A Hunting We Will Go . . .

I took the kids back to the pumpkin patch a couple of weeks ago to pick out our Family Pumpkin (yes, there is such a thing). You remember that school field trip, right? At the time, I casually mentioned to Lu that we could pick out our Pumpkin then, since Phoenix and I would be at the field trip with her. She responded with a horrified, "No!" She insisted we had to go back later and pick out our pumpkin on a *Family* visit. School is school. Business and pleasure, apparently, do not mix.

So we did go later, and no, we couldn't just pick a pumpkin out of the dozens of huge piles of large, perfect pumpkins. Where would be the fun in that? We went hunting for our OWN pumpkin.

We must have crossed at least three fields just to reach the pumpkin patch.

And then we looked over more pumpkins than I care to count to find just the perfect one.

Ahhhh, perfection.

This is where the blog post should end, but, you know, we were at a pumpkin patch and there were soooooo many photo opps, that it was hard to stop. Not to mention, the kids were actually begging me to take pictures. "Take one of me here, Mom!" "Oh, take a picture of me surrounded by pumpkins." "Over here, Mom. Take one over here, Mom." I kid you not.





Happy Fall to you all!

Smile, Phoenix

Gimme a smile Phoenix. That's good, but can you do a little better?

Not quite. Let me see some teeth. Show some teeth when you smile.

Yes, you're definitely showing teeth now. Sigh. That will have to do for today.

Neighborhood ABC

Phoenix and I did a great activity last week for school, and it was all his idea. Apparently, he read about it in a My Big Backyard magazine (the younger version of Ranger Rick). We went on a neighborhood walk searching for all the letters of the alphabet. It took us two days and about two hours total, but eventually, we found all of them. Here is just a sample.

Phoenix found almost all of these himself. I won't tell you the letters; you'll just have to guess.

Naturally, this isn't the most exciting or creative letter, but since it has my little man in it . . .

This one too. I actually took a different picture for this letter, but then Phoenix came up with this idea, and, well, who could resist?

Phoenix, being "L."

Look closely at this one.

I would have never seen this letter, but Phoenix told me to take the picture, and sure enough, there it is.

Of course, he's in this one too.

We stopped for a little fun.

But then got down to business with this letter.

The obvious choice for this letter. I was surprised at how much fun Phoenix and I had together on this project, and how much patience he had with it. We are going to print out all the photos and make it into an ABC book for Lutece for Christmas. Hey, maybe you'll get one too.

The World Equestrian Games

I am seriously behind in my blogging! Let's see if I can catch up before Halloween.

In case you weren't aware, Lexington hosted the World Equestrian Games for about two weeks during September and October. This was big. I mean, it was really BIG. There were digitized daily counts around town ticking down the days for nearly two years. TWO YEARS. For the uninitiated, the World Equestrian Games (or WEG) are the Olympics of the horse world. They occur once every four years and have NEVER--until now--been held in the United States. Needless to say, Lexington, the horse capital of the world, was excited to host them this year.

Stayc managed to get tickets through the University, and over the Fall Break he took the kids out to the Kentucky Horse Park for the festivities.

Lutece actually got to go twice, since various classes from schools in the area also got tickets. When she came home from her field trip with her class, we asked her if she'd enjoyed herself, but she was unimpressed. Boooorrring.

But when she went with Stayc and Phoenix she had a blast. "Mom, we got to go wherever we wanted and do whatever we wanted. We didn't have to stay at all the boring places." Sounds reasonable to me.

Of course, I didn't go with them, so I just get to look at the pictures like you all, and imagine what they did and how much fun they had.

Oh, and look through the loot. Did I mention the loot? They came home with all sorts of junk . . . including the horse hats you'll see in a couple of pictures.

Bad picture, but it seems to have some meaningful significance to those involved.

Ahh, the horse hats. Lutece just finally recycled hers the other day.

They took the city transit bus out to the Horse Park and back again. Parking at the venue was $20 for the cheapest spaces, and you still had to walk about a mile. The bus was clearly the best option, and the kids had fun.

So. Much. Fun.

Fall Break

A week or so ago, the school district had a "Fall Break," wherein the kids got three days off from school. I don't remember having anything like that, but man, was it nice to have Lutece back with us for a few days. (I don't know if I'll ever get used to having her gone.) I planned a couple of activities and then invited friends to join us, which turned out to be very fun.

On Wednesday, we headed to Salato Wildlife Education Center in Frankfort to enjoy our native flora and fauna. This was the most subdued Lutece was the entire time.

This observation deck was placed high up over the deer habitat. The kids realized that there were deer standing right underneath the deck. At one point I looked over and about four kids, ranging in age from 3 to 10 were down with their heads to the ground, like Phoenix is here. It was an odd sight.

This is the best I could do for a close-up of Phoenix. When I asked for a smile, this is what I got . . .

"I do NOT want to smile, Mom."

But then inside the museum they were giddy, "Mom, Mom, take a picture of us with the river otter!"

The weather was lovely, and we had a great time. And yes, I realize this is perhaps one of the most boring blog posts of all time. I don't know. The witty banter and pithy remarks are just failing me right now.

Just look at the pictures instead.

More on Fall Break later.

Class Field Trip

A couple of weeks ago, Lutece's class had a field trip to one of our favorite pumpkin patches in the area . . . so, of course, Phoenix and I tagged along. (I don't want you to think we are OVERLY protective or stalker-ish. There were 11 other parents from Lu's class there too.)

DANG was this little field trip expensive! Way more than we've ever had to pay to visit the exact same venue as a family (Phoenix and I also had to pay for ourselves). However, we *did* get a few more things included, like picking our own pumpkin (see above), the tractor ride (this pic), and a tour of the apple cider barn, including tastes of cider.

Of course, the pumpkin patch playground was also included (that's the only part we usually pay for).

When we asked Lutece that evening if she'd had fun, she shrugged. "The playground was really fun! But next time, I'd rather not do all the other stuff." Point taken.

Duet

The piano books Lutece's lessons come from include teacher duets at the bottom of each piece. She does these each week with her teacher, but *occasionally*, she will also allow her father the privilege. For Stayc, it is a dream come true.

"Good job, Dad."

A Reading Corner

For Phoenix, that basically amounts to any nook or cranny in the house. Hope you're enjoying a good book wherever you happen to be.