Pumpkin Patch Birthday

Is there a better place to spend your 2nd birthday than on a farm, riding a hayride and picking a pumpkin on a beautiful east TN fall day? I think not! So, after church on Sunday we took our birthday boy to the pumpkin patch! We had his birthday party on Saturday (the day before his actual birthday) and I'll post pictures of that celebration soon. But I thought I'd post the pictures of our pumpkin patch adventure first. I can't believe he is 2!

 Farmer Will at Maple Lane Farms....ready to get on the hayride.

We got to see lots of tractors....which is HUGE for our two year old! He loves them!

 Then we rode on a hayride behind one of those wonderful tractors down a path like this to the pumpkin patch.

 Saw lots of cows.....another huge hit with Will. He is all about cows!

 Enjoyed beautiful East TN scenery!

 Then we hit the ground running. Time to find the perfect pumpkin!

 Can you tell that he is running? He had a ball in the pumpkin patch! Tripping over vines and everything!

 I really LOVE this picture!

 Loaded back on the hayride for the return trip!

 Tried to get a picture of me with the kids. That doesn't happen very often and Sean isn't patient enough to keep taking pics until everyone is looking or at least has their eyes opened! Oh well!

 Small, medium and large pumpkins!

The pumpkin patch is just the best place to take pictures! I was driving them crazy asking them to pose for so many pics! Loved this one on the steps of the hayride trailer.

This year, the farm has teamed up with a local restaurant, has a corn maze, a haunted house, live music and a couple of rides for kids. As if cows, tractors and pumpkins wasn't enough, there was  a TRAIN! Another one of Will's faves!

 I imagine that Helen was asking Will if he wanted to ride.......

 And, since it was his birthday, he got to be the train engineer!

 Loved it!

After we left the pumpkin patch, we went to the park with our growth group friends from church. It was a beautiful evening and a great way for Will to finish out his birthday; playing with all of his buddies! Love these kids! What a great group!

Happy Birthday Will! We love you!

The Lord your God is with you,

He is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

He will quiet you with his love,

He will rejoice over you with singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

Playing Catch Up!

So it has officially been 2 months since I've updated this blog. I never thought that I would fall this far behind. I've got some serious catching up to do! Not only have we got 40 something days of school under our belt, but we have managed to work in a mini-vacation. I thought I would start with some pictures from our trip to Wilderness at the Smokies at the end of September. One of the benefits of homeschooling is that we can be flexible in our schedule, so we left on Wednesday after Beckett's enrichment class and spent two nights and three full days playing at this indoor water park. Even though they had closed most of their outdoor water activities, they did open the lazy river and wave pool on Friday afternoon. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed our time outside! Here is a picture of all three kiddos in the pool!

 Helen and Will enjoying the slide in the toddler pool area!

 Will loved being in the wave pool!

Beckett absolutely LOVED this place. He decided that he would live at Wilderness at the Smokies if he could. There is no telling how many times he climbed the stairs to go down the water slides! Too fun!

I was amazed at how much time Will spent just snapping the buckles on his life jacket. This truly entertained him quite a bit which was good because he had to wait around a bunch while Sean and I rode the water slides with Beckett and Helen!

This is a picture of the tubes (from outside)  that we rode inside the water park. Yes, you go around and around that big mega-phone looking thing. It was not my favorite, but I rode it a couple of times with Sean and Beckett. I found it to be quite scary!

A picture taken from a balcony looking down into the indoor water park. That is a wave pool to the right and the stairs to the big tube slides is to the left. There is another pool on the left that dumps big buckets of water and also a surfing pool where crazy people can try to body surf. We saw many people wipe out and it had to hurt! That is Helen right in the middle and Beckett up in front of her. We were the first to arrive when it opened and we closed it down at night!

We went to Gatlinburg for dinner one night and ate at Bubba Gump's! It was yummy!

Cute place!

So, that is one of the many things we have done in the last two months! I'll try to update in a few days to catch up on some other goings on at the Harper Hullabaloo!