The rest...

So, I almost forgot about the 20 pictures from the pumpkin patch that I converted for this little blog here. I think I had grand plans for multiple posts with lots more details of the adventure and then got caught up in the 4 days of sick girls that we have experienced this week. Four days! Nothing major, but Emma got a cough that most likely was acid reflux related to a cold and stayed home from school for two days. The next day we went to see the pediatrician and got flu shots. She was up coughing so much that Andy moved to the studio (where a nice little bed was still ready for use with special thanks to our visit from Nana B and Papa T) and I proceeded to spend most of the night wide awake listening to Miss Emma's suffering. So a lack of sleep was the next culprit to keep me from the pictures (things are much better today, Emma slept all of last night in her own bed and not in my room). Here are a few more pictures from the patch...

An autumn day on Sauvie's Island

We went to Kruger's farm yesterday for our annual visit to the pumpkin patch. Our visit included a corn maze adventure, a hayride to the pumpkin field to pluck some pumpkins, playing on the haystacks, a visit to the market for some veggies and honeycrisp apples and a Farmer Don sighting.

happiness is...

... a couple of daisies found in a little patch in the woods. It was a nice surprise on a blustery walk through the secret forest today.

Big girl Playdate

Every five year old girl needs to have her own special playdate, once in a while. There isn't much that Emma gets to do without little sister tagging along. So, when this playdate came along on a day that Andy had off, I jumped on the chance quickly. Emma and two classmates and us three moms all went to the pumpkin patch yesterday (a day off from school). Emma was so excited to be out with the girls and she almost couldn't stop smiling. Except twice - once she thought we weren't going to pick pumpkins and once when she was worried I wasn't going to give her a pony ride. Don't worry little monkey, we will do both. And we did. Oh, and she is convinced that she rode a baby, but this pony was 23 years old.

She jumps, and jumps...

Really, it looks like she loves the balance beam. Maybe that is true, but for now I am convinced she just likes the jumping off part. Anything that ends with a jump is good for Sophie. I'm just thrilled she has somewhere to do all of this jumping...it gets a little scary around here sometimes. She really likes to jump. We hear the thuds of her jumping all the time. Then we wait for a cry - no cry, oh - Sophie must be jumping again. Okay, carry on. It's much more fun and relaxing for this momma when Sophie gets to jump in a "jumping-is-expected-so-we-designed-this-place-for-it" environment. That, and we don't ever decorate our home with fragile stuff. Even picture frames - they stay on the wall. We know better.

I realized this morning that I hadn't taken any pictures of this little monkey doing her thing and decided it was time. But, I also need to get these same pictures of Emma in her classes. Maybe next week.

I have to tell one more story. Sophie got out of the shower this morning and insisted on panties instead of a pullup. Dad hooked her up, and I completely forgot about it. About two hours later we find ourselves face to face with ballet tutus - this is important. Sophie and I were admiring them and talking about how she gets to have one of her own and take a ballet class once she is done with diapers and pullups. All of a sudden - I sound like this: "Holy cow! You're wearing panties!" I completely forgot. So, we bust a move on over to the bathroom and she does a little business, then we head off to her gymnastics class. After class, she did a little more business too. Then, she insisted on coming home to have some ice cream for her special treat. Phew!

How we spent our Saturday...

Yesterday, we took the girls to Stoneworks. You may remember, this is where Andy and I first met.

It has been a long time since we were last there and with the girls in tow, I didn't think there would be reason to bring my shoes. Bummer, it was this weird craving but I just wanted to put my feet on the wall so badly. This is something you just don't do without the proper footwear - boy does it hurt. I eventually put on Andy's shoes (they are way too small for him) and worked a little route for the girls. His shoes really hurt my feet - how he does it...

We thought this was going to be super fun for Sophie, and we hoped she might inspire Emma to play along. We were sort of wrong. Emma loved, loved, loved it. She made progress, visible progress from her first hold on the wall to the last one before we left. We could actually see the growth. Since she walked in so timid about the whole thing, we were impressed.

Sophie liked grabbing anything that would then allow her the opportunity to jump. Since Stoneworks is filled with all of these great landing pads, Sophie had no trouble finding places to jump and land. She didn't spend much time on the wall though. Not like we thought. She did enjoy this wall that has a 45 degree angle because you grab on, bring up your feet, then fall - it's fun.

But that right there, is Emma - all smiles. That's how it went for her. They both asked repeatedly if we could come back next weekend. That might be an option, sweet girls.