Pumpkin Patch in Brentwood

Last weekend Nate's family was here. It's always fun to have family come visit! We decided to take a little trip out to Brentwood, CA to get our pumpkins from a real pumpkin patch. After our visit to Boise, where my parents picked their pumpkins directly off the vine, I wanted to find something like that in California. And, it was tough! Believe me. I searched for awhile before I found one. After a short, scenic drive we arrived in Brentwood. I loved being in the agricultural community. Many of the farms/orchards will let you go pick your fruits and vegetable directly out of the field! I definitely want to go back and do this sometime. The pumpkin patch was a real experience with a barnyard sing along, feeding chickens, picking pumpkins, etc. We sure had fun! Preston was so proud of the pumpkin he picked out and loved carrying it around. He's been obsessed with the pumpkins on our porch ever since having to make sure they are all still there.

Helping play an instrument - shaker - during the barnyard sing along.

This one!

Fall Frenzy with Friends

A week or so ago we met up with a few friends at a nursery to get some great fall pictures. Preston and I originally weren't going to go because he had Gymboree but decided last minute to show up afterwards. It was a ton of fun! The nursery was selling fresh apples. Preston ate the whole apple - and when I say "whole" I mean the entire thing. I was so suprised to see he had even eaten the core and seeds. Thanks for the pictures, Brooke!

Halloween Craftiness

There is something about a front door that begs to have a wreath on it! For Halloween I decided to try my hand at making a wreath to dress up our front door. It's one I saw on Pinterest and thought, "I can do that."

Fun Times in Boise

If there is one thing Preston loves - it is visiting with his Grandparents (both sides)! We recently took a trip to Boise and he was in heaven with all the space to run around. Trying to change his clothes, change his diaper, go to bed, anything that required him to be stationary became a game to him as he would quickly scamper away.

The rainy weather kept us inside about half of the time we were there but we had Aunt Jenn's volleyball games to look forward to. It was so fun to go watch her team play and be back in my high school, where I also played volleyball. Preston got very good at saying "vball" (which he also associates with football and basketball.)

One Saturday we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to The Farmstead Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch in Meridian. Preston loved the freedom to run and the breath of fresh air. I think it was the first sunny day we had after arriving. There were so many activities: a hay ride, pig races, tractors, corn mazes, slides, a jumpy "pillow", pony rides, animals, pumpkin cannons, etc. Preston, who seems to be a bit scared of many things, even rode a pony. It was amazing! After much coaxing from Grandpa he finally allowed his leg to be put over the pony and by the end of the ride was smiling and waving. We were so proud of him. This was a huge deal because the last time were in Utah (end of August) we tried to put him on a pony ride and he absolutely refused.

Jumping with Aunt Jenn

Pure joy when he's jumping! We had so many pictures of jumping it was hard to pick just one!

Our pumpkins! It was fun to walk through an actual pumpkin patch and pick off the vine.

We also went to visit the Birds of Prey exhibit and got to see some large birds. Preston thought it was so fun!

And, to top things off, no trip to Boise is complete without seeing one of my best friends from high school. It was so fun to see our kids play together. I'm so jelaous of their backyard. You just don't find backyards like that in California unless you have a large,expensive house. I guess land is at too much of a premium here. We would LOVE to have a backyard where Preston could go play. I am grateful that we have a few parks very, very close though.

Smoothie - Yum!

Our General Conference tradition is smoothies and omelets. Preston especially loved the smoothie! We love this kid and his huge smiles!

Owie!

Preston got his first owie (is that even how you spell it?) that required a bandaid the other day. He was so proud! I'm pretty impressed he has gone this long without needing one considering how active he is.