It wouldn't be fall without a trip to the Pumpkin Patch!

 

We hit the pumpkin patch on a no school day and had lots of fun!

 

 

 

 

This is the "Hey! Act like you like each other!" picture.

 

Preston could live in a pool of corn.

 

Our favorite addition this year was the giant hamster wheel.

 

 

It's great if you are a coordinated person, like Peighton, who can adjust the speed of her feet to how fast the wheel is spinning.

 

Now if you are like Preston...the wheel picks up speed but your feet do not...and then you do a face plant into the front of the wheel.

It ended badly for this little hamster...more than once.

 

He came out of the hamster experience ok and decided he could keep playing.

 

Dustin couldn't make his scooter go fast enough and the kids caught up to him and made a train.

 

Of course they love the jumpy pillow.

 

And they love to stick their heads through wooden cutouts.

 

It was a beautiful day and we had lots of fun!

Combines, Semi Rides, and Pizza in the Truck

 

The kids love when the combines start rolling.

And then they start asking:

"When do we get to have pizza in Grandma's truck!?!!"

 

 

 

Peighton's favorite spot is in the combine next to Grandpa Steve.

 

It seems to be everybody's favorite spot because Grandpa has the best snacks!

Peighton likes to eat his chips, Preston takes his cookies and Ryker told me "Grandpa has really good BBQ chips!"

 

Peighton has ridden with him every chance she gets and then asks when she can go again.

I'm sure she's learning lots of interesting things on their rides.

School keeps getting in the way though!

 

 

 

While Peighton was in the combine we took a ride in the semi with Jerry.

He also got to take a sample while it was unloading corn and test it.

Made his day.

 

These two monkeys found us in the semi and hopped in too.

They all LOVE that there is a bed in one semi.

There was a lot of laughing and squealing and air horn honking during this ride.

 

Of course we had to test it again.

 

Finally Preston's turn.

Rumor has it he ate THREE of the chocolate chip cookies I sent for him and Grandpa to share.

 

 

More semi rides!
Ryker and Peighton joined us this time.

 

These two were just sure they could sleep in there.

 

By this time we were professional testers.

 

Finally, it was close to pizza time.

We found a bunch of paper, crayons and stickers to keep us entertained while we waited for Grandma and the pizza.

Good thing I keep a bag of "stuff" in the Expedition for times like these!

 

Casey's pizza is SO MUCH better when you eat it on paper plates in the back of Grandma Sue's truck!

We love pizza in the truck night!

Dustin went to China...we kept super busy!

Dustin left Labor Day weekend for a trip to China.

 

We tried to keep busy with lots of fun activites!

 

 

We made our annual corn shock bundles to decorate the yard.

 

We grew A LOT of pumpkins and gourds this year!

 

Since we had so many gourds the kids decided to paint a few!

 

Preston did a little camo and added in some pink "for color."

 

Peighton wanted a Cyclone gourd...and some pink because it's her favorite color.

 

We also made some pumpkin crafts for our Halloween tree!

 

Super cute and ready for Halloween...even though it was still a month away.

 

 

 

After a week and a half Dustin finally made it home with lots of fun stuff for the kids!

 

Preston's favorite is his gourd flute.

We have been hearing lots of "lovely" tunes out of this thing.

Sometimes it goes "missing."

 

He brought each of the kids a fan and showed them a video of people dancing in the streets with them.

 

He brought them some other handmade items from  some of the villages he visited, as well as pearl necklaces and cashmere scarves.

We had fun while he was gone but we're super glad he's back home!