Pumpkin Patch Field Trip & More

 A little late here, but Brock had so much fun at his preschool fieldtrip at the Pumpkin Patch! We went to the same place as last year - Carpinito Farms - but this year it was a bit more wet!

Kade got to enjoy a bit more of the pumpkin patch than he did last year too!

Brock's favorite spot was the corn pit! Kade needed a little time to get used to the feeling of sinking down in to all those kernels, but he eventually embraced it and had so much fun playing in it! (Oh my, the dust!!)

Good thing I had a change of clothes for them when they got in the car! Everything came off!! It was soooo dusty!

But Brock had a lot of fun and I got to meet his new bestie, a little boy named Ian.

And here's an adorable video of the boys dancing during one of our "Pajama days" at home. ;)

Sorry, we've been super busy around here lately because I've decided to become an Usborne Books & More Independent Consultant!!

Brock with my 33 pounds of books!!

Look at all the amazing books I received with my sign-on kit! I love these books! It's been a bit of a learning curve with juggling my new "job" and family life, but I'm loving the opportunity - both financial and educational - that this can offer our family.

Seattle Days with Grandma

One day in Disneyland doesn't sound like so much, but we were all exhausted by the time we came home! We spent one day resting, doing laundry, etc and then we were back out for more fun! My mother wanted to see what the Washington State Fair was all about - so off we went!

 Brock loves stopping to check out the John Deere equipment - I think it's going to be a required stop for Kade too. He felt like such a big boy sitting there!

And we saw Mrs. Goose - apparently it's a "thing" and we have to take a picture with her every year!

Brock liked the animals, but repeatedly informed me they were "stinky".

It's a goat, Kade!

Can you believe Grandma got so close to these "stinky animals"? Nope, me neither.

This was a cute little exhibit. Everything was about being a Superhero! See Brock holding up that car all by himself!!

But it was nice to just have Grandma here to see our day to day!

Brock also had his first soccer practice while Grandma was here! He was so excited to get his new cleats to wear! Cleats AND shin guards - he was in the big leagues! ;)

My little soccer player!

Grandma and Kade came to watch!

Brock is doing some drills - jumping over the soccer ball! And look - there's his coach!

Nice kick right to the coach! (He got a little overzealous - they were supposed to be dribbling)

Kade wanted to get in on the action! No hands, Kade!

He's a natural athlete like his Daddy - started dribbling after watching big brother!

Brent took Brock to the gym and Grandma and I took Kade to the mall - sounds like a better deal! We stopped at Cheesecake Factory for lunch that day. This was also the last day Kade had that bottle - he thought it was hilarious that he could bend the nipple just so on his arm and squirt the water out almost to the other table! Little stinker!!

That evening we drove up to Kirkland so we could stop in and say hello to the Klein family!

Ultimately, it was Grandma's last day in Washington. Kade took a nice nap while Brock was in school, then we packed our lunch and headed to the beach! It was a gorgeous day and it was supposed to be very relaxing!

Yes, that water is COLD, but it really is so refreshing!

We were all having so much fun just playing in the water!

Until, I was informed that my Highlander and I had been the victim of a smash and grab. Long story short, we were careless and left our purses in the vehicle under some blankets. Someone was watching and took the opportunity to help themselves. They broke the back window and one of the rear passenger windows (right over Brock's car seat). 

Thank goodness I had grabbed my wallet, but my mother was not so fortunate and she had a tough, but successful time departing SEA for RDU that evening on the red-eye without her license! The burglars immediately tried to make a purchase at a local store, which thankfully, my mother's credit card company caught and declined. What a mess to cleanup - there was glass everywhere. Glass in carseats is the worst.

We are all fine - and *update* as of today, the Washington State DOT actually FOUND both of our purses completely intact (except for my mother's two missing credit cards). The dumb criminals tossed the evidence without even swiping the cash that was in her wallet! I hope they cut their hands on the glass!!

Anyway - this is a reminder to all of you - don't leave ANY valuables in your vehicles. I was careless and got a little too comfortable. Seattle has high property crime and unfortunately this happens a lot! Be alert!!

On that note - who wants to come visit me? ;)

Disneyland with Grandma - Part II

 After some Hot Cakes at our favorite fast food establishment, we were off to Anaheim! It was still too early to check in to the hotel, so we made our way to Downtown Disney! Brock pointed out anything that had to do with Star Wars!

Grandma saw a sign for beignets and we all hoped they were as good as Cafe du Monde.... not exactly, but Brock was pleased with the powdered sugar!

We checked in to the hotel and changed in to our bathing suits to enjoy the awesome splash park. It was nice to just relax - it felt like we had already done so much and we had not even entered the park!

Tried for a little quiet time, didn't happen for Brock..... until we got in the car for dinner. Of course he fell asleep and then proceeded to sleep during the wait and most of the meal at Bubba Gump Shrimp. Dinner was very good - highly recommend.

Then it was finally Disneyland Day!! A Mickey Mouse pancake at the Holiday Inn? Yes please!!

We had a great start - utilized the ART bus system from the hotel and were just walking down Main Street when they announced Disneyland was open for the day!

We decided to go on a Monday to not have to compete with crowds - it was fabulous! We went on Snow White's Scary Adventures (which WAS scary - I held Brock's eyes closed for the last bit), Mad Tea Party, and Dumbo the Flying Elephant all by 10:15am (park opened at 10)!

Alice, the Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter were waving to us while we were on the ride!

Brock was a little unsure of any kind of boat rides.... I had made the mistake of showing him a video of someone riding Splash Mountain and he was convinced all boat rides would lead to that waterfall. :(

Thankfully It's a Small World was nothing like that and Brock really enjoyed pointing out all the characters he knew (Characters from the animated movies are scattered around the ride).

Mickey's Toontown opens a little bit later than the rest of the park and we were one of the first inside. We saw Goofy right away, but Brock was a little hesitant to go say hi.

Then right around the corner, we see Pluto!! Pluto is my favorite and I said very casually to Brock that he didn't have to go say hello, but Momma wanted to go give Pluto a hug... and then all of a sudden he wanted to as well!

Checking him out

 A very apprehensive hug, but it was a start!

Yay! Super cute!

We were playing around with the buttons and doors on all the houses and Brock and Grandma went their own way. All of a sudden I look up and see Brock walking down the street with Donald Duck!

This time he was very confident and gave Donald a big high five!

By the way - we all have Star Wars Tattoos on our arms! (I had R2D2, Brock had Chewbacca and C3P0 for Grandma)

We were in line to see Mickey Mouse for 5 minutes, but the line wasn't moving and I figured by the time we got to see him, Brock may have lost his confidence - we just sat in his car. ;)

We skipped all the way over to the Pirates of Caribbean ride and I think this was the longest wait we had all day - 15 minutes. Unfortunately, same problem with the boat and the mini waterfall in the beginning - "NO, SPLASH MOUNTAIN" he yells... as I'm trying to console him and telling him "These are pirates!!"

A good time for a break - we had to check in for our flight the next day anyway - and Brock "needed" an ice cream. ;) Nice view of the Haunted Mansion all decked out for Halloween.

Grandma stayed on the ground, while Brock and I climbed up Tarzan's tree house - no more Swiss Family Robinson's!

Photo by Brock

 Brock listened very intently on the Jungle Cruise ride.

Finally we made our way in to Tomorrowland. I picked up our first Fast Passes of the day for the Star Tours ride - I don't think Grandma knew what the ride was originally because she definitely did not go on the second time! ;)

While we waited, we entered Star Wars Launch Bay and Brock came to life again! He ran around excitedly, pointing to everything!

Brock picked up the red lightsaber at EVERY SINGLE souvenir shop that carried it

 The Launch Bay is also home to character meet & greets. On this day, your choice was Kylo Ren or Chewbacca. I asked him and he chose Kylo Ren! Okay... here goes nothing!

And let me tell you, he's scary in person! The voice, the height, the costume - he looked and sounded just like the real guy (from the movies)! ;) Brock was pretty brave during their encounter, but was super excited and proud of himself after he went and told Grandma whom he had just met!

Pretty cool souvenir shop as you come off the ride - Brock built his own droid at this station!

Buzz Lightyear's ride is always a fan favorite - we rode it twice with a 5 minute wait each time.

Last ride of the day, we went back to Fantasyland and rode the Carousel.

I think at this point, Brock had reached his limit. He spread his arms and legs and stayed in that pose all while Grandma left the Carousel and walked through the Castle. Maybe he was just sick of the "crowds" and needed some space?

It was cute to see everything decorated for Halloween. And Brock was happy he finally got one of those red balloons he coveted.

On our way to dinner, Brock finally tapped out. At three and a half, I think a stroller at Disneyland is a necessity. I really didn't want to bring the big one, but I think Brock is retiring his use of this stroller after this trip - one more inch and he would be falling out of this thing!

After a good night's sleep (for some - Brock is a bad co-sleeper - he wanted to sleep right alongside me or kick me all night!) - we headed back to Seattle. Grandma sat 10 rows back from us, but I don't think she minded - she was able to nap!

It was a VERY full three days in southern California and really nice to spend some quality time with Brock, but I definitely missed my little guy Kade. It worked out so well that Brent was able to take off some time to hang out with Kade and it didn't feel that long apart as there was always FaceTime. Too bad we tired Grandma out before she even came to Seattle - next time we'll do Disney last. ;)

Thank you Mom for taking us to Disneyland - we had a great time and I'm sure Brock will remember this trip for a long time (he won't remember his last time here at 14 months old!)