Days with the Dorans

So after we left the football game, we decided to hit the pumpkin patch. After all, we had a two soccer games the next day and the following weekend we have games and Halloween Parties so we were cutting it pretty close to the big day. The weather we have had has been unseasonably warm! Shorts and flip-flops?! Sean was so excited and couldn't wait to get on the hayride to choose the perfect pumpkin. We did get donuts and cider too of course! Jeff was less than thrilled to go on the hayride even though he was the one who stopped at an ATM to get cash for the pumpkins... We need to teach him the "fake it until you make it" line. He got on the hay ride with us though. My mom just had hip surgery so no fall family pic for us... (We'll have to get one in her yard or something.) Kind of sad since we have had 15 years of family pics at a pumpkin patch~ beginning when Joe was just a little baby no bigger than a pumpkin. There were lots of pumpkins to c...

It was a cold weekend but the sun was out and it was getting late in the month so we decided to brave the cold and head to the pumpkin patch! We talked my mom into coming with us (tradition is tradition). As crowded as it was, it didn't feel that way. We went on a hayride out to the patch and the kids were off to pick their perfect pumpkin. After the patch,  I took the pumpkins to the car and the rest of the crew got donuts and cider (don't worry... I joined them later).  After that we let the Littles play (a little) on the kid stuff but it was so cold we didn't stay long. I don't think Sean minded... (too much). ;-)

 We went to the Pumpkin Patch on the most perfect day!  The air was crisp but the sun was out.  It was a Sunday, and Jeff was leading worship at church and Joe had a soccer game.  Jeff left church as soon as it was over to help coach the second half of the soccer game and then we were off.  We continue to go out a bit further from home to Three Cedars Farm, but to us it is well worth the drive! It is still cheaper than what our local farm was years ago.  We paid $5/family to take a long hayride out to the pumpkin patch (the 6 of us + my mom who snapped pictures) and the pumpkins were about $6 a piece.  What was fun was when we got to the patch, the kids just went off in search of their perfect pumpkin.  Jeff and I walked hand-in-hand thinking about how lucky we are.  How perfect the day was.  Joe got a big pumpkin (as always) and of course it was far away but he managed to carry it.  Ali got a cute pumpkin and she als...

Jeff and I had a rare Sunday off from music (church), so we loaded up the kids and after school on a Friday and headed to Three Cedars, our new favorite farm!  We went there last year after our neighborhood farm had prices that were crazy high!!  I'm kind of glad they charged so much because had we stayed there, we wouldn't have made the drive to this place (and we've found a gem)! It was a perfect fall day!  When we arrived at the farm, there weren't too many people there so we had a wagon ride almost all to ourselves (a family of 3 was there too)!  Once we made it to the pumpkin patch, the kids were off in search of the 'perfect' pumpkin!  Sean learned the hard way that running in a pumpkin patch is NOT a good idea.  There were vines everywhere.  Thankfully he learned from his mistake and was soon off (walking) with his sibs. Zach found his pumpkin almost immediately.  It was on the far end of the patch.  He literally took off an...

After deciding we needed to find a new family farm for our hayrides and pumpkins, I turned to one of many suggestions left by friends on Facebook.  Jeff had practice at church and my dad was going to a football game so I loaded up the kids, picked up my mom and we were off.  I had to stop at the bank (and for dinner and gas) so by the time we got there it was dark. I wondered if I had made a mistake by bringing everyone out so late, but you can tell by Z's face that it was well worth the drive!  There were tons of cars there but the way it was set up it hardly felt crowded!  All of their kid 'stuff' was free.  They had live animals all in areas based on storybooks (the rabbits were Peter Rabbit, the goats were the Three Billy Goats Gruff... you get the idea).  There was a track of little pedal tractors that the kids could ride around on, slides and all sorts of things for them to play on.  They could have stayed there forever but they really wa...