Pumpkin Patch

On October 16, Cal Poly Pomona had their annual pumpkin festival. How on earth did we not know about this before? It is by far the best pumpkin patch we have ever been to. We arrived around 11am and still had to park about 1 1/2 miles away. This is one popular place!


Walking the long walk from our van to the festival.

Once we got all the way to the corn maze, we realized we didn't have any cash and they didn't take credit cards. So I left the kids with Wayne and ran all the way back to the van to get our atm card. While I was at it, I was able to move the van to a much closer spot in the parking lot.

I told Wayne to take some pictures of the kids while I was gone and he was able to get this cool shot of them in the corn.

Then we had lots of fun getting lost in the corn maze. The kids had lots of fun trying to find their way out. Each child took a turn being the leader and we all had to follow them without complaint. Elsie was pretty tired at first, as she hadn't eaten lunch yet and it was close to her nap time. But, once it was her turn to be the leader, she perked right up and took charge. (she loves being in charge! LOL)
After the corn maze, we got some lunch from the vendors. We ended up getting a sausage sandwich that the students at Cal Poly made themselves. YUM! Kya took this picture of the four of us. She is actually a very good photographer. One day she got hold of my camera and took all sorts of pictures of her room and outside her windows. I should post them someday. Then we headed over to the grassy area to listen to some music and taste some food/drinks in the student store.
Inside the store, they let the kids decorate some flat pretzels to look like jack-o-lanterns. These pretzels were sooo good and I will be making a trip back there some day to buy them.
Finally, we made our way over to the pumpkin patch! This picture of Seth does not do justice to how many pumpkins there were. This is only about 1/8 of them!
This kids kept asking me to take their pictures. Total cuteness!
I love how the pumpkins were laid out on this thick long grass and not dirt. Made posing for pictures that much easier and fun. Kya decided to just lay down in it for a while and I was able to capture this picture without her even knowing it.
We found a corner of the pumpkin patch on the other side of the hill that didn't have too many people and these big sunflowers. Cute family eh?
I love this picture of Wayne. I think I am going to print it out and frame it, then put it on my nightstand.

We tried to pose the kids for some pictures, but it didn't work out well. The best pictures were ones I capture while they were playing.

Caught the two of them having a deep father/son discussion. These sisters were in love with each other this day!
Playing tag in the patch!

I think we may have just found ourselves a new family tradition! Won't it be fun to take pictures of the kids year after year in the same place and see how they grow.

Ballet/Jazz/Tap

Kya is taking Ballet, Jazz and Tap class thru our local parks and recreation. I think Kya has a love/hate relationship with this class. Although she loves to dance, the lady who teaches this class definitely does not have any children of her own. The class is very high paced and not as much fun as I was hoping it would be. In fact, most adults would have a hard time learning the moves and keeping up. All that being said, Kya is actually doing a really good job and is getting most of the steps.

Here she is on her first day before we even left the house.
Her first day at class and on the bar. Look how perfectly she has her feet! I love how she is looking at me instead of her instructor.

Floor time. Kya is incredibly flexible!

Toe point to the front.

Doing one of her tap moves.

Tomorrow is her last dance class. We are going to take a break until after the new year and then maybe we will sign both Kya and Elsie up for some more classes.

Celebrating Elsie's 3rd Birthday!

Elsie celebrated her 3rd birthday with family and a couple of friends. This time, Jennifer's uncle and his girlfriend came, as well as, Wayne's cousins. We had a fairy themed party and everyone was welcomed by this sign on our front door.
You can barely see the sign way up above Elsie's head. The outfit she is wearing is from Gymboree and it was my inspiration for the fairy them.

I love the little wings on her back!

I made pom pom's (also known as Fairy Dust) to hang all over the house. It was like Christmas for the kids when they woke up to these! Lunch was simple and easy. Pinwheel sandwiches from Costco, crockpot meatballs, pre-made frozen chicken wings, salad and fruit.

Elsie requested chocolate cupcakes and I just embellished them with fairy dust (pearl sprinkles), cupcake toppers and cupcake wrappers that I made on my die cut machine.

A strawberry tower that the kids all loved. Something about being able to *pick* your own strawberries is so whimsical for 3 year olds.

Butterfly's, like the one you see on the sandwich platter could be found in various places around the house. Including on the bathroom mirror.

We played a game of Fairy, Fairy, Troll. Which is the same thing as Duck, Duck, Goose.

Elsie could not wait to open her presents and she was not disappointed! Last year she was all about the clothes, but this year, they just got tossed aside and she was all about the toys. She received LOTS of dress up clothes that included jewelry, shoes, tiaras, and princess/fairy dresses.

Isn't she a doll!

Elsie became very quiet and shy when it came time to blow out her candle, but that is okay, because she had lots of help from Mason and Seth.

One last picture of the very tired birthday girl eating her cupcake with her fancy scarf around her neck.