Christmas Tree 2014

The boys were ready to go!

As Daddy cuts the tree down the boys prepare for the annual "Let the Tree Fall on the Kids" moment!

Timber!

Thankfully Charlie was on hand to save Brother...

The tree farm has free pony rides...

Both boys loved it! 

A Visit with Father Christmas or Get This Man Away From Me!

William has the routine down pat.  Look at camera and smile...

Tell Santa what you want...

Laugh at Santa's joke to insure Christmas present...

Charlie was very excited, until we got there...

He was smiling, not crying, but wouldn't even look at the guy!

The closer Santa got, the further away Charlie leaned!  Poor guy!  We'll try again next year!

Fall Fun...Yadda, Yadda, Yadda: I GOT TO HOLD A MONKEY!!!

Charlie was thrilled by the petting zoo animals!

William is growing like a weed!

Sliding down the haypile...

Concentrating hard on the beanbag toss...

This bunny was so soft...and probably riddled with ecoli... What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger...

Charlie communes with a Rooster...

The boys spotted all the pumpkins on the hayride...they make them into scarecrows and cute little scenes...

BIG MOMENT!  I have always wanted to hold a monkey as long as I can remember, and today it happened!  I was so thrilled!  He was soft and very cute!  

We have been below freezing every night so the pumpkins are all covered with hay to protect them.  It made picking them out a little more of a challenge, but the boys liked playing in the hay!

Charlie found his perfect pumpkin within about 5 seconds of being in the field!

William was old enough to pull the wagon!  There was about 90lbs of pumpkin in there so that's pretty impressive!

Apple Pickin!

Eeeewwwww!

William enjoyed sensory bliss in the corn bins...he went in 3 different times and stayed for as long as we would let him!  Very happy guy...

Charlie found a couple of kitties on the farm and was very happy to love them as much as they would allow...poor kitties! 

The world's saddest kitten...

And a secret agent kitten...

Charlie gets an apple! 

Greetings from the apple orchard...

Bringing in the harvest...

William seems to be contemplating the apple before him...

Will saw all these other people holding goats, and he really wanted to do it.  He just couldn't figure out how!  So finally I explained it was basically a hug, and he got up the nerve and just went for it!  Success! 

Charlie "loving" this poor chick to death...almost.  Put him down Lenny! 

William kisses his salmonella laden buddy...

Charlie drives his first McCormick...

Will stuck with the John Deere...

Charlie finally got in to the corn bin at the very end of the day when we were about to go home..  I think the texture freaked him out.  Once he got in though, he didn't want to leave and we had to drag him kicking and screaming away! 

   All in all a lovely day in the orchards!  We ended up picking 11 pounds of apples and then we picked up a big bag of Honeycrisps too! We need to get busy and make a pie!

Day of the Dozers....

This huge pile of sand was too much of a draw for Charlie.  He ended up playing here for almost the entire time till we literally FORCED him to go ride one of the big diggers...

They had a super cool activity letting kids use metal detectors to find stuff in the sand.  If they found it, they got a prize, but Will was only interested in the forensics side of things.  "I'm doing SCIENCE!"  he told the guy running it...

Got it! 

Charlie boy looking so much older...

Will got to ride the roller this year and was so happy...they didn't have the smaller stuff last year...

Charlie in the cab of the only machine he rode that day...

The big tires were a huge hit!  Trying to figure out where I can get them...

Pudd...

First Day of School...

Will was SO happy to be going back to school! He loves it, and this year got to start Art, Gym, and Music classes.  He has a few kids from his class last year in class this year, which is nice, but there are plenty of new faces too.  His teacher is very nice, and has years of experience, and two boys of her own, which makes me have lots of faith in her! 

Poor Charlie got bad croup again the weekend before school started, so he ended up missing the first two days after much anticipation.  He was THRILLED, as you can plainly see to finally get to go! 

Getting prepared! 

Saying Goodbye to brother...

We are back in the full swing of things around here.  The boys are now officially back to school and they are both so happy.  Charlie is bringing home art and playing with new friends.  Will LOVES PE, and seems to be so much happier to be back in a structured world again.  Summer is great, but there has been much less squabbling, and the kids are happy to see each other again at the end of the day.  It's been nice to have a few hours a week too in which I can get some projects done that you really can't do with the kids around, but I am always eager to see them come home!