Favorite Season

After our Fall trip to the park, we headed to the $1 Store for a fall activity. The pumpkins won out- even though they are more Halloween than fall. Iva and Charlie love their pumpkins and have been sleeping with them.

Pumpkin patch

Finals week was perfectly and poorly timed all at the same time. Shawn's last final was Oct 30th. We missed out on a lot of my favorite fall activities, but crammed a lot into the 30th and 31st so it worked out. When I bought the groupon for Iva's field trip, I bought one for a pumpkin patch as well. It was different than the one we went to last year and I loved it! We will definitely be going back next year and the next, if we are still in AZ. There was so much to do that was included in the admission price.

The only thing you had to pay for were pony rides, but a kind stranger gave us her leftover pony ride tickets so Charlie and Iva got to ride for free. They loved it. Charlie went first while I waited with Iva. He never once turned around to see where I was. The pretty cowgirl said he talked nonstop the entire time and the only thing she could understand was "horsey poopy yucky." Ha, that is our Charlie Boy. Iva was a little more hesitant, but once she was on the horse going she was all smiles. They both are getting so brave and big.

There was an awesome train you could ride out the the "pumpkin patch". Charlie and Iva were so excited to ride the train. They were not disappointed at all when we said we already had pumpkins and weren't buying any. They just wanted to ride the hay ride back. 

Charlie's favorite part was the duck races. He was just strong and tall enough to pump the water and thought it was the best thing ever to watch the ducks swim.

It took a whole lot of convincing, but Iva and Charlie finally stuck their little faces in the cowgirl and cowboy holes. I am not sure why they were so scared, but they thought their pictures were hilarious after we showed them to them so it was definitely worth the extra coaxing.

And by a long shot, Iva's favorite part was "the farm like grammie's house". She loved the little petting zoo and could have spent all day in there. She sure loves animals. Maybe one day she will be a vet and get the black kitty she dreams about. Charlie wasn't quite as fearless as she was, but he still liked the petting zoo.

And one last picture because it is too cute to get left off of the blog post. She sure thought it was "awesome" to be on the black pretend horsey. I sure hope she stays so easy to please.

Tolmachoff Farms

I love fall- it is my favorite season. And I LOVE trips to the pumpkin patch. I love getting bundled up and wandering around trying to find the "perfect" pumpkin. I was pretty sad when everyone in Idaho Falls started posting pictures of them bundled up and heading to U Pick Red Barn on Facebook/ Instagram. I love that place. (We even took Charlie there last year when he was less than a week old because I didn't want to miss going before Halloween came.)

Today my sadness is gone. We found a pumpkin patch in Arizona and it actually felt looked like fall. (It was still hot.) We went to Tolmachoff Farms with our friends, Abby/ Clara and Jill/Juliette/Lucy. Shawn and Abby's husband, Eric, met us there after we had been there for an hour so and they had a study break. We stayed for about three hours and could have stayed longer.

There was so much to do and see... Pumpkin patch, petting zoo, corn box, bounce house, bounce blob, pedal carts, and more. Iva was filthy and loved every second of it. Charlie had fun hanging out with dada too.

Iva's first time on the blob- she hadn't quite figured it out yet.

Letting the horse "lick" her hand.

 

 

Charlie loved the pedal carts with dada.

Round two on the blob:
She figured it out! And her feet even left the ground at the same time.

 

She loved laying flat and letting everyone else bounce her. She is wild!

 Happy Halloween from the Catmulls!

Iva was too cool to be part of our family picture... Shawn said it was perfect.

Oh and just so we remember that we are in Arizona... goats and palm trees because that is completely normal on the farm.

Pumpkins and Babies...

Facebook and Instagram have been plastered with pictures of babies (and children) at pumpkin patches. And I love it! I don't know why, but I love trips to the pumpkin patch and fall in general. 

Last year, we took Iva to U Pick Em Red Barn and had a really fun time. I decided then we were definitely taking Iva back the next year when she would be walking and what not. So when October 1st rolled around I started trying to plan a trip to the pumpkin patch, but there was one thing after another that kept us from going- Shawn being out of town, moving,  Charlie surprising us a week early, etc. I had sadly accepted that we would not make it to the pumpkin patch this year, but I was wrong.

Saturday ended up being the perfect day for a trip to the pumpkin patch. Grammie and Meg were here to help. Charlie needed sunlight. I wanted to do something fun for Iva. Shawn was off of work. It couldn't have worked out better. (Well, minus the fact Papa was supposed to go, but went home early to drain the irrigation pump so it didn't freeze and clean his ducks.)

So enough with the words, here are all the pictures I wanted to plaster on Facebook and Instagram, but only posted a couple instead.  

Iva was content riding in the wagon with the pumpkins. 

Loading up the cart with the perfect pumpkins was quite the process. 

Iva loved wandering around picking up rocks here and there. Shawn was a good sport and pulled the wagon around while we all followed Iva. 

Iva led us through the straw maze and did surprisingly well. She made one wrong turned, but remembered it and didn't need any help getting out. I was really surprised. She is getting way too big and smart. 

And of course, a family picture from the pumpkin patch. Charlie just happily slept in the baby carrier the whole time. So far he is proving to be a happy, content little guy. 

A Fall Walk...

We decided to take advantage of getting outside one more time before the snow comes. We went to a little park that Shawn used to play at when he was in Elementary School. It has been neat to live where he grew up and hear all the little stories that places remind him of... they are stories I don't think I would otherwise hear.

Stopping to sit in the leaves.

It was a little too bright for this chunky monkey.

She loved the leaves and the sound they made. She is into sounds.

She loves standing and drooling. 

She always get so relaxed when Shawn is holding her.

She climbed her first tree. 

She tested out the umbrella stroller and handled it quite well.