pumpkin patch

saturday we went to a pumpkin patch with some friends. we drove a long time to get there, but it was a great time, not too crowded, and geared towards toddlers, so it was perfect for the kids, they loved it.

some highlights:

barrel-train riding (i think they went four or five times, though paul only joined them this once :)

feeding the catfish (a particular favorite of rayna's, though the other kids loved it too, rayna liked actually watching the fish, not just throwing the food)

family hay-ride

pumpkin wandering (rayna ran from pumpkin to pumpkin, trying to hug them all, but she didn't try to pick any up, afton and paul easily picked favorites)

and posing, of course :)

it was tons of fun, and really cute too! hopefully next year we can find somewhere a little closer to home, but if not, it was worth the drive!

afton's turn with the camera, coincidentally also 16 oct

afton had a blast taking tons of pictures with mama's camera last week. here're a few of our favorites:

the pumpkin was a favorite subject: as was rayna herself:

we were making zucchini muffins

with chocolate chips (these were rayna's snitches--yum!)

and lastly, one of afton's self-portraits:

zoo trip--16 oct

we took a quick trip to the zoo again last friday. it was fun! we went with a couple of mom's friends and their boys, even though we go often, we still have a great time! some of our favorites this time were:

this gorgous cheetah:

the tunnel (in the underground zone):

which was a particular favorite of rayna's lunch, pb&j for rayna: the donkeys:

our friends, afton liked giving armando a ride:

the ducks, and mama likes the curly-heads:

the rainbow--with my lucky charm:

and as a rainbow-head (true color, i didn't alter it in any way):

and of course, afton liked the spiders... we always have to visit the bug-house... girly-girl? i think not! (happy halloween!)

camping

we went camping last friday-saturday. it was tons of fun, i only wish we could have stayed another day! we were really worried it would be too cold and wet, (it rained all day thursday and stopped friday morning, and the highs were suppopsed to be in the low 60s, which is pretty cold if you live in texas), but it was really nice, it got chilly at night, but i don't think anyone was too cold. i forgot my camera again, which you may think means there'll be less pictures, but thanks to our wonderful friends, there's still more than enough :)

setting up campi'm not cold, i'm just a little red snowmanproud chefnote the double dutch ovens, it's great when dinner and dessert can be cooking at the same time, then you don't have to wait as long!

and perhaps even better, the cherry cobbler doesn't taste like left over beef stew :)afton loved her glowstick!morning time, perfect for hot cocoa!and friends!and a nice warm fire!afton helped break camp. her job was to remove all the little worms from the tarp under the tent, then she "helped" shake off the tarp and fold it :)down at the fishing pier (we were at lake texoma, by the way, on the border between tx and ok)there were a LOT of staris down to the pier, but afton did great! she also loved climbing over to the side to throw rocks in the water. and finally, we stopped at the playground before we left back for home. there was just a slide and some swings, but the kids LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the slide!
i think between them, afton and rayna went down a million times :)but the daddies loved it too :) it's hard to find the metal old-school ones like this anywhere else i think rayna was the only kid that tried the swings (without sitting on a parent's lap at least), but she was happy there too.

afton is always happiest in the dirt and sand (and throwing it on joshua's head)

at nap time today:

A: mom, it's silly in here.

me: it's silly? what's silly?

A: no mom, it's silly. si-lly

me: o-kay.

A: that means it's cold.

me: you're right afton, it is a little chilly in here.

A: yep, and i want silly for dinner too.

me (thinking): chili for dinner sounds pretty good too :)

daddy babysitting

so the other day, as i was finishing preparing my yw lesson, paul was watching the kids. granted it had been a long week for him, but when rayna came knocking on my door, this was still the last thing i expected to find:

evidentally, daddy really was tired :)

rayna didn't give up though, she wanted daddy to read her a book, so she kept bringing him more, hoping to find one he would like enough to read...

meanwhile, afton was keeping busy reading to herself, and all her stuffed animals, i think it was about a cat (she was murmuring quietly, and i'm not sure what else she said, but i definately caught the word "cat" a couple times).

here's the video, and no, the sound isn't turned off, it really was that quiet in there.

fortunately, rayna knows how to wake sleeping beauty:

he really did have a long week :)

Afton, at bathtime

"it smells like human here in the bathtub"




OK...

family date night :)

tonight we went on a family date night. SOOO FUN!!! first we went to the mall and played in the play area (while mama had her rings checked and cleaned) and then mama and daddy got new glasses picked out and ordered (they look almost exactly like the old ones), so now daddy will have 2 pairs to forget everywhere, and mama has some new ones to replace the broken ones i've been wearing for the last year or so... or at least i will have them as soon as i get them picked up tomorrow or wednesday. hooray!!! that's what i wanted for my birthday.
afton and rayna had a BLAST trying on as many pairs of glasses as they could, afton's built to wear glasses, there wasn't a single pair that didn't look good on her... what a cutie! i wish i'd brought my camera! rayna loved it too, and we found a great blue pair that made her eyes really pop bright blue, but of course, they were still a bit big on her face, they're kids frames, not babies... fun times!
it was also great fun going up and down the escalator and daddy took the girls up to the third floor in the glass elevator so they could see out the whole time... they loved both!
finally, we went out to a late dinner at red lobster, we had a coupon that we tried to use once before, but the restaraunt wasn't where we had thought it was (we found this one simply driving by a different highway not too long ago, fortunately this one's closer too). it was great fun. the kids loved looking at the lobsters and the fish tank, and they evidentally love popcorn shrimp too, a bit more expensive than our regular tastes, but i'm glad they wanted to try something new, and that they liked it (especially cause they each tried a bite as soon as the waiter brought it, and they both started crying because it was too hot, then they eventually went back and tried more... i'm so proud of that, frequently when they're burned they refuse to even try another bite).
anyways, we had a ton of fun, and we were really proud of the girls, listening and having fun, and trying new things. so cute! we love our girls!

(ps, yes it was an expensive night, but totally worth it! yea!!!)