Fir Point Farms

A friend recently commented that I haven't been posting as many pictures on social media of our family on Saturday adventures. That's because, ever since we made the decision in August for Ben to go back to school, he has devoted every Saturday to studying for the GMAT. That leaves me as a GMAT widow and although I am adventurous, I am not as likely to take the kids on adventures by myself. However one Saturday in October Ben stopped studying a 4pm and we took the kids to a local pumpkin patch.

This boy. Pumpkins everywhere and all he wanted to do is splash in the puddles.

Cute Nayeli picking a pumpkin

There were games and a train ride at the farm, but when I went in to buy tickets at 4:45pm, they told me they were closing at 5. We were bummed, but they gave us a bag of cider donuts that were going to be thrown away and told us to come back again. So we ate donuts and the kids splashed in puddles. It wasn't such a bust after all.

We purchased a few pumpkins and took them home to paint them. After all the issues Teddy has had with knives lately there was no way we were going to carve them.

We returned to the pumpkin patch a few weeks later. Ben was going to be gone on a business trip for the weekend, so he took off the Thursday beforehand to go with us.

I dream of having a home with a tire swing someday

Teddy was not as excited as Nayeli about the tire swing

We also went to pet the animals. The goats were a favorite.

Inside the hazelnut house, or filberts, as they call them here

By the time we had explored much of the farm, three school buses full of excited Kindergartners arrived. As you can imagine, it quickly became too chaotic for our family so we looked for a more secluded place. Ben remembered seeing a sign at a trail head down into the ravine behind the farm. The sign read, "Farm Trail- enter at your own risk!" Nothing that could deter us! Adventure is out there!

The way was steep, wet and muddy but we had a great time. It was quiet and beautiful, and we loved exploring the make-shift path and bridges that someone had put in them self.

She got herself dressed. Pink, pink and more pink.

She told Ben, "I'm going to make a cute face". Mission accomplished.

Oregon is so stunningly lush and green- I will miss it so much when we leave.

It was such a fun day at the pumpkin patch and so nice to have some time with Ben. The kids and I have sure missed him lately, but soon the GMAT will be over and then life will get back to normal. We look forward to more Saturday (or in this case Thursday) adventures all together.

Finding Their Groove

A few photos of my little buddies. They are becoming better friends every day and are finally starting to find a groove of friendship.

Dancing on the kitchen table together

One day they were being so quiet it was disconcerting, then I found them like this. She was "reading" to him. Melted my heart.

They are big into jumping off the couch right now. It's a great way to keep them busy.

They are also big into wrestling together. It gets rough fast so it doesn't usually last long.

Playing with my necklaces and bracelets together

One day they snuck a head of lettuce off the counter and thought they were being so sneaky. Too bad it wasn't the most delicious thing they could have taken.

Playing horsie

This picture is great because it shows how different they are- she is ALL girl and he is ALL boy. She is all about dress up and he is all about adventure. But they balance each other out, and it's fun to see them combine their interests. I sure love them and am glad they're forming a bond.

Fall in Oregon

Fall is a stunning time of year in Oregon. Actually I'm pretty sure that I say that about every season here. Oregon is just beautiful year round, okay?

 Foot shot on a morning that I happened to take the kids out for a run (I only run about four times a year so it seemed a picture worthy moment).

Playing in the leaves

Playing with our neighbor Maddie

Making leaf angels

General Conference was a great time and I tried to make it fun for the kids. With each apostle's talk Nayeli could open a grab bag with a toy or craft in it. It was a hit.

Family selfies! Since Ben is spending nearly all his free time studying for the GMAT, most of our recent pictures don't include him. It's nice to have these of our whole family having fun. 

We took a nice day to go to the Portland Zoo. The kids had a great time.

Nayeli has also had a recent obsession with ballet. It's so fun. She wears her tutu all the time- I can hardly get it off her to wash it.

Such concentration

Spinning

We harvested the seeds from our sunflower! We weren't able to roast them, but we've saved them to give to some neighbors and plant next year.

As the weather gets colder, we spend more days at the library. Story time is once a week and we love it.

Sundays are our day for walks. We've been playing hide-and-seek in the park lately.

Father and Son

One Saturday I had a Relief Society activity so Ben took the kids and went hiking with a picnic lunch. He took this picture while they were eating. They are the cutest.

Teddy has never met a puddle that he didn't like

Ballet in the park

Ben had a business trip around the state of Oregon at the end of the month. His company was filming a promotional video and he went to shoot photography. Last minute, he was asked to be an actor in a survivalist scene and ended up cutting himself with a machete. Poor guy- he hates to see his own blood. Luckily his boss was there to drive him to the ER.

He cut into the joint capsule of his pointer finger so it's been a rough road of healing.

He sent me these pictures from the ER. Eight stitches later he was fixed up, although he still can't make a closed fist and will have to follow up with a hand surgeon.

Dad brought home hats! We always love having Dad come home from a business trip.