A-MAZE-ing Pumpkins

This past weekend we FINALLY made it to the pumpkin patch.  I usually take the kids early in the month but with so many school/sports events going on we really ended up with only one weekend we could go.  Since most of our local farms were slim pickins on the pumpkins because of the smoke this year (apparently they couldn't get the bees to pollinate the flowers) we decide to try out a new farm in Reno that was suppose to be the best.  We started the day with a trip in the corn maze.

They had some of the tallest corn I have ever seen. 

I thought since this maze was a few acres bigger than the ones we usually visit it would take a long time.  Not the case.  I guess since the others we usually visit have some search and find within the maze that makes it take longer.  For the price I was a bit disappointed we finished it so quickly, even with Chase leading the way.  Matt thought it would be a good idea if we mapped where we went so we could find our way out.  This is our mapping of us in the maze:

The website promised a petting area which sadly consisted of just a few animals (which quite frankly looked neglected) in cages.  The kids were less than thrilled with the farm smell and were quick to take a look.  I couldn't stop staring at this thing.  Seriously what is this thing?  Unicorn sheep?

We opted out of going on the hayride since it looked as though they were cramming as many bodies on some hay pulled by a wagon.  "Just pretend your on a ride kids".

We searched for the perfect pumpkin, in the end Chase decided he didn't even want one from the pumpkin patch.  Sadi already had a couple from her field trip so she didn't pick one either.  This trip to the patch was less than thrilling this year.  In and out in less than an hour...boo!

Last night we had fun carving our pumpkins.  Sadi drew out exactly how she wanted her pumpkin to look on paper before drawing it on her pumpkin.

Chase was excited to carve his all by himself, and he did just that.  Those little pumpkin carving knives make it so easy for little hands, I remember when my Dad used to hand over his pocket knife and let us carve away...were we less likely to cut off a finger back then?

Sadi loved digging in this year...literally.  She was giggling and kept saying how fun it was to "rip out pumpkin guts".  This is the first year I really didn't even put my hand in a pumpkin.  Although this was great, it made me a bit sad feeling like my kids don't need me as much anymore.

 The finished products.  Funny how these two without looking carved just about the exact same faces.

 And on Halloween night these scary faces will light up the night out on our front porch.

Let the trick-or-treating begin!

On the track with the pack

Last night was Chase's first award night at pack meeting.  After joining cub scouts just over a month ago he already earned his Bobcat patch.  He has loved going to cub scouts and working toward this badge.  He has been learning so much and was even asked to be part of the color guard last night which was so fun to watch.

I also received a special Mom pin from my little Bobcat. 

It was a great evening, the only thing missing was Daddy who sadly had to work :(

Fall Rally

Saturday was Kelsey's Key Club Fall Rally in Six Flags.  As the Lieutenant Governor of her Division she was in charge of planning out all the details of this event for her 7 area schools.  It was A LOT of work including fundraising, collecting fees, ordering spirit gear including designing t-shirts, and coordinating with all of the attending schools.  Finally the day arrived!   Part of her responsibilities of LTG of her division she was the mascot who was to be auctioned off.  Division 45 is the jokers....

I thought her shirts turned out super cute and I'm glad I got at least one photo of this joker.  I don't know if she was so exhausted by the time the day finally arrived but this girl did not take 1 photo the whole day! 

Fieldtrip to the farm

This past week Sadi got to go on a field trip to the farm with her first grade class.  The weather was perfect.  One of the things they got to do there was take a hayride out to the pumpkin patch and pick out a pumpkin. 

They also learned about some of the animals on the farm like turkeys, chickens, and turkins(that is one ugly bird).  They also got to feed some of the cutest goats.

 I think Sadi's favorite part was getting to ride the cow train....

 She got a ride on Ms. Bonnie the brown cow.

They also learned about bees and how honey is made, and also what comes from cows and even got to milk one...well sort of.

It was a fun day spent with this cute little farmer!

Burn Baby Burn

With this being Homecoming week for Kelsey she got to enjoy some of the things that only Seniors are invited to participate in.  Each year there is a Senior Bonfire.  Although the whole student body is invited, only Seniors get to decorate and burn a stick.  This is a joint project where two students design/walk together and throw their stick in.  No surprise these two were paired up since they have been friends since second grade?

 Their stick turned out really cute, seemed a shame to burn it. 

I wasn't invited to go (apparently it's uncool if your parents go), but I heard it was a blast.  Kelsey and some of her other "besties".

They were ready to light up the night and let their senior year be the biggest yet. 

It looks as though it was successful!  I can almost hear the chanting coming from this picture...

Kelsey, I hope your senior year is as bright as this night was.

One Fish, Two Fish...

This weekend was the opening weekend of the Salmon Run at Taylor Creek.   I was excited to take Matt and Kelsey (who have never been), also there were all kinds of activities for the kids planned including the Kokanee mascot and Smokey the bear were going to be there.  As soon as we arrived at the parking lot and discovered it blocked off I knew this was not going to go as planned.  We walked to the trail head and began on the Rainbow Trail.

This is where you would first greet the rangers and they would be all along the trail with fun facts and answer questions.  Although the government shut down, the salmon were in full force.....

 We had fun watching the fish splash and swim all along the river banks.

 It was a beautiful day and the water was so clear.

It was a bummer that we couldn't view these guys from the underground river viewing area (it was closed too).  But still really cool to watch them.  I found it amazing they went as far as too lock up the trash cans in this park...really?

After walking the river we decide to walk along Lake Tahoe to the Tallac Museum.  The Tallac Historic site is 3 early 20th century retreats of SF socially elite families.  There are 3 huge estates including the Baldwin Estate, The Pope estate, and the Vahalla Estate.What should have looked like this....

was all boarded up and locked.  We couldn't even peek in the windows...boo! 

We enjoyed walking around the grounds, and sitting under one of the gazebos of the Pope estate where the ladies would have tea by the pond. 

It was the perfect time of year to hike with temperatures in the 70's and the colors changing all around. 

We ate lunch and then decided we had better head back home before someone had to use the restroom....because that's right those were closed too!