October Activities (Part 2)

I posted about some of our early October activities already, and it seems like I just found more and more stuff to go do in the second half of the month! And now that October is over, I'll tell you all about what we did!


On my last October Activities post, I lamented about wanting to go apple picking but not being sure that we would get the chance. Well, we did. I looked at a couple online, and discovered that Cider Hill Family Orchard still had picking, so Claire & I got in the car on Sunday afternoon and went to pick apples! The only issue we had was the Claire was convinced that green apples were BAD and we should only pick red apples...but the only variety that was available were called Gold Rush and they were green. It took me a while to convince her that they were okay.


We went to Enchanted Forest in Lenexa at (the newly renovated) Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park this year. I don't think we went last year, but we did two years ago. Maybe we've gone twice, because it kind of seems like I took Anaya with us there once too. It was sooooo much better this year. The last time there was a HUGE line to get back into the "creepy" area and it just wasn't worth the wait. The park has been renovated and now there is a very nice pond that they set it up around and $3 got your under 12 yr old child unlimited bouncing in the bounce houses, a pumpkin to paint and rides on the hay ride (adults could ride the hay ride for free and I didn't actually see them check for kids wrist bands there at all). They also had puppet shows and magicians and other performers set up around the pond and SureWest provided a free face painter. She could've worn her costume, but I opted to not put her in it since it seemed like a good way to get it dirty and it's going to be really hard to clean anyways.


We've been to Mahaffie Farmstead quite a few times. In fact, since I grew up here, I even remember going there in high school to do a community service project for one of my classes. However, I had never gone to their Trick-or-Treat Off the Street event. It is pretty cheap per person ($3 each) and once you're in, everything is free! Claire wore her costume (which everyone LOVED). Claire was possibly more interested in seeing the farm animals than she was in trick or treating. And they had a hay ride, so of course we had to do that!


Claire was quite insistent that we had to carve pumpkins. She saw an Agent Oso episode about a girl wanting to carve a pumpkin, so then she wanted to carve a pumpkin...or two...or three. So the week before Halloween, we bought two pumpkins (a compromise!) and I told her we would carve them on Sunday. Which meant we had to talk about when Sunday was EVERY SINGLE DAY for the rest of the week. Claire was so excited to carve the pumpkins, until we actually started carving. She picked to face patterns out of a pumpkin carving pattern book we had from a previous year, I cut the tops off the pumpkin - which was the first step according to Oso. Then I tried to convince her to help scoop the insides out and she didn't care much for that and told me so was going to go "Watch Football with Daddy". After I got all the insides scooped out, I had her come back up and we decided which face would go on each pumpkin - but according to Oso only adults can actually carve pumpkins, so she went back to watching football and I carved the pumpkins.

Claire's Class Party

Claire's preschool class had a party. All the kiddos were ADORABLE. I'm not posting a picture because...I don't feel like blurry-ing out all the other kids' faces for their privacy. But Claire had fun and was even okay with me leaving her at school when the party was over. They only had about 15-20 minutes left of their day, but I wanted to run to Target without a 4 yr old...and she is used to riding the bus home.

Trick-or-Treat time!

We still had to work at getting Claire to say "Trick Or Treat" and "Thank You". Not because she can't say them, I think she just saw the candy and forgot. We were out for just over an hour and she almost filled her bucket. I took a grocery bag with me and emptied her bucket into my bag a few times so that she didn't get so tired of carrying it. I don't think we actually did as much trick-or-treating this year as we did last year...but this year, I got tired (being pregnant is hard).



Claire decided early on that she wanted to be a giraffe for Halloween. At first my mom was planning to make her one, because we couldn't find one in a store, but then when she was looking for patterns online, she found one on Amazon! Claire was also quite insistent that I needed to be a cow for Halloween. So I bought a cow headband, tail, and nose set at the Halloween store. Then I bought a XL men's white tee-shirt that I decorated with some cow spots (safety pinned on because I didn't get around to doing it until right before going trick-or-treating). I did pin the tail to the back of my shirt, but I didn't wear the cow nose, it was uncomfortable.

Snippets

Also known as, what goes on in Jenni's head...it's kind of random.

I never did decorate for Halloween. Not at all. The closest we've got are the 5 pumpkins sitting on our front step - which no one can even see because of the "mini" pine trees that are planted right in front of our front step. (I hate those "mini" pine trees). I kept seeing neat ideas on Pinterest and on Eighteen25, but I never actually got around to DOING any of them. Now Halloween is in 5 days and I'm just not going to do anything. Except carve pumpkins, but that's only because Claire REALLY REALLY wants to.

We had 6 pumpkins sitting out there this afternoon. Then I brought one in, roasted it, purée-d it and put it in the fridge because I couldn't decide what to do with the purée. But now my house smells like pumpkin...

I didn't actually intend to get 6 pumpkins this year. But Claire's class went to a pumpkin patch and she got a pumpkin. Then Claire & I went to Deanna Rose Farm's Pumpkin Hollow and we both got a pumpkin (it was included in the price to go out there). Then I bought two Jack-o'-lantern pumpkins because Claire wants to carve a silly face and a happy face. Then we went to the Enchanted Forest and I paid $3 for Claire to do all the kid's activities, one of which was paint a pumpkin. And 1 + 2 + 2 + 1 = 6 pumpkins on my front porch, except then I roasted one so now I have 5 pumpkins.

When Claire isn't getting her way she has taken to stomping her foot (just one foot, not a continuous stomping of both feet) and saying "I'm mad" and making a great big frowny face. It is equal parts obnoxious and cute. Obnoxious because she usually does this to me (not my mom, not Justin, only me). But really it is quite cute and at least she is expressing her feelings instead of crying or sitting down or running away. If she would just not stomp the foot I would be fine with it. She also likes to tell me that she is scared of things when she doesn't want to do something. For example, it is shower time, Claire's response, "I'm scared of pipes". It is bed time, Claire's response, "I'm scared of trains" (she can sometimes hear a train in her room at bed time). And this is the child that is truly not scared of anything at all. My favorite is when I tell her to go to the bathroom in the morning, and the bathroom is dark and she tells me she can't because "I'm scared of dark". Then she insists that I can't turn the light on either and if I do she will proceed to turn it off before going to the bathroom.

We are finally getting things done around the house for the baby. Maybe he'll actually have a bedroom before he is born...or maybe not. But the process is at least started! Now I just have to decide if we should replace the carpet in all three bedrooms before moving furniture around. But did you know that carpet is kind of expensive?!? But you know, we've got about three more months until the little guy is here. That's plenty of time...right?

Our October Activities

I love fall and I love getting out to do some fun family activities in the fall. We've been a little less active than normal since I'm pregnant and I'm the leader of almost all of our outings, but we're still having fun. Or at least I'm having fun and Claire is having fun.

Our first October activity was a school field trip to the KC Pumpkin Patch. Claire had so much fun running around with her classmates. We didn't stay for very long because the bus had to get back to the school to drop the kids off and go pick up other kids to take home, but it was long enough to wear us out.



The following weekend, I took Claire to Deanna Rose Farmstead to their Pumpkin Hollow attraction. Claire and I got to the farm pretty soon after it opened, spent about an hour roaming around visiting the animals. Then when Pumpkin Hollow opened, we rode the hay ride out to the it. She loves hay rides. We spent over an hour at Pumpkin Hollow - there was a slide and pumpkin bowling and a barrel train and more that she really loved doing.



The next weekend, I made my entire family go to Boo at the Zoo. I don't normally drag Anaya and Justin along to things that I know they have no interest in, but we were going to visit Justin's parents and the zoo is kind of on the way from our house to their house. So it just made sense for us all to go to the zoo for about 2 hours and then head on to their house! We only saw a small portion of the zoo - the polar bear (obviously), the Asia section and some of the main area with activities for kids. Claire really wanted to ride the train, so she and I took a train ride while they waited at the station. Claire and I will end up going again next month after the Penguins are there to specifically see them and then we'll probably go see some of the animals that we missed this time around. And Claire got to wear her costume (a giraffe) which EVERYONE thought was adorable and she did a little trick-or-treating.



I really wanted to get out to an orchard and pick apples, but I think we're nearing the end of the season and still haven't gotten around to it. We also wanted to take Anaya out to the KC Fear Farm for their Zombie Paintball, but that didn't end up working out either. We may have one more activity next weekend, but it would just be Claire & me.

Thankful for...

So...lots of people were posting their thankfuls every day on Twitter or Facebook. But I just wrote mine all down on a piece of paper.

1. A healthy baby for my brother & sister-in-law.
2. Our house - even if it's not what I want, it is still awesome that we have a house, a house that is technically big enough for all of us & our stuff.
3. Claire is talking more - We've been carrying on entire conversations!
4. Sleeping in, even just a little big (like until 8am)
5. My job, even on Mondays when I don't really WANT to go, I still have a really good job!
6. The right to vote.
7. Hot water for showers on cold mornings
8. Not just one car, but two cars that work and don't cause me to worry about us getting from point A to point B.
9. My family living so close to me - my parents & brother/sister-in-law all live within 4 miles of each other.
10. Seasons - I love it when the seasons change & the leaves turn & fall. When I was in San Diego for 4 years, one of the things that I really missed about Kansas was the seasons.
11. God & Church & the community there.
12. My husband - we've made it 7 years so far!
13. Claire - she is such an awesome little person. I can't even remember what I used to do with my life before she was in it.
14. My camera - I love taking pictures. I love capturing moments that I would otherwise probably forget.
15. Toddler Board Games. I couldn't decide if I was really thankful for these, or if I wished they didn't exist. But Claire loves Candy Land & Memory & Cooties so much that I decided to be thankful that we have something "fun" to do together even when it is dark & cool outside.
16. Starbucks & their Cinnamon Dolce Latte because I love it so so much.
17. Olathe and it's lovely little parks with nice little playgrounds for Claire to play on.
18. My parents - they are so awesome and help us out so much with Claire & with household stuff & just being there to talk to whenever.
19. Amazon - the stuff Christmas is made of this year. I may not be getting the BEST deals, but there is no price on the sanity I am saving by not getting out & fighting with the crowds.
20. My cellphone. It's expensive, and not necessary to life, but it keeps me connected with my family & friends as well as hours of entertainment when I am waiting.
21. Project Life - it is getting pictures off of my computer & into a pretty book.
22. Turkey! Family! Food! Parades! Life!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving (Turkey Time as Claire is calling it). And gets to spend it with their family/friends/loved ones/someone.

Fall Leaf Fun

This afternoon, I walked in the backyard and found out that one of our trees had dropped its leaves sometime in the past few days. Fallen leaves are probably one of my favorite things about fall and I didn't think we'd get to play in any this year since our lawn company has been mulching them all before we have the opportunity.



So I grabbed a rake and starting making a pile while Claire alternated between "helping" and playing with her playhouse (which was actually more helpful than her help). Then once I had a fairly large pile, I told Claire that she could come play in it!



I am actually amazed at how much she enjoyed the leaves. I know they had real leaves at one of their centers at school last week, but I'm not sure if they had enough to jump in them.



I did eventually get a lawn bag and put some of the leaves in it. Claire told me that she wanted to keep 10 to play with. I think 10 in her world is a lot more than it is in my world since she actually wanted to keep the entire big pile.

Pumpkin Hollow

On Saturday morning, when it was somewhere around 40-45 degrees and the sun was NOT shining, Claire & I went to Deanna Rose Farmstead to go to Pumpkin Hollow. Because I am super intelligent, we were the ones running around in sweatshirts instead of coats & hats & gloves. But just because you're cold doesn't mean you can't have a good time!



Claire LOVED the hay bale slide, she went down it at least 20 times. They also had some little games set up that she could play (bean bag toss, (plastic) egg rolling, etc). Since it was cold so we only stayed for about an hour. Then we got our pumpkins and rode the hay wagon back to the farmstead. I did think ahead enough to know that I didn't want to be hauling a purse around with me and just took things that I would need & would fit in my pockets (phone, keys, money, tissues) and my camera (obviously). Which was good because by the time I was walking out of there, I had two pumpkins, a bag of stuff from Children's Mercy (they were a sponsor) and a bag of kettle corn (that was lunch).



Also, the picture of Claire & me was taken using my brand new wireless shutter remote. It's a little obvious in the picture that it is in my hand if you are looking for it, but I think it'll be useful. Better than sitting it somewhere and then having to wait for the timer to go off.

RenFest

Last weekend we went to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival. RenFest is one of those things that I lived perfectly happily without for years and years and years. It truly did not even occur to me to go. Until Anaya wanted to go and that was two years ago. So this is our third year going to RenFest and I could still probably live without it, but Anaya likes it and sometimes you do things for the kids that you personally could live without. Plus on scale that weighs the kids enjoyment versus the painfulness to me, this one is definitely more enjoyable for the kids that it is painful for me. (Worlds of Fun is currently more heavily weighted on the painful to me side which is why regardless of how much Anaya has begged we still haven't gone. I'm mostly hopeful that someone else will take her and I won't have to.)



We all had a pretty good time. I was done way before Claire or Anaya were done, but that's probably because I was the one that kept having to pay for everything. And wrangle the toddler. One funny thing did happen while we were there...the children grew tails! Very strange.



And Claire loved the fairy garden. She has all the sudden become interested in TinkerBell & fairies. We've watched TinkerBell movies, we've read TinkerBell books. Now she is saying that she wants to be a Fairy for Halloween instead of Doc McStuffins like we've been talking about.



I probably could've let the kids ride more of the rides. Anaya rode the Crow's Nest by herself and then again with Claire. I was just hesitant to put Claire on them. But oh well, we had fun and spent more money than I meant to, but that's what RenFest is for...right?!?!

Apple Picking

A few weeks ago...back on September 9th...the girls and I went out to an Apple Orchard way far away from here. It seriously took about 45 minutes to get there. And 35 minutes to get to a Starbucks after leaving there. But we had a good time. We picked about a 1/2 bushel of apples. That's why there were so many apple recipes happening last month, because we had a LOT of apples.



I had almost planned to go on a weekend when Anaya wasn't with us, and I'm glad that I didn't for two reasons. 1) Anaya told me that this is one of her favorite fall activities. 2) I wouldn't have picked anywhere close to a 1/2 bushel if I'd been there with just Claire. Evidently having a teenager along can be helpful.



We went to Alldredge Orchards, although I have since found out there is one a little bit closer that I would've liked to try - Cider Hill Family Orchard.

Fall Softball

We have spent 3 of the 5 Saturdays in September at Anaya's softball games. This is her first time playing softball, or any sport for that matter. She has really enjoyed it and wants to play again in the Spring when they have their full season. This was just a short 4-week league with two games every Saturday.


During her first game, she hit the ball and got to second base. Well, her second game but during her first weekend of playing. Which was funny because she was actually playing against her step-sister from her mom's house.



This also gave me an excuse to borrow my dad's telephoto lens. I wanted one earlier this year and then convinced myself that I didn't need one since I'm not usually more than 4 feet from my subject. However, if the kids are going to play sports then I'm going to need to either get my own lens or commandeer his lens for every game.