More Autumn Acres

Ironically we were invited to a birthday party at Autumn Acres only a few days after the field trip. It was for later in the day so the temperatures were a lot cooler. But the kids still had a blast.

 This kid cracks me up. Jon and I could see his pants coming down and he kept jumping. When he noticed that he'd lost his pants he just jumped to the edge so he could get a little help from mom and then returned to jumping.

 After convincing my friend to slide down I joined her. =)

 Picking out yet another pumpkin.

 Happy Birthday David!

Field Trip

This week Dominic's school went to Autumn Acres.

The teachers are gracious enough to allow younger siblings so we always join them.

This is Dominic's class getting ready to go through the corn maze.

 Figuring out the clues in the maze.

 Their favorite part - the bouncy pillow.

 The coolest principle in the world.

 Picking out the pumpkins.

 This is a really hard decision for baby girl.

 Austin and Caitlin

 I didn't even ask.

 Caitlin waiting patiently for her barrel ride.

 Finally - her ride is here.

Riding with Olivia

 Checking out the farm animals.

What a fun day!

Smart

Dominic has been making comments about needing braces or glasses. I think every child goes through a phase where they want one or both.

Dominic removed the nose and whiskers from these play glasses and has been wearing them all around the house.

Dominic and Daddy had a very tiring day.

kayaking

The fall weather is perfect for kayaking. So last week we headed out to a new lake we hadn't tried yet. The kids changed things up a bit and Caitlin rode with me this time.

My battery died before we finished so I hope to return to this lake soon. The views and route were amazing.

Church

Church is super fun! Just ask my kids.

Weekend Away

A couple of weekends ago we headed to GA to see some family.

It was a whirlwind trip, but we had a lot of fun and saw family from both sides.

This first picture is from our quick stop to see my grandparents. The weather was beautiful and when we pulled up, everyone was outside. My uncle and grandpa were both resting their feet on his walker.

After seeing my grandparents we headed down to Georgia to see Jon's Uncle Tom and family. The cousins hadn't seen each other in a very long time. So they enjoyed getting reacquainted.

 Drawing while Uncle Jason and Daddy talk.

We had a fun weekend. Cohutta Springs is beautiful.

Choosing battles

As a parent you pick which battles are worth fighting for. Some things just aren't worth it. 

And in hindsight, some should have been fought.

This is the story of a battle that should have been fought.

Caitlin has hit a growth spurt and so early this week I pulled all of her 4T pants out of the storage containers and washed them. But baby girl was reluctant to give up her beloved 3T pants and begged (pleaded, cried, and whined) to wear them. It wasn't a battle that I was willing to fight, so I let her.

This happened early one morning before we took Dominic to school. About five minutes before heading out the door I hear her crying and Dominic beginning to panic.

Turns out she couldn't get her pants down to go pee because they were too tight. She hadn't peed since waking up and was getting desperate. But being an independent soul she didn't want to call mom until it reached desperate measures. But she miscalculated and ended up peeing buckets onto the bathroom floor.

We had seconds before we had to leave for school. I shoved her in the tub and gave her the fastest bath of her life while Dominic ran to get new clothes (4T ones). When I returned from dropping him off I set to cleaning the bathroom from top to bottom. It took FOREVER!

A few days later the weather turned cooler and we turned the heat on. The smell that came out of the vent in the bathroom was horrific. It dawned on us very quickly that quite a bit of pee must have flowed into the air vent. Sigh!

Long story short - Jon spent some time under the house and our bathroom is beginning to return to normal. And I am wishing that it was a battle I had chosen to fight. 

Live and learn!