Pumpkin Patch

This past Saturday we took our now annual trip to Johnson Farms, aka the pumpkin patch. Joseph was really excited to see all the animals on the farm. He watched the ponies waiting to give rides, and stamped his foot along with them. 

 The have a few really neat playground pieces that Joe wants to try and replicate some day - particularly this pirate ship.

Joseph acted like he really wanted to play on it, but I think with so many things to do, he quickly got distracted and headed off. And by that I mean he ran. Especially when he saw the train!

There wasn't really a choice on whether or not he'd get to go for a ride, and Joe decided to hop in with him. The train ride is actually a relatively long one, going around a big portion of the family events/areas.

 Pretending they're on a bigger, faster, more roller coaster like ride...

After the train ride, he headed over to this old fire truck they have parked nearby. He had fun playing in the cab, and checking things out. I think it's time for a trip on Grandpa's fire truck!

We made sure to snap a few pictures at the "look how I've grown this year sign." Sniff, sniff. It's amazing how he's grown and changed this year!

Finally we convinced Joseph to head out to the fields by showing him the tractor-pulled hayride. He really didn't want to pick a pumpkin - he'd had much more fun on the ride there and back!

But then he realized there was lots of wide open space to run, which is definitely one of his favorite things to do now.

And a few paces in, I helped him pick a great pumpkin. We had a groupon for the patch that included $10 worth of pumpkins, so we picked 3 small ones... that only ended up retailing for a little under $4. Oh well! It was nice to not need a big cart this year. We figured since we aren't going to be in town for Halloween, it was a little silly to spend a lot on the decorations. Especially when Joseph doesn't quite understand things yet.

And so we took the return hayride back to the farm, checked out and headed home before Joseph got too tired. It was such a fun trip to the pumpkin patch - watching Joseph get into all of the play areas and farm animals was really cute and a great preview to what the coming years will be like!

Homecoming 2011

When I realized that Mizzou's 100th anniversary of Homecoming was going to happen in 2011, I really wanted to be able to attend and take Joseph for his first college Homecoming. Mizzou does such a great job of making Homecoming a family friendly event, although when I was in college and law school I didn't actually go to many of the planned events.

This year, however, was all about making sure Joseph had a fun experience! We made it to Columbia Friday night in time to catch a couple of house dec shows with Ashley and Mikael before we needed to get Joseph back to the hotel. We lucked out and found a room in town the night before leaving for Columbia, after watching Expedia for months to no avail. I had hoped to stay in town so we could let Joseph get as much regular sleep as possible, especially when we discovered that kickoff for the football game was 1pm - right when he normally naps!

Saturday, October 15th, we got up on time and headed for downtown to watch the parade. Ashley and Mikael met up with us a bit later, and we all enjoyed the floats, marching bands and various parade entries. Joseph loved that many groups tossed candy to the kids, in between dancing to the music from the bands.

 Although the forecast was for highs around 70 degrees, it was still rather chilly at 8:30, so we made sure to put Joseph in his Truman the Tiger suit. He was quite the hit!

After an hour or so of watching the parade, Joseph started to get bored and wanted to explore. He kept trying to run away from me, but in his little tiger suit he just looked so cute. :)

We did a bit of tailgating near Ashley & Mikael's hotel and waited for Mom, Dad, Jennifer and her boyfriend to arrive. The weather was absolutely perfect for a fall football game! We enjoyed some yummy snacks, Joseph had fun telling just about everyone "hi!" and waving and Molly even got to hang out with us for a bit. A little before kickoff, we headed over to the stadium.

Joseph wanted to sit with Grammy and Granpa more than anyone else, but when he got a little tired of sitting still, he would wander up and down our aisle, bouncing from lap to lap.

He does seem to enjoy watching football, especially on TV at home, so we knew he'd be entertained for at least a little while. We apparently had tickets near the Iowa State "section", so their cheerleaders and mascot were stationed in front of us. I think Joseph spent more time watching the mascot than the game - oh well!

Jennifer's boyfriend Elliot came in town from Florida for the weekend. It was fun getting to spend some time getting to know him, as Joe and I hadn't met him yet.

As the game neared halftime, Joseph started to visibly wear down. I think he made Mom's day, though, when he decided he only wanted her to hold him. Luckily for him, she didn't mind that at all.

We had hoped to make it through more of the game, but at the half Mizzou had a sizeable lead, so we opted to leave while Joseph was still in a good mood.

I thought Joseph was going to fall asleep in the baby carrier on the way back to the car, but he decided since he was leaving, he needed to wave and say "bye!" to just about everyone we passed. He's really enjoying talking now!

We got back to the car, loaded everything up, and headed for the highway. Within 5 minutes, Joseph was sound asleep. Molly made sure to snuggle up with him as best she could too!

I had a lot of fun, and can't wait to make this a Jeppson family tradition, since I have lots of great memories going to Mizzou homecoming with my family as a kid. And maybe it'll keep Joseph a true Tiger, instead of deciding to be a Jayhawk! :)

Ta Da!

I know it's hard to see much of anything in this picture, but that's the point - this afternoon Joe and I finished clearing the back third of the yard! All of the scraggly bushes, vines and small trees are finally gone from ... from that corner, at least. The section of the yard just to the left of the big tree in the left of the picture still needs work, but at least we're getting closer. I'm excited to work on the plans for this newly cleared area, which will be Joseph's play space. We have some fun ideas, just need to figure out how and when to execute everything.

Farmer Joe

Last week Joseph was helping me water the plants in the back yard. As I was finishing up and about to put the hose away, I noticed that he had wandered over to my tomato plants, which are still producing tomatoes. The weather here has been too cold, however, for them to ripen on the vine.

 Apparently that didn't stop Joseph from deciding to pick a few off and to eat them! He hasn't tried to do that at all so far this summer, so I'm wondering where he got the idea from. Whatever the reason, he sure was awfully cute picking cherry tomatoes and popping them in his mouth!

Stuck at Grampa's

It's too bad that there is nothing for 7 to do at Grampa's house...

Spending the week at Grammy & Grampa's house

7 is staying with Lauren's parents for the week while she is doing the overnights for her study and helping at my office during the day. I was there for dinner saturday and breakfast sunday and he had already eaten as much as I would expect out of him for a weekend. Apparently, he enjoys sprinkles and snow (powdered sugar) on all forms of food. Oh, and adding chocolate syrup to regular milk is apparently way better than pre-mixed chocolate milk. Especially when it is in a Spongebob-pumpkin juice box.

Apparently, the fun-fetti cupcake was too bland for him so he just ate the frosting, sprinkles, and candy corn.

Fire Station Visit

Last week I joined another Mom's group, this one for mom's in our general neighborhood area. Our first playgroup was a visit to a local fire station. I figured Joseph would love seing the fire engines and signed us up. There were only 5 of us scheduled to attend, all with little boys, ranging in age from 6 months (a younger brother) to 4 years old.

Unfortunately, when we arrived, we discovered that everyone - the fire engine, ambulance and two other fire station trucks, were all out on calls/appointments. Boo. There was one fireman left at the station, who was happy to be conducting his third station tour of the morning for lots of little kids.

So we definitely had an abbreviated visit, but the boys did well considering there wasn't much for them to see. We started off in the garage, where instead of inspecting fire hoses and air tanks, they took advantage of the wide open space and slippery floors, chasing each other around.

 My camera just isn't good enough to get all 3 little boys in focus while they are all running about.

 I found this adorable fire engine and matching shirt outfit for $2 earlier this year! It has plenty of growing room, but I figured it was the perfect thing to wear for the visit.

At the end of our tour around the fire station, the fireman let the little guys try on his boots, overalls and jacket. He also gave them each their own hat, which was a huge hit.

Joseph did a great job taking it all in. Afterward, we headed to a nearby park to play. The boys quickly found the sandbox, and although he wasn't trying, Joseph managed to fill up the folds and pockets of his overalls with sand. He was a happy, tired boy by the time we made it to dad's office for nap/work time!