Orange Pumpkins 2011!

We went again on our yearly tradition to Hillridge Farms in Youngsville to get our orange pumpkins! It was one of the first almost-chilly days of fall, and it was just the perfect weather to wander around through all the fun things the farm has to offer. It's so fun to be building little traditions like this each year as our family grows. Just for fun, here are some links to our 2009 trip and our 2010 trip!
We started in the "general store" getting a special snack and feed for the animals! Finn did a great job riding around taking in the sights in the frontpack.
Kenna's special snack was this big box of Sweettarts... we joked that we could have just bought the $1 box of candy and called it a day, she was so thrilled by it. She munched on them all day until we thought she might make herself sick!
We enjoyed our old favorites like the big tube slide, the corn pit, and feeding the farm animals (always a bit hit with Kenna!)
And for the first time this year, Kenna rode the ponies! They were so sweet and gentle and she absolutely loved it! She loved it so much we would have let her do it several times except for the fact that it was $6 a pop! I love this age where she thinks every animal is a big puppy ready to be her pet.

After the hayride out to the 'pumpkin patch' Kenna picked out the best pumpkins with Daddy while Mommy nursed Finn. Kenna was so cute running back over to show me her favorites.
Finn was more fascinated by sitting in the grass than with the pumpkins.
After much wiggling, repositioning, and even bribing, we got one picture of our pumpkins sitting in the pumpkin patch where they were both looking at the camera and smiling!
Daddy lugging our little pumpkins home!
Such a fun trip... I love this time of year!

Halloween Preview!

This is just a preview since our pictures turned out terrible! Matt's Dad took some really great ones on his new camera and I'm so thankful since the light is strange in all of ours (and it is IMPOSSIBLE to get an almost 2 year old to hold still for a picture!).

Kenna's very first time trick or treating! (with Daddy on the assist):

I'm pretty sure Kenna thought she was in heaven at our church's fall festival- this is right when she saw the arbor of balloons we were about to walk through to get to the giant bounce houses!

We are dog people to the core, but I have to say we are madly in love with this little black cat! :)

Pumpkin Patch 2010.

Last weekend, we took Kenna on our annual trip to go find some pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. We took her to Hillridge just like last year, thinking that at this age, she would enjoy all the fun extras they have.

We started the morning in perfect fall weather by feeding the barnyard animals. Kenna has a book she loves that has helped her learn several animal sounds, and she was so proud of herself to be able to identify the animals she was seeing! The only one she had a hard time with were the goats, which she kept alternating with "neigh" and "ruff ruff"... apparently she thought they were some sort of horse/dog combination.
She loved watching the feed slide down the tube to the goats and chickens!
She made particularly good friends with this sweet little white pony. She kept leaning closer and closer until it sneezed and she jumped back about 4 feet.
And yes, I did dress her like a tiny girl farmer on purpose.
I think she could have just seen the animals for awhile and gone home, and it would have been a very successful day in her book! But there was more to see...

Like a huge plastic tube slide. Here we are waiting in line:
Next, we headed for the giant "sandbox" of corn kernels. We thought she would like this the best, but Matt plopped Kenna right inside the door and she didn't seem to thrilled to try to move. I finally climbed in to help her and figured out why: the kernels were actually about 3 feet deep and almost impossible to move in! Matt almost had to come dig us both out. (We are still finding corn kernels in funny places- like our laundry basket and dryer vent!)
Then she was getting a little on the cranky side, so we headed for the main event: the hayride out to the pumpkins. We asked an unsuspecting fellow hayrider to take a quick family picture:
and arrived at the pumpkin patch. It was so funny to see Kenna's amazement at the vast amount of pumpkins, just like last year, although she was big enough to react totally different to them this year. First, she ran around trying to sit on all the pumpkins.
Then, she started licking all the pumpkins and saying "mine."
When I told her she could pick out a pumpkin to take home, she started bringing me every single one she could lift enough to carry it. Luckily, there weren't many she could actually lift, and she was careful to inspect the bigger ones Daddy picked out.
And littlest pumpkin was also along for the ride:
Now all three pumpkins are living on our porch where she points to each one and says "my pumpum" every time she sees them. We are so happy to have our fall pumpkins!

Welcome, Fall!

October has a knack for always being a really busy month for us... it starts with our anniversary and seems to slide right through to New Year's before we know it! This year is no exception, and maybe even more so than the past few years!

The first weekend in October we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary! We tried to think of something more original than dinner & a movie, but after about 5 minutes of discussion, we decided a baby-free meal and a chance to just chat with each other and then go out and do something we rarely do anymore sounded more than just fine! Matt's parents graciously offered to keep Kenna even though they were already keeping Beckley, which was great because she was happy as a clam playing with grandparents and a cousin! (Thanks Nana B & Granddaddy!)

We went to Outback since we hadn't been there in forever, and I was craving both a bloomin' onion and their baked potato soup. It never disappoints! We almost didn't know what to do with ourselves, having an uninterrupted conversation! After that we headed to see a new Ben Affleck movie called "the Town" about a town in Boston that produces a family legacy of bank robbers... terrible language, but a very interesting story and awesomely acted! One of my favorite things about Matt is sitting and discussing a movie after we've seen it- in fact, we've been known (before kids, of course) to finish one movie in the theater and then turn right back around & go in for a second one! We love movies around here. This one especially had a very good story with a very conflicted main character who wants to be redeemed from the evil he has done, but doesn't know how to get out of it. If you can kind of "tune out" the language, I thought it was a really great story.

Here is the only picture we got of us on our anniversary:

This weekend we are heading to Boone for a friend's wedding- Matt is actually performing the wedding and I'm so excited for him! We love going to the mountains in the fall and seeing the leaves change. We're hoping to have a little window of downtime to find some mountain apples or maybe take Kenna for her first out-of-utero trip to Mast General Store. Here are some pictures of our trip 2 years ago right before Kenna was born:

8 months pregnant with Kenna!

Beautiful fall colors!

Can you imagine a 2 year old seeing all these candy barrels? Heaven!

When we get back into town, first thing Monday morning we have our 2nd trimester ultrasound where we should hopefully be able to find out baby B's gender! I'm so ready to start planning and decorating!

I am so excited that the leaves are changing and some fall weather is here. Kenna and I have been putting up fall decorations around the house, and I have been craving pumpkin everything under the sun! This is my absolute favorite time of year. Also when we get back from the mountains, we plan to go back to Hillridge Farms to pick a pumpkin... yay! This is a really fun place to go with kids that we have made one of our fall family traditions. This too, I think will be more fun now that Kenna is a little older to enjoy. Here we were last year among all the orange pumpkins:
I'm hoping we'll be able to go to the NC State Fair again this year (another fun tradition- maybe on canned good day!) and our church has a wonderful Fall Festival that is always a great time! Then we will blink an eye and it will be mid-November... my Dad is coming to town, we are going to Florida to see my grandparents, then coming home quick in time for Kenna's birthday, Thanksgiving, and then my birthday... then it will be December already, more family in town, Sunday school parties, putting up a tree, and hopefully some cookie exchanges, and then Christmas! Whew! See what I mean?

For now, Happy Fall! Go get yourself something pumpkin to eat!

Pumpkin Patch

The day after our anniversary, we were invited by uncle Jason, and Alisa, and Evan to go to the pumpkin patch to get our pumpkins! Matt and I suggested Hillridge Farms in Youngsville, since we had gone there for their annual Haunted Hayride right after we got married, and had remembered them having lots of fun things for kids. We had no idea they had changed so much over the years, they now have tons of fun things for kids! We picked up Kenna from her Grandaddy and Nana's house since they kept her overnight for us for our anniversary date, and headed out to the farm.

The Broglis

The DeansKenna was a little bit small to enjoy some of the activities, but we had a blast watching Evan play and we all enjoyed the farm! They had some really creative things set up such as a huge slide made of corrugated plastic tubing, a hay bale jump house, and a corn kernel sandbox (I'm not sure whether Evan, Jason, or Matt loved the slide best!) Matt's favorite was, of course, feeding the goats, and I loved seeing the little baby ones hiding under the shed for shade. We somehow managed to find the one 80 plus degree weather day to go to the farm in a week of weather that had us convinced it was finally fall! Hillridge also had bouncy houses, a maze, a train (similar to the one at Pullen Park), other animals to see, duck races, a general store, and a hot dog stand for lunch! Everything except lunch was $10 per adult (Kenna was free) and we each got a pumpkin!

Feeding the goats:
The giant slide!

We went on a tractor hayride through the whole farm to get to our pumpkins. (It counted as a "real hayride" to me since we actually sat on hay bales during the ride. That's an important detail for it to be real!)
At the end, we were deposited in a bright sea of pumpkins. Kenna and Evan weren't sure what to think or which one to pick!

Orange pumpkins everywhere!

I think we like this one. (Kenna kept making this crazy face most of the time. I think she was just amazed at all the pumpkins!)

Kenna and Daddy with the winner!

Even though it was too hot to wear her pumpkin shirt (since it was long sleeved) we took a fun family picture amongst all the pumpkins to remember Kenna's first fall. It's so hard to believe that this time last year we went to Boone for the fall leaves and pumpkins, and we were still 8 months pregnant and hadn't even met her yet!

October 2009:

October 2008:

What a great day with family and a fun tradition! My favorite part, of course, was bringing our little "pumpkin family" home and putting them on the porch with our gourds from the farmer's Market and our fall twig wreath on the door.
Welcome, Fall!