Fun with friends

This spring has been extrmemly WET!

I bet I said that last spring too...because it was!!!!  Oh well.  We live in the Pacific Northwest and we do get a lot of rain here.  It's not that we love it, because we really do miss the sun at times when the rain has determined to be more consistent that anyone would ever like, but it doesn't do us any good to complain and grumble about it.  I will admit that it's a hard thing to get used to.  Our poor relatives that came and visited for Christmas really got a good dose of the rain.  We tried to stay positive because what else could we do?  But we do understand when people get pretty fed up with the weather!!

Spring break this year was pretty wet.  No surprises there!  When the weather was predicted to be dry with sun-breaks we weren't going to let it go un-used!!  We didn't care that it was going to be cold!!

OUTDOORS with us!!

We walked/rode bikes to the school yard and played on the swings!

The boys then ran out and cleaned up the soccer fields--without me asking!  They were running all over the place!!

Then we met our friends over at the playground.  After getting cold enough there, we headed over to their home to play some more!

The boys were in heaven in their back yard--building forts in their trees, digging in their garden, playing in the sand box.  They even found their first salamandars (or newts as we like to call them) of the season.  They were just little babies!!

Just before we left, we were able to go in and see their baby chickens!  The boys loved holding them and we can't wait to see them when it gets warm enough for them to be outside!

What a great day!  We have missed being outside and look forward to the next time!!

Halloween Fun--Part 1 The Pumpkin Patch

As a parent I've learned the importance of not sharing information with my children until an activity or event is just about to begin.  It's just too hard for kids to understand change--especially when they are excited about something.  Well, that said, it seems I'm not a one-time learner! 

Case in point--going to the Pumpkin Patch!  (in a downpour of rain!!)

Yep, I had let the kids know we were going to get pumpkins on the weekend.  They were so excited!  As the Big Guy Lowe and I were going through all that we had to accomplish on Saturday, we knew that the only chance we would have of getting to the pumpkin patch was to go in the morning.  At first the weather looked like it would cooperate, but alas, it was only the Northwest's way of teasing.  The rains came--but didn't stop us!  Out came the younger boy's Oaki Wear!  To check out more of this great children's gear click here.

This is the first rainy season our youngest has been walking, so a whole new world has just been opened to him!

So, even though the rains were somewhat torrential at times, we were determined to get our pumpkins.  Because of the weather, we did adjust our plans and went to a pumpkin patch that was pretty close to our home instead of heading out to our regular patch.  No one can say we aren't flexible!

Our oldest son went straight to the corn maze, while the younger boys weren't quite sure they would try.

The big jump houses weren't inflated due to the rain, but we did play in the haunted house for a bit,

and climb their wet hay pyramid.

Finally, pumpkins were chosen,

tears were shed (you can't really have a family activity without someone getting upset at some point--it's best just to expect it, deal with it, and then move past it!!)

We have our pumpkins.  We played and had a pretty good time in spite of the rain!  And, we'll be carving those pumpkins soon!!  But I'm not telling the kids when...not just yet, that is!