Three Cedars Farm

We continued the fall fun last weekend when we went to Three Cedars Farm on Sunday. It was another perfect fall day and although we figured the place would be crowded, we had to get out there and enjoy the beautiful day! Well, let me just tell you, crowded doesn't even begin to describe the amount of people that were there. It didn't seem too bad at first because we only had to wait in line for about 15 minutes to ride the train. That's not very long, right? And so very worth it for the fun the boys had riding around on a real train! After the train ride, we visited with the animals, played in the straw, and Brett climbed the play structures. We were all having a really great time! Well, then we decided we were ready for some of those yummy, mouth watering donuts that you just have to have any time you go to a pumpkin patch - the donuts that were suppose to be Brett's afternoon snack and the whole reason we didn't mind that he didn't finish his lunch. Well, ya know how I mentioned the crowd? When we couldn't even find the end of the line for the donuts, that's when we really realized just how many people were there that day. Literally, the line wrapped around the whole darn place and into the parking lot! And it wasn't moving very fast. At all. We asked Brett if he wanted to try waiting, and prepared him that it would probably be at least a 45 minute wait - but he just couldn't do it. His was beyond disappointed, and because he was already so hungry, the thought of waiting that long was just too much. The tears came as we tried to come up with a solution. In the end, the only thing that got him smiling again was when we stopped talking about it and went to pick out pumpkins :-) Again, the line was way too long to ride the wagon out to the real pumpkin patch, so we just looked through their collection up front. Fortunately, Brett didn't mind and our fun fall day started back up as we chose our perfect pumpkins to take home :-) 

Riding the train and enjoying every minute!

My Sunflowers in bloom on the farm!

Chickens!

Each animal pen is set up like a scene from a classic children's storybook.  Remember Billy Goats Gruff? "Who's been walking on my bridge?" says the troll!

You could also push a button to hear the whole story if you wanted! So cute :-)

Camden loved playing in the straw!!

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, everywhere!

We were having fun, can you tell? :-)

Despite the minor meltdown about the donuts, we sure had a great time! I'm thinking next year we should go after school one day to avoid the crowds - ha! Happy fall everyone!

A Saturday of Cub Scout Fishing!

Since Brett is now in First grade, he was able to join Cub Scouts this year and so far he absolutely loves it! And the best part? There are not only weekly meetings full of fun activities, but also lots of different things to do on the weekends! So, this past Saturday, on probably one of the most beautiful fall days of the year, we went to our first weekend event....fishing at Independence Lake! This event was for the whole county, meaning many of the surrounding school districts were included and we were surprised with all they had to offer. Brett brought his own fishing pole and tackle box but we quickly found out that that wasn't needed because each Scout got a brand new fishing pole to keep along with extra tackle! There was also about 6 different stations to go to learn all the skills necessary to be a successful fisherman :-) Brett was smiling ear to ear pretty much the whole afternoon, and I know my dad was proud to hear his grandson is following in his footsteps.

One of the most important things to learn as a fisherman? How to put the worm on yourself (or a gummy worm for practice :-) ).

This station was fun because the boys learned about different types of fishing poles and bait and what kinds of fish they each catch.

After all the stations, the real excitement began.....FISHING!!!

We were so proud of Brett because he actually helped put the worm on this time!

Camden was on the go and into everything!

My little fisherman :-)

Kyle and I were really impressed with Brett's casting! He got better and better as the afternoon went on and was determined to do it all himself. Go Brett!

The leaves were a big hit for this little guy!

One of the instructors made it clear that the kids most likely wouldn't catch any fish that afternoon because of all the commotion......but he was wrong! Brett caught not one, but TWO fish all on his own. As you can tell by the picture though, he wasn't quite ready to hold the fish himself yet :-) But he sure was proud!

Did I mention it was a perfect day?

Camden sure loves to swing!! (And it gave me a nice break from chasing him around everywhere!)

After fishing for over an hour, these two loved playing on the playground and going down the slide together! Brett is such a good big brother and sure loves to take care of his little bro. Melts my heart always.

We had such a wonderful day as a family and look forward to many more Scouting activities in the future!!

11 months!!!

Eleven months!!! Can you believe it? I sure can't. As I've written in practically every update, I just can't believe how fast these months have flown by. It is so crazy to think that in just a few weeks Camden will officially be one year old! Since I dropped the ball on taking his 10 months photos, I had this big plan to take some amazing 11 months shots. Ya know, pick out just the right outfit, have the perfect backgrounds with a nice blanket, the toys he loves, and his big brother nearby to join in some of the pictures. Well....let's just say life got a little hectic, and the 1st of October came and went way too quickly with no plans in the near future of a photo shoot.....SO.....I ended up just taking a random moment when I got one! One sunny afternoon before picking Brett up from school, I took Camden outside to play in the backyard. The lighting was perfect and he looked so cute.... and that's when it hit me.....photo shoot time!! I ran inside to grab the camera and sticker for his shirt and started clicking away. And voila! Camden's 11 month photo shoot was compete!

This adorable little guy has learned so much this past month! For starters, he is following in his brother's footsteps with his early love of cars :-) About a month ago, he started "driving" anything with wheels on the floor himself, even making the sweet "vroom" sound! So stinking cute! He also loves to put things in containers and take them out again, play chase games and peek-a-boo, rough house with his big brother, and give big slobbery kisses ( melt my heart!). Camden is also standing up without holding on to anything for short periods of time, and crawling faster than ever (on all fours, like a little bear!). He call's for "Da-Da", and is trying to say "Brett" which comes out differently each time, but always ending in a "T" sound :-) He seems to be understanding almost everything these days, and watching his little mind work never ceases to amaze me. He is such a snuggle bug and I think it's safe to say, I am totally and utterly in love with this little soul. Happy (belated) 11 months, Camden James!

*I just have to share this quick little story about Camden. Pretty much every day, Camden watches Brett do his homework with his pencil. Of course, I never thought anything of it, and really didn't even think he was paying attention. Well....I was wrong! A couple days ago, Camden got into some colored pencils. My gut reaction was to quickly take them away before he started eating them or poked his eye out....but something stopped me after I saw how happy he was exploring this new "toy" and decided to just watch him carefully. The next thing I know, he is trying to draw with them on the floor! He knew what they were for! I quickly ran and got a coloring book and showed him how to draw on paper. A huge smile came over his sweet face, as he then copied me and did it himself! Seriously, is this kid a genius or what?! :-) He continued to "draw" for at least 10 minutes, so proud of his new found fete :-) Young children sure are amazing, aren't they?