Landon - Pumpkin Patch 2009

Logan - Pumpkin Patch 2009

Pumpkin Patch 2009

Well, it's that time of year again when we go visit the pumpkin patch in Lakefield, MN! We had a fun time there today with Grandma Bonnie, even though it was a little windy! The boys enjoy all there is to do there: ride trikes around a track, see all the animals (goats, pigs, cows, bunnies, chickens, a horse, cats, sheep, llamas), play on the neat playgrounds, visit Storybook Land (which are scenes from some famous fairytales like Cinderella, 3 Little Pigs, Hansel and Grettel, The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, etc), ride the barrel train (only Landon was brave enough to do this), and of course, choose our speical pumpkins for this fall season! Last year we just picked our pumpkins from the numerous ones that their staff had pre-picked, but today we were brave and took a hayride out to the pumpkin fields to truely "pick" our own pumpkins! That was fun! After all of that, we were pretty hungry, so we grabbed some lunch at the cafe at the pumpkin patch and then headed home. The pumpkins sure make our house look festive for fall, and we had a fun day!

Landon - Fair 2009

Logan - Fair 2009

Fair 2009

Today, after a great win by the Hawkeyes, Jeff and I decided to take the boys to the Clay County Fair in Spencer, Ia! Aside from getting rained on for a tiny bit, we had a wonderful time! First we looked at all of the awesome antique tractors, but the boys quickly tired of that because they weren't allowed to sit on them. Next, the boys wanted to see all of the animals, so we went to look at the cows, horses, sheep, pigs, and chickens in their barns. Landon loved the cows, and Logan's favorite were the chickens because they were making a lot of noise as we went through that barn, and they got to pet one of the chickens! Then we trekked over to the new tractors and spent about 3 hours there...just kidding, but it felt like it because the boys, especially Logan, thought they needed to climb each tractor and sit in every single one of them! After all of that hard work, it was off to supper at the Cattleman's Association for ribeye sandwiches (burgers and fries for the boys)...YUM! Jeff and I attempted to walk through some of the building, but we didn't get to see much since the boys were ready to go ride some rides. Logan actually chickened out on most of the rides, but Landon was rearin' and ready to go! We ended our night with strawberry smoothies and mini-donuts, as if we needed more calories to take home with us! I hope to get back to the fair one of these days before it is over WITHOUT the boys so I can actually look at some of the booths (and of course eat some more of that fattening food)!

Big Bugs 2009

Happy Labor Day weekend Everyone! Today I took the boys out to the Lakeside Lab in Okoboji to see the Big Bugs exhibit. Grandma and Grandpa Umscheid came with, but Jeff missed out on the fun since he went to a motorcycle rally with his buddies in Soldier, Iowa. It was a beautiful day to be out and about in nature! All of the bugs in this Big Bug exhibit are made out of sticks or parts of trees...they are big and they are beautiful! We saw 3 ants, a praying mantis, a lady bug, a spider in it's web, an assassin bug, a grasshopper, and I know we saw one other bug, but I can't think of what it was! While walking to all the different bugs, we also got to see a real caterpillar, a real grasshopper, a real locust (sp?), and a girl who had found a turtle and let us see and touch him! What a morning! We ended with lunch at DQ and ice cream for dessert!! Now it's nap time and I think I may take advantage of the time and sneak one in myself too!