lil' punkins

sunday we were invited to a harvest party with some of our new favorite people.

we started at the pumpkin patch.

it was called tanaka farms and was amazing.

when i say pumpkin patch, i am not talking about a 10x10 square situated on the side of the road between a cvs pharmacy and a burger king.

we are talking about a huge farm.   

i think they have fun things you can do all year long, like berry picking.

we will definitely be hitting that up!

here is a pic of our group.

(notice we are the crazy people with 3 children, while most everyone else had one adorable baby.

i think i may have looked a bit like a crazy woman trying to chase my 3 around while the babies rode happily in their strollers.

or maybe that was just how i was feeling ;)

it was also HOT.  i was unprepared.

i thought i'd dress my kids cute in fall clothing- cardigans, boots and all.

we quickly were a sweaty mess.

i keep thinking it is going to be cooler.  and then i'm sweaty.

but then when i think it will be warm.... it gets freezing.  (see saturday night at the beach).

i'll figure it out, eventually, right?

sorry, kids.

 

we headed for the corn maze.

they had a cute little sign to measure how tall you are.

wouldn't that be cute to do every year?

the kids quickly took off in the maze.

here is jackson with his new friend, lainey.

i couldn't keep up, and quickly lost jackson.

(insert panic here.)

i'm sure no one would steal him, and i knew he was in the maze somewhere.

but there is something about not being able to find them that just automatically 

makes your heart start beating faster.

of course, he was just a better maze-figure-outer than i, and was waiting in the center.

quite proud of himself, too.

best attempt at a family pic.

(thanks gramma!)

the girls

after the maze

(and some serious jackson sadness about not riding the $5 tractor ride)

we headed to the pumpkins.

i'm going to be honest.

i don't buy pumpkins at the pumpkin patch.

i buy them at trader joes for $2.99, and then get myself a salted caramel white mocha with the change.

and fill up my gas tank.

(seriously... those things are pricey!)

so really.... 

we just played with the pumpkins for a bit.

bella wanted to carry them on her head.

i will neither confirm or deny whether she dropped this pumpkin on the ground.

you can't prove anything.

there was no escaping the sun, 

so it was super hard to get pictures that weren't fuzzy.

almost as hard as trying to get 3 kids to smile at the same time.

so i nixed the group shot and went for individual pics.

sweet isabella kristan- almost 4 years old

(how, how, how?)

little charlotte monroe- 20 months

and my big boy, jackson orian- 5 1/2 years

i love my little pumpkins.

daddy took jackson over to be a scarecrow.

he thought that was pretty funny.

one of my favorite new people is emily.

she is my small group leader for my mom's group, nurture.

i think she may be my soul sister.

i love her already and am so thankful to have met her!

here is her sweet little man, will.

he was totally into the dried pumpkin stems.

so cute.

what a cute daddy.

even when baby girl is in charzilla-mode.

charlotte soon found some random trash to play with.

will decided to join in.

i'd say i watched her to make sure she didn't put anything in her mouth, 

but.....

after everyone was finished at the pumpkin patch, 

we headed over to our friends' house in newport.

she can throw a mean party

(see her daughter, katie's, 1st birthday.  adorable.)

and is totally not afraid of pumpkin guts or rice krispie treats on her floor.

a better woman than i, that's for sure.

(is that not THE cutest water dispenser?

you can put decorations in the bottom! totally want.)

we ate yummy chili

(and i don't even like chili)

and delicious treats, including the BEST peanut butter cookies ever.

they also decorated pumpkins,

but that was a bit more than we could handle with 3 kids.

pumpkin carving is something i have to really gear myself up for....

we'll do that when daddy comes home.

it was such a fun afternoon-

and it meant so much to be a part of something here.

i love that we are forming real friendships with people that i really enjoy,

and that we are beginning to think of this as home.

all those pumpkins got me feeling ready for fall!

bring on the pumpkin pie, pumpkin-spice lattes, and pumpkin pancakes!