Pumpkin Pickin

We've had a low-key fall so far.  Today the forecast was perfect, and we didn't have any plans (no soccer make-up game like I thought there would be).  So Ryan and I decided to take the boys to Belvedere Plantation in Fredericksburg.  We had been twice before with the Cassons and had so much fun.  Without meaning to, we've gone each of the boys' first falls.  So this turned out to be the perfect time to go. :)  We continue to say that they'll love it even more when they're a little older, but there was a lot for us to do, too.  

The big boys each took their turns being unreasonably whiny, but we still love them and were still glad we went.  Colby won baby of the year as always and was happy as can be to stroll around, grab a little nap in the Ergo, and watch the boys have fun.

As Anderson describes it, we went a LONG way (over an hour) to get there.  He had really been looking forward to it, and was thrilled to finally arrive.

The boys were pretty excited about these piles of pumpkins, and I tried to sneak a photo-op.  It didn't really work out, though...

Poor Colby!  Those brothers mean well, but good thing he's extra-sturdy!

Anderson thought the jumping pillows looked really fun, but after a while he decided he did NOT like all of the other kids jumping and being "so loud".  Kind of a rough way to start...

Brady was more interested in exploring...

He loved this tractor-train!

Picking flowers

Insisting he wants to ride the tractor

He even found a giant chicken and her eggs

Next we did the corn maze, which was kind of pitiful due to a drought.  The boys didn't mind the miniature corn, though.  It did make finding our way much easier! The highlight of the maze was the slide towards the end.

The boys played in the hay in the "Fun Barn" next.  They enjoyed it, but lots of kids were swinging from ropes (like they were supposed to) and the boys weren't very good at staying out of the other kids' way.  So a few "Excuse me"'s and "I'm sorry!"s and we were on our way!

He loved the idea! Maybe next time he'll get the hang of it...

Pit stop for lunch, and some sweet pictures of Colby...

More playing while we waited for the Pig Races to start...

Ha- not quite how we pictured it...

My little guys!

The Ball Zone- All three big boys loved this part.

And then we got ready for the Pig Races (although I forgot to take any pictures of the actual pigs, much to Anderson's disappointment.)

 We knew we were pushing our nap-time-loving luck, so we caught the next hayride out to the pumpkin patch.  Now was Brady's turn to be whiny and no fun.  Anderson was very opinionated about the pumpkins, but happily picked two for himself.  Since Brady had reached his limit for the day, we let Anderson get his two and then we picked one for each of the little boys.  Ryan smartly suggested we just grab two big ones back near the check-out for us since we had to get everything back onto the tractor and to the check-out.  Also no Colby pictures here because he fell asleep in the Ergo.

The perfect pumpkin!

Yup.

 A few of the boys on the way out...

Tuckered out.

 We had our moments, mainly good ones, and we were glad we went.  And now we have plenty of pumpkins (but just to clarify to anyone who sees our front door, we ONLY have six because Anderson wanted two.  We can call that Sadie's pumpkin.  But there are definitely, definitely only 5 of us Ives.) :)