Pumpkin Farm and Pumpkin Carving

We took the kids to a pumpkin patch with my in-laws and we all had a great time! There are dozens of pumpkin farms to choose from but we went to the same one from last year because we had such a good time. There is so much to do there and it's not over the top priced, in my opinion. Kingsway Pumpkin Farm.

I'm not gonna lie, I participated in quite a few fun activities myself, (Michael too!). Visiting a pumpkin farm is what really sets off Fall for me. Although I bought our pumpkins at our grocery store prior to going to the farm.

Hanley has never ever been a fan of pumpkin guts so I typically have to scrape them all myself. And this year she asked for a kitty pumpkin and didn't really care to help carve so I ended up doing both pumpkins myself. 

The kids both painted a little pie pumpkin, which we then roasted the seeds from, baked the pumpkins and used the puree to bake pumpkin and chocolate chip muffins!  

Go Ape {Birthday Chronicles}

For Michael's birthday this year, I wanted to plan some type of surprise for him. I wasn't quite sure what I was thinking about doing but concerts are difficult because he always knows about them before me and I wasn't able to plan a trip away longer than a day.

A friend of mine on Facebook posted about her recent fun at Go Ape and I knew that was it. It looked perfect to me, but I imagined it wouldn't seem as perfect to Michael. He is afraid of heights but I was hoping since he wouldn't know about it until we got there, there would be a less chance he would back out.

I scoured the website, read the FAQs and other reviews from around the internet to learn all that I could before we went.

Go Ape is more than just ziplining. They call it a tree top adventure. There are numerous obstacle courses up in the trees!! The entire thing takes 2.5-3 hours to complete.
The website says "So much more than a simple zip line canopy tour, the Go Ape Mill Stream Run course is a fully immersive outdoor experience. Go Ape features 5 action packed treetop obstacle course sections, leading you higher into the forest canopy. Guests will navigate 42 exciting crossings like, the Jungle Crossing, Spiders Web, 2 Tarzan swings and 5 exhilarating zip lines. When you Go Ape you get an outdoor adventure worth talking about. "

They give you a 'crash course' in all the gear and the proper way to use it all because there are NO instructors up in the trees holding your hand along the way. You have to be confident enough to know what you're doing or you will really screw something up, or die...

I ended up finding the whole process of hooking yourself on and off and moving along all the lines by ourselves very therapeutic (weird??). There's a whole process of hooking yourself on so you're always attached so there's no chance of falling out of the trees.

The Tarzan swing was my favorite and I even went back up and did that particular course a 2nd time because it was so fun. Some of the courses offer signs of "easy, moderate, or extreme" with more than one course option so you can choose. I personally chose the hardest course any time it was available.

I can NOT wait to go again and Michael had a great time as well!

Preschool Chronicles cont. {Hanley}

A few days ago, I picked up Hanley from school and there was a different little boy yelling over to Hanley "remember, I'm gonna marry you!!"
Then the original boy would go over to him and say "no, I'm gonna marry her!!"

I told Hanley to tell them "no thank you, we can just be friends!" and she said to me "probably, I'll just marry them both!"

I really just don't think she wants to break their little hearts haha 

Then today, that same new boy came running to me and said "can I marry her?"  and I said "no, you guys can just be friends" haha oops 

Hanleys 4th Birthday {Birthday Chronicles}

For Hanleys 4th birthday we decided on a ballerina theme. Hanley is big into dance class (more on that later). I always start planning and prepping for our kids' birthday parties months in advance around here. I got a Cricut a couple years ago and it has proved extremely beneficial. I made the invitations, most the decorations, as well as borrowed several items from my grandma (lace tableclothes, porcelain ballerinas, flowers).

For food, I served deli meat sliders, pasta & fruit salads, and chips. It turned out to be a great party, she got way too many presents and the kids had a lot of fun playing together!

Now onto the photos!