black island farms

i had heard so many good things about black island farms, i just couldn't pass this place up.  i'm such a sucker for activities like this during the holidays! we had already been to a pumpkin patch with tanner's preschool, but i wanted to go with the whole family.

the giant slides were such a hit!  all of the kids, minus reese, went down multiple times.  reese was too scared to go down.

we finally found the smallest slide and convinced reese to go.  she loved it!

the corn box was sooooo fun, but also gross knowing that lots of kids had put who knows what all over each of those pieces.

our last stop was taking a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch.  everyone was able to get there own giant pumpkin since it was included in the price.  we literally got our pumpkins just in time.  a storm blew in right as we were returning with our pumpkins.   

preschool field trip

our first preschool field trip of the year was the pumpkin patch!  the kids always love the pumpkin patch.  this particular one is free to get in and has a decent amount of activities for the kids.  plus, they get to come home with their very own pumpkin.

the kids really wanted to pose with these scarecrows, or creepy giant dolls?

tanner was such a gentleman.  he saw two of his girl friends alone in the maze, so he went to go help them get out.

tanner chose about 10 different pumpkins before finally picking the one he wanted to bring home.

these two were investigating the inside of this pumpkin, then ended with a hug.

aquarium

tyler had a couple of days off from work, and his days off just happened to coincide with the aquarium's free day.   we decided to plan a little outing to check it out.  we were a little hesitant thinking it would be insanely crowded and that we would be waiting in line forever just to get in. turns out though, it either wasn't that crowded that day, or we happened to show up at the right time.  we got right in and were able to easily check out all exhibits and had a great time!  the kiddos loved it. 

the party

it was tanner's turn to have his own birthday party! i planned a party that i knew he would love and also one that would be very simple for me to prep. this turned out perfect! 

 we invited his best little friends to join us at a park for a camping themed birthday party. tanner waited patiently in the sand for all of them to show up. 

brynn thought it was so awesome that she could get out and explore.

once the guests arrived we went on a nature scavenger hunt, painted bird houses and went hunting for bugs (fake ones i had scattered around).  each activity kept the kids engaged!  seriously, so easy, but they loved it.

tanner turns five

our little guy turned five!  it was really fun to celebrate his big day.  he's not a kid that has this long list of expectations on his birthday, so he is really easy to please.

i took him to the store a couple of days before and let him pick out his own cake.  he chose a camouflage cake with bright, bright blue frosting.

tanner loves transformers, so for his birthday he got a big, talking optimus prime.

tanner does not lack in the personality department, that's for sure.  he loves to be goofy and loves taking pictures of him being goofy even more.

we love this kid with all our hearts!  he is our active, energetic, intense, loving, sweet, caring boy.  

best buddies

this is one of tanner's best buds.  seriously, they are the best of friends.  they will see each other from across the way and will yell each other's names while running to on another. they want to show each one their favorite toys, t.v. shows, games and tell each other the cool thing they just got to do with their families.  it is an absolutely adorable relationship.  it will be a sad day for everyone when one of the families moves away.

dirty feet and some laughs

these three kids were out playing with no shoes on (typical for the boys-not reese), so i decided to get a picture of their dirty, outside feet.   once i sat them down i realized their feet weren't that dirty.  apparently they had just washed their feet off from an outside hose.  oh well.  

we didn't get the dirty feet, but we did get some cute laughs on camera.  my neighbor was outside as well with a whoopie cushion and was using it to get the kids to look and smile.  it worked really well-you can see the concentration on their faces while they are waiting for the whoopie cushion to make some noise. they loved it!