Bananas

A few nights ago, while we were trying to convince the kids to eat their dinner for the millionth time, Joseph got in a bit of trouble for being disobedient. 

We told him that he was going to lose screen privileges, and since this is a frequent punishment around our house, little miss bossy pants chimed in. 

"JoJo, no iPad, no phone, no tv, no movies, no leappad... No bananas..."

To hear her in all seriousness run through this list and then end in with no bananas was too much for Joe and me to take, and we burst into giggles. I think this may have been one of the first times Maddie has realized something she said got a funny reaction from us, so soon we were all laughing. 

Definitely a "you had to be there" moment, but it makes me smile every time I think about it!

Another fun fall weekend

This past Saturday Joe had to go in to the office to do some work and interview potential assistants. I had bought a season pass to a local pumpkin patch and opted to take the kids to check it out. So we headed to Carolyn's Country Cousins to check out what fun things they had to offer. 

We headed first for the corn digging silo, where the kids had a blast filling buckets with loose corn kernels and dumping them out. I managed to convince them there was a lot more to see and do, so we headed to the animal barn. 

They had lots of goats, sheep, pigs, donkeys, chickens and bunnies. Maddie wanted to pet them all but got pretty upset when she stuck her fingers into the chicken coop and one pecked at her. The bunnies helped calm her down though and she only wanted to feed them. A girl after my own heart! 

The pumpkin patch has lots to do, including pedal carts, a handful of different playgrounds, the animals to see and feed, a small maze and these cute roping steers. Joseph had lots of fun trying to toss his hoop into the steer, and after a few tries was successful!

From there we headed over to watch the pig races. Joseph volunteered to help, so he got to ring a cow bell and run with a few other boys from the starting line to the finish, trying to encourage the pigs to keep running. He did great and being a part of the show made it a lot more fun for him. 

We then headed over to take a ride on the train. The kids were getting tired so we decided not to go out into the pumpkin patch for this trip. Instead, we went into the railroad shop and enjoyed some samples of fudge. Well, Joseph tried it and didn't like it, while Maddie about flipped out, demanding more and more. So we bought a small square to share on the way back home. 

We had fun but look forward to being able to take Joe with us next time!

On Sunday we were planning on meeting some friends at the Renaissance Festival in Bonner Springs. I hadn't ever been and Joe hadn't been in years, so we weren't too sure what to expect. Tickets for Joe and me were rather expensive at $18 per person, considering you still had to pay for the activities inside! 

We didn't realize this, though, when the kids saw this giant swing and asked to ride. Seeing no fee sign, we said sure. They loved it!

As the boy working the swing help them off, he told us it was just $2. Hmm, ok I guess but it put us on notice that we needed to plan to spend more and more to do things!

We wandered around a bit, then came across and animal "carousel," complete with donkeys, mules and even llamas! 

A few minutes later we were $8 poorer, but the kids had fun. We were trying to find our way to the kids' area, but stopped when some royalty put on a musical show. The kids really liked it and didn't want to leave, so we stayed for the whole show. 

Eventually we found the kids' area, which had some built in playgrounds and activities, including a free wand making stand. Hooray for something free!

After Joseph made his wand, he went to the wizard who was checking wands to see if they were magic. Luckily for Joseph, his was magic!

He was pretty excited, even though the wizard made sure to tell him he couldn't use his magic wand to turn anyone into a frog or his wand would lose its magic. So far, no frogs!

From there a storyteller was starting an interactive puppet show, and Joseph wanted to be a part of it. He got to play the jester. 

Not wanting to be left out, Maddie headed up to the stage too. 

We then caught a pirate show, and tried to see some mermaids but they were out for a swim. Instead we grabbed some food, watched a bit of the renaissance parade (including a fire breathing man, which Joseph found amazing) and said goodbye to our friends. Maddie quickly fell asleep in the car, and both kids took long naps that day. 

It was definitely a fun weekend, capped off by a Mizzou win against South Carolina, and the Royals making it to the post-season for the first time in 29 years!

Apple Picking

Last weekend I really wanted to take the kids apple picking, so I convinced Joe and we packed the kids up first thing Saturday morning and headed to the Cider Hill Orchard. 

We arrived a few minutes after they opened, grabbed our apple bags and managed to get on the first wagon ride out to the trees. The kids were really excited about being at the orchard!

The weather this summer has been amazing for the apples, and each tree was full of good apples. The orchard provides some picking tools that are like a basket on a broomstick, which makes getting to the top branches so much easier. 

Although it was still fun for the kids to get in to the low lying branches and grab apples all by themselves. 

With daddy manning the picking tool, we quickly filled two large bags and one small bag. The kids has eaten through lots of apples too, and we had only been in the field for about 30 minutes!

Knowing it would still take a bit to get back to the front of the orchard and pay for the apples, we loaded them all in our wagon and headed back. 

The family store was selling fresh apple cider donuts, which the kids insisted we buy. Twist our arms! They were really good. 

The haul! So far this week, we (ok, I) have made an apple cake, apple crisp, apple muffins, cookies, caramel apple shortbread bars, two crock pots of applesauce, one batch of apple butter, and I canned a dozen 16 oz cans of apples tonight. Only half a bag of apples left, and I promised Joseph we would make an apple pie and Joe has requested a coffee cake. Just a bit more baking and we will have made it through all of the apples!

Football

Joseph is on a "bitty" flag football team through the YMCA this fall. His team is made up of all neighbor boys between 3-5 years old, and all of us are having so much fun!

Joseph loves it, Maddie gets to run around chasing the boys or playing on the playground, and Joe has managed to make it to the practices too!

Tomorrow night is his team's first game, so I will be really interested to see how it goes. 

We've been trying to play some at home when Joe is able to be home before the kids go to bed. Joseph lives hiking the ball and running like a crazy kid. We still have to work on throwing and catching, but he's definitely starting to figure out the game. 

Maddie's Birthday Weekend

The night we returned home from Disneyland, Ashley, Mikael, Mason and Christopher were staying at our house. We had agreed to watch the boys while Ashley and Mikael went to Colorado for a wedding. The kids were super excited when they woke up and realized their cousins were going to be staying for the weekend!

Mason actually slept in so we let the kids go wake him up. He was so ready to play! Each morning the kid who woke up first got to wake the others up and they were all so happy. 

The first Mizzou game of the season happened Saturday, so we felt an obligation to let the kids watch. And eat brownies :) 

The weather was nice but I wasn't up for taking 4 kids too far away, so we played in the yard a lot. Joseph had fun when he realized the bike trailer fit on his bike. Mason and Maddie loved getting rides!

And Christopher was quite a happy baby during the weekend. So easy going and content (as long he was rested and fed!)

 

Maddie turned two on Sunday and was thrilled to see more presents to open. Daddy got the kids donuts for breakfast and even brought her some flowers. Wrapped gifts were more exciting, though. 

Especially new books from Grandpa Joe and Grandma Dianne! 

Joseph gave her a farm puzzle and book, which he enjoyed playing with too. 

Later in the day, Auntie T, Uncle Scotty, Nana and Papa came over for some birthday pasta and cake. Maddie loved her flower building set from Nana and Papa and the dress up shoes from the Christensens!

All in all, birthday #2 was a success. I don't know where the last two years went, but we sure love our Maddie Rose and are so glad this sweet cuddle bug is in our lives!