Pumpkin Patch and Birthday Season!

This is going to be a long post because October and November are usually our busiest months!

John went on a hunting trip with Grandpa Rikli in October, which meant that Grandma and I were on our own. I took some vacation so Sam, Grandma and I went to IHOP for breakfast one day after Joey went to school. Definitely one nice benefit of Sam having 4K in the afternoon!

Hanging out at the park while Joey is at Cub Scouts.

There was no school on October 7th so we headed to Edwards Orchard!I didn't get as many pictures when we were there.

This was the view on the way home though. Joey got a new Minecraft book and read most of the way back.

Sam chose to catch up on his sleep!

We went to Star Wars reads at the library. They had a group of adults come dressed as the characters, and their costumes were amazing.

Kylo Ren with Kylo Ren. The adult said to Joey..."You look familiar"

I love how Joey blends in with Darth Vader in this picture.

There was a young man Stormtrooper who asked Sam to take his picture with him. Love the size difference :)

Sam's big request this Fall was to make an apple pie...so we did it!

We made our annual trip to Oakwood and Peck's. Here is what is becoming Joey's annual picture on the pumpkin display. Sam still refuses to participate :)

We went to Chuck E Cheese for Joey's birthday. The boys wore their costumes and got some extra tickets. It was fun to see Kylo Ren and a Stormtrooper playing at Chuck E Cheese.

Joey's birthday was a superhero theme. He got a Thor cake!

Some fun photo props...

The boys were great helpers with the leaves this year, as long as it meant they were being collected in a huge pile to jump and play in! It helped make bagging them much quicker though!

We went to Boo in the Woods with scouts. They had a fun donut bobbing game, a haunted house (which scared both the boys), bb gun shooting, and various other games.

At the end they had pumpkin launching. Both boys were super impressed with that!

Sam fits into Joey's old Curious George sweatshirt that Aunt Kate got him, and I think he looks so cute in it!

We tried out a new place on the last weekend they were open for the year and LOVED it. Waldvogel's is the name of the place, and they have a TON of stuff to do.

First up was getting a Creeper painted on our faces....

Then we had to go on the giant slide through the hill. We must have done these slides at least 10 times throughout the day.

Joey is doing his usual in the corn box while Sam gets to work :)

We did a full mini golf course for the first time, and both boys really enjoyed it. We ended up going through a second time. We didn't follow all the rules, but it was a very efficient game of mini golf as a result!

We got to go inside the pen with some pigs. They both enjoyed petting them.

Halloween time! Halloween was a beautiful day this year. Not too cold and not rainy...we'll take it!

Sam made it about 1/2 an hour before he said he felt like he was going to throw up. We had John pick him up and then he told John when they got home that some candy would make him feel better. We have discovered that him saying he's going to throw up is his code word for being done with something or wanting to stop. Can't wait till it is actually the real deal and we don't believe him! I believe Peter and the Wolf is a story in our near future.

The weekend of November 5th and 6th was more beautiful weather. The boys and I took advantage of it while John was hunting and went to the last outside Madison Farmers Market, went to the observation deck at the Capitol and went to the park in Middleton to enjoy a picnic outside. Great day!

We had Sam's birthday party on the 6th.

He had been talking birthday for months and was so excited. Overall it went well. We still have to work on how he responds to presents that he forgot he asked for (or didn't ask for), but it is very fun to see his excitement over the day.

Grandma Rikli made him a  dolphin cake (that was the theme), and it was a perfect cake for Sam!

Look at that plate of desserts. He ate about 3 bites of everything, but he had an impressive plate which is important to him :)

Joey set up rounds of playing Pop the Pirate. This is the 3rd round of people. Maebel got to play it, and she was very serious and was able to play too!

She was very silly with the dolphin ring toss game.

We walked to Joey's school since it was such a nice day, and Maebel took her car.

She was so tired that she snoozed in the swing for a little bit.

Fall fun!

We had Sam's back to school picnic at the park, and Uncle Jay and Maebel got to come with us. Joey loved pushing Maebel on the swings, and she seemed to really like it!

Joey took ice skating lessons for the first time. He did a good job for the first time. It is a tricky thing to learn!

We had a Nerf Gun fight and Maebel was the referee. She got pretty into it!

We went to Fireman's Park on a nice day and met a little boy named Sam who was 4 just like our Sam. They had a great time playing together.

We went to the first Kids in the Rotunda. The boys both went on stage to help with the music. It was a full house, but was fun!

More Fall fun to come!

Back to School - 2016!

Before we get to the back to school part, we had a little fun first!

We went to the Milwaukee Zoo with Uncle Jay, Aunt Amanda, Maebel, Grandma and Grandpa.

It is such a huge zoo; I think we were there for almost 6 hours!

Grandma, Joey, Sam and I did the sky zip line (can't remember exactly what it was called). You can see Uncle Jay, Aunt Amanda and Grandpa on the ground if you look closely by the pole. They were putting Maebel to sleep (and it worked!).

Sam's not quite as big as the bat!

It was a pretty warm day so the boys had to go check out the mister...and by boys, that included Uncle Jay. 

Maebel rode the carousel!

Back at Amanda and Jay's house playing...

Now on to school. We had Sam's sneak a peek night. It started out that Joey was more excited to go to it, but Sam quickly got more comfortable with it. He found a pink scarf there and decided it went very well with his camo.

Joey's first day of 2nd grade!

Got a picture in front of the sign at school!

Sam had to take some selfies with Piggie, and by some I mean about 100.

We celebrated Maebel's 1st birthday! She is such a sweet little girl.

She color coordinated a bit with G&G Hyland...

Aunt Amanda and I took the boys and Maebel to Discovery World. Aunt Katie's attempts at having Maebel stand in front of the aquarium didn't pan out. Good thing she's adorable whether standing or sitting.

Joey helping Sam out with the pulley...

Joey did the bed of nails like he did last year.

Sam had a somewhat "hair-raising" experience.

Sam got to drive a simulated front-end loader.

Sam did the bed of nails for the first time. He was brave and while he bypassed it the first time when Joey did it, he wanted to go back and do it himself.

We didn't see this display last year, but found it this year! Joey and Sam both got to fly a plane. I think Joey crashed on land and Sam in the water. Needless to say, they did not get their pilot licenses while we were there!

It was a Cheese Days year! G&G got some Cheese Days attire, and everyone was all decked out.

Joey matched his G&G.

Sam's shirt from 2 years ago still fit so he wore the one with the cow butt. This was the only way he would pose for pictures.

During the parade, a girl came and gave Sam a cape.

This is the life! Is Sam spoiled by his Great Aunt Mary or what?!

Maebel got to meet Wedgie. She was cool about it. Oh and her shirt says "Little Curd". lol