure we go earlier when the weather is still nice!

In the corn maze, with Michelle's friend Stephanie who bravely and generously volunteered to come and help keep up with all the children!

Jonathan discovers what fun a corn stalk can be, and Reagan and I walk down the path after having somehow managed to make it out of the corn maze!

Thomas-Corn is FUN!!

I LOVE this picture! I only wish it had all the kids in it. Zachary had already caught up to Michelle when she turned to take the pic, so you can't see him because he's below the camera.

After the corn maze, we visited the animals. This was easily the kids' favorite part!

Reagan liked petting the horse, until it stuck its head over the fence and nibbled at her sleeve!

Thomas-I wan kiss goat! I'm not sure if he actually did or not, but he certainly gave it his best effort!

Zachary LOVED every bit of it!

Pure toddler joy!

After the animals, we finally made it to the pumpkin patch, also known as the coldest, windiest place on earth! We didn't stay very long because we were just too cold! When we left, Thomas was shivering and kept saying through his chattering teeth, "It windy, Momma! It windy!"

My little pumpkin princess!

Thomas, Jonathan, Reagan, Zachary

They are SO ready to get out of the cold! But can I say I love the camo fleeces! I hope at some point this season to get a really good shot of the boys in these fleeces.

After escaping the frigid pumpkin patch, we visited the little store and Michelle purchased a bag of apples that she let the kids fill for her. Mine, especially Reagan, had a blast getting to pick out apples from the big boxes to fill Michelle's bag. Then she very generously sent us home with half of them! And let me say, those were some of the sweetest, yummiest apples I've ever had! The Fruit and Berry Patch was a lot of fun. We will definitely go there again! We hope to go at berry-picking time!

Also, since we're talking yummy food, I'd like to share that I made some delicious Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Bread last week. I got the recipe from another quad mom when she mentioned it on her blog. You should try it too!