Beautiful autumn days....

Every year in the fall, our family goes to one of our local farms to play in the pumpkin patch, hitch a hay ride, look at the animals and just breathe in the crisp autumn air. This is my favorite favorite season! I am a very visual person and my eyes just can't get enough of all the beautiful colors (and, even better~ the way my kids look among them! It's perfect picture time!) I'm hoping the good weather holds up so we can get some really good shots this week. It was a little too chaotic at the farm to get anything fabulous, but the kids had a wonderful time. I'm thinking the tripod is going to be my new best friend! (so many of the pics yesterday came out blurry~ the light was wierd in some places, action high and lots of wiggling and oh so many people walking in front of my camera grrrrr~ everything except the pumpkin shots were just point and shoot) The images are soooo much clearer on my computer~ I wish they had translated better when I uploaded them here. We went with our BFF's the Pacoals~ hope you like the shots of you, Lis! I promise not to post anything I think you'll hate ;o) Here's our day at Fir Pointe Farms~ (you'll notice Gunnar is missing~ we were so sad! He woke up feeling really crummy and just wanted to lay in bed~ I hated leaving him, but our sunny days are numbered once we hit October and we'd already had to push it out, so the little guys would have been crushed. Gunnar's feeling much better today, btw :o) )


Brenny and Zach getting some food to feed the goats (which, at this farm, like to play up in the trees!) this one looks like he's meditating lol Mommy hen and her chicks~ this one was super zoomed in~ I'm happy with how it turned out from so far away :o)
Oh how I love this face! Time to get some tickets! In the pumpkin patch Lincoln (Bart and Lisa's littlest) I love this one of Brenny Jake and Anthony (Bart and Lisa's other two boys and pumpkin hunters extraordinare :o) ) I have no idear who this guy is~ just liked the shot :o) The much-beloved and highly-anticipated Bouncy House! (although, it sure could use a shower, dontcha think?) It was really hard to get any good shots while they were in the bouncy house but I like this one a.) because of Zachy's happy face and b.) because of the way Brenny is suspended in the air :o)

Then it was time for Hazel's Nut House! (a little cabin filled with Hazel nuts, ball-pit style :o) ) This is the attraction they love the most :o) Noah's Ark! Zachy steering the ship~ in the belly of the beast!

This girl was so sweet~ her name is Chance and she took time away from her post (ticket collector for Noah's Ark) to play with my boys~ they thought she was SO cool because her shirt had a skull and crossbones on it, so that means she must be a pirate ;o) they had to run back and give her a hug goodbye before we left :o)

A very random shot~ I have no idea what this is, why it's there or why a dog house, fire hydrant and the collapsed roof of something is all grouped together in one place like this lol~ but it made an interesting picture! :o)
The Spooky House! Then we spent some time on the beautiful little trail down behind the farm~ Bart, Lisa and Lincoln~ I was sooo bummed this turned out blurry! So pretty~ the water looked much greener than this~ the light was pretty low down here at this point
It was raining "helicopters" (you know, I don't even know the real name of those little whirly things that fall from the trees? lol~ they've always been "helicopters" to me!) Link moves really fast, so this is a bit blurred~ but I love the wonder on his face :o) I thought you'd like this shot of Link, Lisa :o)
Would you believe this is only a very smaaaallll portion of the pictures I took yesterday? *blush* I've decided I'm going to give Lisa her own post~ she's so gorgeous she deserves her own gallery ;o) Stay tuned!

Ahhh the Fun of Fall!

Here are a few pics of the fun my little guys have had so far in the cool, crisp, pumpkin-y weather:



First, we had some rain (of course~ we ARE in Oregon you know!) But it was one of those really nice rains where it's still warm outside and standing in it feels just like you're taking a shower :o) When I announced to Brennan and Zachary "Hey! It's raining! Time to go outside and splash in some puddles!" they looked at me as if I had three heads. But only for a moment~ Zachy was the first to shout hooray! and head outside, while Brennan was, predictably, much more cautious about the whole idea. (It turns out that he was concerned about maybe getting washed away in the "flood" ala Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.) Once I calmed his fears he jumped right in and they both had a ball gathering rainwater in a little purple bucket and pouring it over each other's heads. They also enjoyed standing under our broken rain gutter and "washing" their hair. The puddles they found were, of course, muddy ones, but that's what soap is for, right? (oooh some days it's hard to be a good mommy! lol)Here's one of Zachy as he's getting ready to "get" me with his wet hands:

Next we have our annual trip to Lee Farms to see the pumpkin patch and all the farm animals (Brenny loves the pumpkins, Zach is all about the critters) Brenny loves holding the baby chicks:
And Zachy LOVED the baby cow:

We really enjoyed feeding the horses too and the hayride is always a test in fortitude (holy bumps batman!) and courage (great big wobbly trailer filled with people and hay being pulled by a tractor over very bumpy, curvy terrain~ I can just see one of my children flying off the thing every time we hit a big bump or squeeeeze and wobble around a sharp turn lol~ somehow we've managed to survive so far!)
Here are the two big kids of the group:
Next, of course was Brennan's 5th Birthday! Just can't comprehend how quickly his babyhood went by *sniffle* This is him just 2 months after he was born:
And this is him now (hiding in his birthday balloons with Zachary):
How can I slow this down? Anyone? Anyone? *sigh* Well, coming up next is Halloween so we'll have some more pics to put up then! Happy Fall everyone! (oh and don't forget to vote!)