Fall Festival

 Sunday night my mom and I took Jane and Jill to a Fall Festival at a local church. First we started with, you guessed it, a bounce house!

 Then it was on to the pony rides. This was Jill's first time on a real pony. She was yelling, "Yeehaw!" and "MY pony!" Needless to say she LOVED it!

 Jane waited an extra turn so she could ride THIS particular pony. I guess you can see why. She got off and said, "Mom, that unicorn really likes me, she licked me!"

 Yes, this was Jill as Jane was riding the pony. She was screaming, "That's MY pony!" and "I want it!"

 Next, Jane made a pumpkin.

 It turned out pretty darn cute!

 This guy was there. He motioned for Jill to come see him and she walked right over to him like she had known this sock monkey her whole life and climbed up in his lap for a picture. I told my mom, "well, there you go, if you want to take a kid all you have to do is dress up like a sock monkey" SCARY!

They put on a little show about Jesus that Jane watched while Jill and I waited in line for the train.

 Here's a pic from the train ride and you can't tell by the look on Jill's face but she was in heaven on that train. During the ride she was yelling, "Wheee" and saying, "I ride the train!" Jane was chowing down on her trunk or treat candy and pointing out the wishing star.

There were some other activities as well like a live band and face painting (neither of my girls are in to face painting) and carnival games. I'd say a fun time was had by all!

Jane the Ballerina

Do you think Jane liked the ballet?

This is what she put on when we got home from the show...

All night she insisted I call her Cinderella.

Cinderella Ballet

Today Jane went to her first ballet. My mom bought tickets to Cinderella. Jane had a great time!

After the show the dancers come out and sign the program. Jane was very excited to meet them!

This one is Cinderella! Cinderella told Jane she had a pretty dress!

This is a picture of all of us before it started. Notice we're drenched from the rain. We actually were wondering if we were going to get to go because the tornado sirens were going off just an hour before. But come tornado or high water we were going to make it to the ballet! Seriously though, I am glad we made it. I think it was a great experience for Jane.

Planetarium

Last Saturday Laura and I took the kids to the Science museum to see a Sesame Street show at the planetarium. It was right up our kids alley! We really lucked out in that there weren't that many people at the museum so the kids pretty much got to do any exhibit they wanted without having to compete with a crowd. Here's a pic of all the kids before the show started.

After the planetarium show we visited the cowboy exhibit where the kids got to ride virtual horses to corral the cows into the fenced area. Here's cowboy Ben...

The girls rode a horse together. This pic pretty much sums up my girls personalities...

After the cowboy exhibit it was off to some science experiments about wind. There was a tornado simulator.

This one really shows the tornado...

This is a momentum spinner. It can really get going fast. It simulates what an ice skater might feel in a spin.

Jill really enjoyed it even though I was BARELY spinning it for her. She kept trying to go back and do it again.

Then we tried spinning plates. First Laura...

Then me...

Then Jill!

Meanwhile... Jane, Elizabeth and Ben were busy creating flyers for the wind tunnel and trying them out.

We couldn't leave the science museum without a trip to see the dinosaur bones! Here's one of the kids inside a dinosaur footprint which we did on the last visit as well. I guess kids just can't get enough of dinosaurs. Side note: Jill saw the dinosaur footprint and was saying, "bath!"

All in all a GREAT day at the science museum! And, it was all FREE with our museum passes. Gotta love that!Thank you to Laura and your awesome kiddos for such a fun day!

Pumpkin Patch #2

Of course we couldn't go a whole year without visiting the good ole Hall's Pumpkin Patch. This is the fourth year in a row we've been and so I thought it might be fun to post some pics from some years past. For some reason I don't have 2007 pics on my computer so those simply ADORABLE pics of Jane as a toddler aren't on here but I do have pics from 2008, 2009 and now 2010! What's great about this pumpkin patch is there are some things we've seen and done before but every year there is something we haven't done yet. Next year we will have to go on that hayride. Believe it or not that is STILL something we haven't done yet!

The biggest new thing this year was the corn maze. Jane hasn't been old enough in the years past that I thought she would enjoy it. I figured she would have been too scared. But this year was the year for her. She went with Jennifer and Jennifer's mommy Nancy and loved it!

Hmmm... getting a little nervous. How do you get out of this thing?

Is it this way or that?

There's a video of the bottom of them coming out of the corn maze and their reaction to it.

This guy was new for us this year too.

Oldie but goodie, the tractors. Apparently Jane likes blue.

Here is Jane in 2008.

2010

We have to hit the slide every year of course!

2008

2010

Cardboard Cutouts

2008

2010

Jill has been to the pumpkin patch two years in a row but unfortunately hasn't really experienced it fully yet. Last year she was too young and this year she slept the WHOLE time. Here are some pics of her both times.

2009

2010

Of course Jena was a new this year too! Here's her pic from her first time at Hall's!