Pumpkin Trail

Lubbock has the coolest thing one weekend a year. The Pumpkin Trail. People bring their very own carved pumpkins to the Arboretum and the pumpkins are assembled in a trail, where people walk along looking at all of the different pumpkins. There were some really neat ones. I wished I had gotten a few more pictures of the orange, round, carved pumpkins, but I was too busy chasing and taking pictures of the 3 little pumpkins that were trailing along with us!

We joined the Touchstone family and loaded up the 2 littles in the wagon. Braidy walked...sometimes ran along with us, and sometimes in front of us. He stopped along at every pumpkin that had his "top" missing, and tried to fix them. Some of the pumpkins were a bit wilted, so their "hats" wouldn't fit anymore, but he still tried. He also found great joy in blowing out the candles inside the pumpkins, and I am 99% sure I saw him spit into one, putting the small flame out. Ah, good stuff. Finally I guess he got tired of that, or we got him sidetracked enough, and he quit that business. We tried a few times for photo ops of all 3, and after a couple attempts we decided it just wasn't worth it.

They all LOVED the pumpkins. They loved playing, they loved being a Scarecrow, and they especially loved the hot cocoa, mini chocolate bar, and the glow bracelets that Aunt D and Uncle Ty bought for them! What a treat! Almost everything was loved, but Quin did NOT like the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz. For the grand finale they did an "OZ" scene with pumpkins for all of the characters except the Wicked Witch, she was real looking, and scared my baby to death. He kept looking at her and just would cry and cry. We left there quickly.

The real fun started when Ricky and Anita showed up (Tabor's grandparents). Ricky is always so much fun to have around, and he pulled the little boys in the wagon super fast, while monster Braidy chased them. Uncle Ty took a turn while Ricky rested. Whew. But they thought it was SO fun, and Braidy was crying for Ricky the whole way home. Quin busted the glow stick in his mouth, and he had glowing teeth, but we survived that, drank some water, and were good to go.

We had a fun fun time! I can't wait until next year. We will be participating in the pumpkin carving/donating. I can't wait to come up with something fun to contribute! Lots of pictures to enjoy!

Three little pumpkins....

Really this picture was supposed to be of B with the SMASH HULK pumpkin, which barely made the photo (down by his feet)...thanks Bart for stealing the show.

Our 3 Scarecrows!

See Quin checking out the Wicked Witch....!

Fun with glowsticks, chocolate, and hot cocoa!

Group Shot!

Touchstone Family of 3....for just a few more days!

My attempt at a picture with my boys....Braidy was done.

Sweet friends!

Fun playing chase with Ricky!

L-Drive Posse

Growing up, I had a best friend across the street (Hi Erica!) whom I'm still super close friends with to this day, 20-something years later! We played everyday, all day, all weekend. We even seriously wanted to build an underground tunnel from my house to her house. We thought that would be a fantastic idea!

Fast forward 20-something years, I have kids of my own, and I've always wanted them to have kids to play with on our street. Kids they could just go outside and meet up with. My prayers have been answered. We have the greatest street and we have several kiddos we play with usually, everyday! A sweet family moved in 2 doors down this past summer with 2 young girls and a 6th grade boy, and our next door neighbors have a 6th grade son, and of course, Crockett is just 2 doors down the other direction! Mix those 5 kids with my 3 kids, and we have our own little crew that LOVE playing together. I can usually bet on our doorbell ringing around 4:30 with several kids asking for our boys to play. They are SO sweet, and play great. When John is here, there's usually a game of football going on in the yard. When he's not here, they still ask to play with Braidy and Quin and there's usually some chasing and tackling going on.

These kiddos are so sweet to play with our boys...and are so well mannered. The girls LOVE Scout and will take her on walks or beg me to let her out to play. By the time Ryan gets home around 6 or so, we have toys strewn out all over the yard, but we also have several happy kids having a ball just being kids and enjoying the outdoors! We love our neighborhood and especially our fun neighbor friends! Quin has added "Bwake" and "Andrew" to his list of people he asks for several times a day! He thinks they hung the moon! We are so thankful for these sweet kids to grow up with!

fun with some faves

Last weekend, Ryan and I went to the Tech game and Lulu and Aunt Rachy (who was in town visiting!!!) kept all 4 boys for us and the Stone's. I know they were worn out by the time the game was over, but the boys had a blast and love time with their Lulu and Rachy. After the game, we went over to Lulu and Papaws for some beans and s'mores. Boys. in. Heaven. They love s'mores and what a fun thing to do. They ate several extra marshmallows and a few extra pieces of chocolate...but isn't that just part of it? I thought so.

THe next morning after church we all met at the Tech club for brunch and then B and C went home with Lulu to take Rachy to her friends house so they could head home (SAD FACE) and to play for the afternoon. I was worried Lulu might have had her "fill' but I guess grandmothers never get their fill. Or at least the grandmother's that we have don't! Lulu took them to get some pumpkins, they had more marshmallows for snacks, and they ate up all the attention they could get from 2 of their most favorite people...Lulu and Papaw! I hope all of our boys realize how much they are loved!

acorns

Boys are easy to keep occupied. Give them a job or a challenge or anything outside and involving a little dirt, they're happy. We have some sweet neighbors down the street who have ACORNS GALORE! We have been down there a time or 2 in the past to take them things, and Braidy and Quin have LOVED playing in their yard and picking up acorns. So, Mrs. Janice bought the boys their own little buckets to collect acorns in, and we go at least once or twice a week! On Saturday, it was cool, but beautiful outside so me and 4 little boys went down there and collected acorns for an hour or so. They filled up a full bag of them, and they loved every minute of it. I know Mr. Mike and Mrs. Janice appreciate it, as we could be there until Christmas and there'd still be more acorns! Mrs. Janice even gives the boys a treat when they come visit! We love all of our fun and sweet neighbors that humor us and love on our boys!

braidy visits the fire station

Braidy and his class went on their first field trip of the year last week to the FIRE STATION! Braidy LOVES fire stations, and still talks about his 3rd birthday party that we had there! It is so fun to watch him in a different setting than I usually do. He was completely silent and just watched everything happen. At home he's the life of the party. He's smack dab in the middle of the action. At school, he just stood back and took it all in. Several of the moms asked me if he was always this quiet and reserved at home. I just laughed. One mom said, "wow, he's a thinker!"....um, not the first word that comes to my head when describing my little guy. Anyways, it was funny watching him. He had a lot of fun, and learned lots of interesting things about the fire station...he learned they have THREE refrigerators! Hey, it's important stuff in the eyes of 4 year olds. I even got to ride on the bus with him, which I count as a huge honor! A few of the other moms got told that they can't ride on the bus by their own children, so I am glad Braidy still isn't to the point he is embarrassed by his momma. I know the day will come!