Trip to the Patch, 2011

It's been over a week since our trip to the pumpkin patch and I think it's about time to post some pics!

Every year we make it a habit of going up the road a ways to the Avila Valley Barn to pick pumpkins!  The Barn is in Avila Beach which is only about 20 minutes north of where we live.  I've blogged about our trips there numerous times and can't really say enough about just how much I enjoy going there.  It's a fun place to take the kids, snoop around to see all the pretty and yummy things and also feed the animals.  The girls really enjoy doing that last part so much and me, well...all I can say is that I'm glad I'm not a farm girl! Ha! Everytime we go there, I always complain about the smell of the animals.  I don't consider myself to be a city girl, but a farm girl I am definitely not!

I think I take this same pic every time I go there. I love flowers!

On the day we went, it was that day we had crazy weather and the high was 101 degrees! I probably should have given into reason and gone a different day but I really didn't want to wait much longer into the month to get there. It gets so crazy packed there this time of year and way too busy to enjoy everything if you go when there are too many people there.

The kids had fun feeding the animals when we first got there. Even Alivia got in on the action, which was fun to see.  Last year at this time she was only six months old.  Here's a flashback of us...

It's crazy to me how fast time flies because sometimes it just feels like you blink and go from a Mom of a baby to a Mom of a toddler, feeding the animals all by herself, like a big girl.

Just crazy. :)

The big girls enjoyed themselves too...

Sadly, the scorching heat made all of us grouchy so I did not get even one single family picture of all of us this year.  Instead....I got a picture of what I call "the wall of pumpkins."  I'll just have to picture all five of us standing in front there!

We usually go down to the patch to pick our own pumpkins but this year when we tried going down there, there was nothing to pick, which was a real bummer.  I'd hoped the girls could walk through and select their own pumpkin but this year we weren't able to do that. After that failed attempt, we went back up the hill and let the girls pick their own pumpkin from the pre-picked ones...

There were pumpkins of all varieties and it was funny to see which kinds of different pumpkins all three girls were drawn to.  Alyssa picked an average looking, traditional orange of smallish size, while Audrey picked out a very unique looking one.  She actually picked it out when we first got there and I made her put it back until after we fed the animals and were about ready to leave.  It's a good thing I took this picture while they were first looking because it literally saved us when it came to finding that same one again.  That child must have photographic memory because no other pumpkin would do. This one was special!

Is that a happy face, or what?

Alivia had an even more unique selection that Audrey...

After picking pumpkins, we were in a holy hurry to get out of there!  It was so stinkin' hot!  In a last ditch effort to get a few more good pics of the girls, I told them to go stand by the wall of pumpkins and smile for me!

At the end of our trip there, I was glad we made it although it didn't turn out exactly as I would have liked.  Sometimes you just never know how the weather's gonna turn out and you just have to be flexible.  I've learned a whole lot about being flexible since having a third child!

It's all about making memories and that's what really matters most.  Although most days with three small kids overwhelms me, I am reminded that it won't be like this for long.  Man, we're blessed. :)

101 in October!

When I was in TX a couple weeks ago, it was hot!  At least hot for what I'm used to!

 Before I left on my trip, Kristin had been emailing me the forecasts so I could be prepared and know what to expect weather wise. I was bracing myself for what 94 degrees would feel like, packed some dresses and capris and hoped for the best! Well, when I got there, it actually ended up being cooler than they originally anticipated, which I thought was so neat!  I even jokingly told Kristin that the Lord really must love me, since he knew I was coming to TX and cooled things down! :)

Back here at home on the coast of CA, it doesn't get past 70 degrees on most days. And yes, I totally realize we are spoiled here.  I love our almost always amazing weather and I think that, aside from the fact that we're so close to the beach, would be one of the big things that would keep me from ever moving away from this area.

Although we have awesome weather most of the time, there are still times when we have these weird random heat waves. And sometimes they happen at totally weird times.  Like in October, when it's supposed to be feeling like fall and you're supposed to be out picking your pumpkins at the patch while sipping warm apple cider.

Let me just crush that image and share with you the reality of our week.  Today, our high here was...

101 degrees!  Crazy, right?  I was such a scorcher and for us coastal people who know nothing of this weather, it makes us a little crazy!  We whine and fuss and complain our way through the day. I know my TX friends are probably laughing at me right now, but seriously, as I told Kristin, we just don't just understand weather like yours!  What we also don't have is A/C build in our homes, which makes things really uncomfortable on crazy hot days!

When I picked Alyssa up from the bus today, she could barely move, and I'm not even joking.  She grabbed her capri sun juice, sucked it down and then had no energy left to do anything.  I told her how I thought today might be a fun day to go to the Avila Valley Barn to pick our pumpkins, but all I got was this....

I'm such a stubborn person that once I make up my mind to do something, I really, really want to do it.  I just told myself that maybe a air conditioned car ride might do the girls some good and they would have some fun when we got there, getting to pick their pumpkins and have a little ice cream treat at the Sweet Shop there.

I managed to convince everyone to come along, but first I had to get them up off the front porch, where they were laying there with their ice packs, lol!

Just before we left, I begged Alyssa to take a picture of me and Liv, who from this picture, clearly was not having it!  It's a little blurry but here was our only take...

Can you tell we get just a little cranky when it's hot? :)

We ended up making it out to the Barn afterall, but it was so incredibly hot, and everyone was cranky.  We even left without my traditional family picture in front of the big wall of pumpkins because my Hubby had had enough. Boo! :(

At least I have this one I took when we first got there...

Not too bad, right? :)

I took quite a few pics while we were there, so I think I'll sort through those a bit and share those on another post.  In the meantime, I'm gonna enjoy the fact that it's finally cooling down and brace myself for what tomorrow might be like!

Back to the Barn

This week has continued to fly!  It's been full of tons of running around and staying busy!  I've been meaning for days to post about our little trip from over the weekend to the Avila Valley Barn, so I'm finally getting to that today!

Last year around this exact same time, I posted about my trip to the Avila Barn with my sister Yvonne and our girls.  We had a lot of fun there both last summer and during the fall for the pumpkin patch trip, so on Saturday when we had some free time, my Hubby and I loaded up the girls and took the twenty minute drive back to the Barn.

The last time we'd been there was in October for the pumpkin patch and I was excited to be able to take Livvie along with us, since the last time she'd been there was when she was still in my belly! 

When we first got there, the girls had fun feeding the animals they have there.  At first Alyssa was nervous about the animals biting her, but after a while, she got the hang of things and did a great job feeding them.  I think the expression on her face in this picture is so funny.  She was having a really good time.

After we got done feeding the animals, I made sure to get my Hubby to take a picture of me and the girls.  I hadn't really been able to get a good picture of all of us since Livvie's was born, but I think this one might be a new favorite of mine.  I love how Audrey's doing her own little thing with Alivia here.  So sweet...

I even laughed after going back to last years post about the Barn and noticed I wore the same exact gold hoop dangly earrings on our trip out there.  How funny, huh?

After we finished our little photo shoot, it was off to the girls' favorite part...the sweet shop, where they have homemade ice cream and sorbets.  They also sell a TON of salwater taffy!

They also have the best ever cobbler there and of course you know I had to do a redo of last year and get me some olalaberry cobbler a la mode.  It was soooooo good!

 My Hubby was rolling his eyes at me when I took the picture of my dessert.  I'm not sure why he thought I was being silly considering I take pictures of almost everything these days.  Even food! :)

When I'm there, I always love taking pictures of the flowers they sell.  I'll never forget the year I was pregnant and almost due with Alyssa, and my Hubby and I went there for the day to celebrate our anniversary.  He got me the prettiest bouquet of flowers there and we went home and cooked our own lobster tails we'd purchased from Port San Luis Pier, another neat place down the way from the Barn.

Being at the Barn always brings back good memories and I can't wait until October to go back for the pumpkin patch experience!  This time we'll have Livvie to take along with us to make even more new memories!

If you're even in my area of California, taking a trip the the Barn is a must.  It's so much fun and a great place to check out!

P.S.  On a totally different note, I just wanted to say thanks so much for all your help and suggestions about getting ready for school after my post on Monday.  There was so much great feedback and all of it helped out so much!  I was even able to go down to the school yesterday to turn in our paperwork and got many of my questions answered.  We have orientation on the 13th and then three days later, school starts!  Not much longer now!