The Patch

Last night we finally made it to the pumpkin patch. We didn't want to go without Dan and he's been working long hours. He made it home early last night and we had a great time picking out our very favorite of all the hundreds and hundreds of pumpkins. We went to a new place this year, no hay ride but it was closer. We were also pleased to discover that they had a maze made out of straw bales. The kids had fun running around the maze and playing hide and seek with each other.

Now just to carve six pumpkins. Any takers??? I wish carving were as much fun as picking them out.

"I've got my spine, I've got my orange crush..."

Today is the first Saturday since July that we'll not be going to a soccer and/or football game. The "Orange Crush" has been a great team for Jolie. They've had a lot of fun and they've also won most of their games (all but one?). I'm learning that this isn't always an easy combination.

And yes, those are the tell-tale cottonwood trees. Anyone who pays attention to my photography will recognize them. I took the Orange Crush team photos. We decided to boycott the generic team photos this time around.

What's Valuable to a 4th Grader?

Today is the big fourth grade Mountain Man Rendezvous. I had to get a photo of Tristan before he left for school. He was especially stoked about the stuff he was taking to barter with the other kids.

A while back Dan gave him a pen that has apparently been quite popular among the kids in his class. It's the type that allows you to change from pencil to three different colors of ink by pressing a button. Tristan came home from school yesterday and begain gathering miscellaneous pen parts (we've had a couple others that have broken) in order to have a working one that he could barter at the rendezvous. Dan saved the day by fixing TWO pens. Tristan was very optomistic about his prospects at the rendezvous because he felt he had some very in-demand items.

Between his excitement over dressing up and the rendezvous, his adrenaline was so high that he couldn't eat breakfast (he said he wasn't hungry). I'm excited to hear how it all turned out, which I'm sure to hear all about when I pick him up in 45 minutes.

I Know it's a Ski Resort but This is Ridiculous

We're spending the weekend in Park City. When we booked this get away we envisioned ourselves ejoying the crisp mornings and warm afternoons of autumn. We figured we'd be swimming in the pool, walking through the leaves, and other "fall-like" activities.

Mother Nature had another idea. It's been in the low 30's and snowing! Unbelieveable. We've still managed to have a good time, including swimming and hot tubbing (I used Mia as an excuse to get out of that one). It goes to show that kids don't care what the weather is, they're always up for a swim.

We've also been taking advantage of the activities at our resort. We've carved pumpkins, gone on a scavenger hunt (which the kids and I won), done karaoke, and Jolie and Tristan participated in today's Guitar Hero tournament. Tristan was crowned champion of that one. Who knew that he was so good at Guitar Hero? I'm usually busily doing something else when the kids and their friends are playing.

We're going to head home after dinner and then the kids and I will return with our friends, the McKees, mid-week for the UEA holiday.

A New (Old) Trick

Alas, it happened... Mia figured out the toilet paper trick. Last night I walked into our hall bathroom and found her sitting in the middle of an unrolled mass of paper.

Did I mention in my last post that she's into EVERYTHING?

The strangest part is that it doesn't seem to have been that long since I was re-rolling toilet paper after Gavin learned this trick. He's four, though. I guess it's been longer than I thought.