Pumpkin Carving, Hay Bales, Fires, and Other Things

I thought this was funny. Isaac and Logan got out their tools to carve the pumpkin. They didn't get very far.

Scoopin out the inside.

The final products.

One of the few pictures I have of all the kids together.

We love him!

Justin and the kids played hide-n-seek in the tall grassy field near my parents house. This is Justin hiding. The dogs kept giving away his locations. However, the kids didn't notice and had a GREAT time looking for him as a team.

Here's another field. I love fields. Especially ones with hay bales. I've always thought it would be way cool to be a giant and run through a field and kick all the hay bales and watch them explode into the air! ...or just sit on them like Isaac is doing. 

Note how far the trees are away from Isaac in the picture above. This is how far the kids ran by themselves from one hay bale to the next. They made it all the way to the one in the back.

Justin had to go get Logan because he was tired and couldn't make the return trip. What a trooper! (He's only 2)

Love the smiles. 

A ride in the truck.

Campfire at my parents house. Smores were a must.

Sunset on their pond. Thank you, God.

I love freshly clean babies!

Olivia and Elias have their own band now.

Bedtime!

CHEESE!

Isaac came to the dinner table like this one night. Totally made me laugh.

Had to get another shot to get the full affect.

A funny face to go with a funny mood and funny outfit.

Each one of my kids make me laugh in such different ways. What a blessing they all are!

Cataloochee

Over fall break, we went to Cataloochee, NC to see the elk.  Apparently, October is the month where you can hear lots of elk calls...so went went. And we heard them. Lots. Here we are waiting for them to come out of the woods.

They finally came out. These were just a few.

Here's one giving his call. One got really close to us and the park ranger had to "shoo" it away from all the cars. 

We had a picnic lunch in an open field.

Then we ran and played in the field.

Elias had a good time. I thought these were cute.

We went inside the church. We all sang silent night (Olivia's request). The acoustics were amazing! I wish I had that church in my back yard!

Family shot with dog.

Tara & Justin took the kids hiking down this beautiful trail. My parents stayed in the car while Connor slept, and I stayed in the van while Elias slept. 

They threw rocks into the river. Maybe Olivia thought this one was a little big? Isaac thought big rock = big splash!

She loves her Aunt Tara.

Family shot without dog.

My dad and sister at a lookout. Throughout the whole trip the leaves were beautiful.

Sitting in the upper level of an old barn. There was also an old house we walked thru. It was built in 1903. Very cool.

Cheese!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the Fruit and Berry Patch in Halls while Tara was here. We had the best time ever! It's the only "pumpkin patch" around that is actually a pumpkin patch with pumpkins still on the vines. This also means that we got some really good laughs because of how many times the kids fell over the vines. Isaac's was by far the best! He had been running from the right (in the middle of the green that is not on the pic), tripped at the edge of the green (as seen in the pic) , flew in the air, and landed flat out like this. He was ok and we all laughed really hard.

 Group shot before we left.  I can't remember why Olivia was crying.

 They also had a corn maze to walk thru. We all ran every which way and laughed a lot.

 I found out Elias LOVES pumpkins. He kept screaming the whole time we were there.  He also liked to sit on them and touch them.

 He he he...

 There they go!

He had a nice ride.

 My Sweetpea

 The cool thing about this place is that every thing was free...and not crowded! (except we did have to pay for the 3 small pumpkins the kids didn't want to leave behind)

The place is a really big farm area that grows different kinds of fruit all year long.  We will definitely be going back for more 

pick-it-yourself fun!

Zoo

I think he's handsome.

 These next few are really at the zoo. It's just an indoor play place. I don't think I took any animal pictures off my sister's camera.

 I'm so thankful for my sister!

 Animal Xray machine at the vet's office.

 For some reason, scooping poop has been one of Isaac's favorites.

 I thought this was funny because Elias couldn't/wouldn't stand so he couldn't see too well.

 Everybody.