Pumpkin Patch - take two

I have come to realize something.  I am not a very good blogger.

Shocking for you to hear, I am sure.  ;)  

But I have decided to try and be okay with that.  It is what it is.  And I am just happy for whatever I am able to get on here at all!  Hopefully my girls will love it someday.  

I don't have a good transition, just wanted to get that off my chest - so we are just going to move on.

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Last weekend, Justin was deer hunting (no dice there) - so I took the girls to the Botanical Garden's pumpkin festival.  We are members, so entry and pumpkins for each child were free.  LOVE free!  

First we played all the games, and the girls walked away with lots of goodies.

Toss the birdy:

Fun game!  Concept?  A little weird.

Pumpkin bowling:

Paige did really well on that one!

I was so glad we went first thing in the morning!  It was really nice out still, and not too crowded.

Then we grabbed a cotton-candy treat and ate it while waiting in line for the hayride that takes you out to the pumpkin patch, where you pick your pumpkins.  That was the point where I had to park my stroller and haul all three kids around alone.  We did okay, but not my favorite way to do pumpkins -- that's for sure!

We trekked through the hay maze to find our perfect pumpkins.

Then the girls spotted the petting zoo.

Forget about the pumpkins, this was the reason we were here!  

They are farm girls at heart, I tell you.

There was an adult woman who kept asking Lauren to hold the chicken lower, over here, etc so her son could pet it.  She must not have been a farm girl at heart.  Ha!

Then we attempted pictures.

First my picture-hating Paigey!

Compliant Lauren.

And just-happy-to-finally-be-let-down-for-a-second Jaelyn.

Then we waited in another line to get back on the hayride that would take us back to the main area.

Kind of like Disneyland, this festival.

The girls did great though - with the help of that cotton-candy, and the promise of a little stop into our favorite area of the gardens.

Little girl heaven!

All in all a fun fall day! 

That is, if 93 degrees is considered fall.

But we will take what we can get!  =)

Ten Spot

**Warning** Some material that follows could be considered a "soap-box" or a "rant"... don't say I didn't warn you.

1.  Let's start off with something sweet. Things I love about my girls right now.  I love that Jaelyn wraps her arms tight around my neck and squeezes as hard as she can.  I love that Paige made up the word "willn't" and uses it every day.  I love that Lauren excels in reading, but tells me her favorite subject is math - I hope she continues to love school as much as she does now.

2.  We are starting a juicing fast on Monday for five days (ish).  Nothing but veggie and fruit juice made fresh from our juicer.  We are pretty much following the program over at Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.  You can eat veggies and fruit if you need to, but we are hoping to be strong and do as much as liquid as we can!  So, no animal products, no grains or beans, no alcohol, and no (ACK) coffee.  *sigh*  We will be drinking hot herbal tea instead.  *sigh*  But, this "reboot" of our digestive systems can help with cravings by retraining your brain to crave veggies instead of fructose, increase energy levels, decrease aches and pains, improve immunity levels, promote healthy skin (yay), hair & nails, and help lower lifelong risks of heart disease, cancer, etc.  So, that all seems worth it - as well as the potential to lose excess water weight in the process!  I am mostly excited about the energy and reducing my sugar cravings, as those are what I find to be my areas of weakness right now.  Don't worry, I will keep you updated.  ;-)

3.  We will be using all organic/chemical free produce for the juicing.  In fact, we have switched over to mostly organic over-all anyway.  With all the GMO issues that are coming out, and the information about side-effects I have learned via research of the toxins that are in most "regular food" we are eating (did you know this upcoming generation of 15-25 year olds are expected to have a 25% infertility rate? 25%!  That is really high.  I want to improve my chances of becoming a Grandparent someday.), as well as the fact that the cost of eating organic is greatly shadowed by the enormous cost of healthcare if you have heart disease or cancer - the average first heart attack costs $1500... we have decided that this effort is giving our family the best chance of health and longevity.  October is GMO awareness month!  I am a firm believer that we have a right to know what is in our food!  If you don't know much about genetically engineered foods, I would encourage you to go over to Finding Our New Normal to find out more.  She has a great post up about GMO's with links to more information and research, as well as links to where you can let the government know that we want GMO's labeled NOW.  Check it out, for your health and your family!

4.  I need a getaway with my hubby.  Do you ever get that way?  24-48 hours of uninterrupted time together to reconnect and refresh your relationship.  I think it is critical for a healthy marriage... must start working on that soon.

5.  We are doing Race for the Cure with Justin's office tomorrow.  I will not be running... just walking, or better yet, dragging my three children.  I am pretty sure Paige and Lauren will whine the whole way, but it will be an adventure.  Who plans these things for Sunday, anyway?  Doing a 3.5 mile walk with three kiddos does not fall into the "day of rest" concept for me.  Just sayin'.

6.  I am a little torn about participating.  Don't get me wrong, please... I am all about a cure for cancer.  I mean, who wouldn't be?!?  However, I feel like many of these groups that talk about fighting cancer, stand up to cancer, etc - they still see chemotherapy as the primary "healing" for cancer, and I have to disagree.  I recognize that many people have used chemo successfully, but I would suggest that there are many other ways to heal it (just like anything else) that are natural and healthy, and not pumping your body full of cancer-causing radiation and carcinogens to kill the cancer.  Then we wonder why it sometimes comes back worse than before, or returns in a new area.  There are alternatives, but guess what - it is illegal in the USA for a doctor to treat cancer in an alternative way.  WHY?!?  Why should they care how someone chooses to be treated?  I will give you one guess.  So people have to travel to foreign countries where alternatives are allowed.  That saddens me.  We are supposed to be the land of the free, right?  Huh.  You can hear a whole lot more about the cancer alternatives in Food Matters, which you can watch online for free, but only today!  It is also on Netflix streaming if you have a subscription.

7.  Apparently I am in a mood today.

8. The girls have been very quiet while I have been writing this.  I am scared to even get up and see what they are doing.

9.  Excited to have some pizza this afternoon.  If you are wondering why, please see #2 above.  Hee hee!

10.  I have three other rants going in my head right now.  But I think that might be a bit much for one day.  =)  Maybe I will save them for next week sometime, but I better make sure I include pictures of my kids next time - or I am sure you will be pushing that unsubscribe button on your blog feed!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Pumpkin Patch - Take One

I could bore you with a long post about my lack of posting.  But I won't.

I do have a lot to tell you about our goings-on in a Ten-Spot soon... but not today.

Last Saturday we went to a pumpkin patch in Chino Valley.  We don't usually go the first weekend in October because it is still so warm, but the weekend we would go to the one we are members of is the same weekend as Justin's deer hunt this year, so we wanted to make sure we got one in before then!  It's a good thing that I still plan to take the girls to the one at the Botanical Garden, because there was no access to pumpkin fields at the Chino Valley location and that is my number one picture op!  The nerve...

Anyway, we had a great morning there!  

I love Lauren's "donkey-face", I imagine she was thinking along the lines of Eeyore.  

Game and Fish was there with all sorts of birds, a rattlesnake, prairie-dog, and a bobcat!

That owl was the cutest.  The girls didn't believe me it was real until it moved a little! 

Then, Daddy took them on a canoe trip around the pond.

And no one fell in.  Miracles do happen!

Then the big girls rode a kiddie train, and we all piled onto a hay ride.  Apparently, the first weekend is so slow you get to have the whole hay-ride to yourselves!

Jaelyn's favorite by far.

Then we headed up Mingus Mountain and did a little walk in the woods.  Afterwards heading down to my hometown, Cottonwood - to eat some delish Chinese food.  We go there a little early, so we stopped by the park for a while.

Does Paige not look SO big in that picture?!?  Can't believe she will be four here pretty soon.

We headed down to the creek behind the park and the girls wanted to get in the water.  Daddy was all about it!  Hmmm.  What's a Mommy to do?

I can't believe they didn't freeze to death.

Jaelyn was tired with a capital T, but still a trooper anyhow.  She was pretty mad we didn't let her take a dip in the creek too.

But as Daddy explained to the big girls, it is okay for kids to strip down to their undies and go in the creek... grown-ups not so much.

If only we could all stay young forever!  =)