First Field Trip - Corn Maze!

On Friday afternoon, Sara Kate had her first school 'field trip!'  We went to a local corn maze!  I use quotes because the parents checked the kids out on their own but her school had the maze reserved for a certain period of time so the only people there were the teachers and kids/parents from her school.  We even had to fill out a permission slip so it was kind of official, haha!  Sara Kate is loving pumpkins right now and she keeps wanting to take the little pumpkins outside school home with her so I was hoping there would be a pumpkin patch too.  But after talking with the owners, they decided in June (WOW!!) to get the corn maze going!  That is crazy fast, especially during our severe drought!  Next year they are planning to incorporate a pumpkin patch.  They did have a little pumpkin display that of course, was the first thing she saw.  Yep, she thought she could pick those big things up!

Along with the corn maze, they had bounce houses, games, and a hay ride (that Sara Kate seemed terrified to go on so we didn't go on it).  For $5, she got in and got to do whatever she wanted, and Chris and I got in for free.  We could stay as long as we wanted.  We had a major cold snap come through Thursday afternoon so it was cold and windy on Friday, but it was a beautiful day.

Sara Kate has a serious eye for bounce houses, and after she saw the pumpkins she made a bee line for the bounce houses.  Chris took her to Boing-o Bounce several times over the summer and she thinks she's just as big as the bigger kids in those things.

 

We finally pried her away from the bounce houses and into the corn maze!  We let her pick the direction she wanted to go and she wasn't afraid at all.

"This way!" is what she said. 

The sweet little boy behind her is her friend Huck.  Huck loves Sara Kate and is always so excited to see her when I drop her off (if he's already there).  We didn't know them before the babies were born, but Huck's parents were in our birthing classes, and we signed the kids up at their school within a day of each other.  It's kind of fun thinking back on those classes when we were both pregnant and clueless and now the kids are wild 2 year olds and friends. 

 Eventually daddy led the way out.

Me and my sweet girl.

 

Before we left, we went to check out some of the games.  They had a ring toss, a football toss, and a tire run, but the water pump was very popular!  You could turn the wheel hard to get water to come out and it would run water down a lane to float boats to the end.  It didn't work great for the little kids but the bigger kids got it working!

 

We had a great afternoon on Sara Kate's 'field trip' and it was great that the directors organized it (the location was very close and super convenient to her school).  Hopefully we can make another trip to a local corn maze/pumpkin patch before the season ends because it's such a fun family event that only comes once a year!

Our Weekend

We've had a busy weekend of nothing-ness for me and Sara Kate, while Chris has been working pretty much all weekend.  Friday night, he went to play music and Sara Kate and I stayed home and played.  After she went to bed and Chris got home, I headed out for a night on the town.  Pat Green is one of my FAVORITES and he was playing at George's!!  A friend in grad school took me to my first concert and I've been hooked ever since.  I think I've only missed one show since then (he comes once, maybe twice a year), and it was right after Sara Kate was born.  Since Chris had to get up really early and work all day Saturday, I went with my friend Julie and we had a blast!!  We got the closest to the stage I've ever been and we even found a couple of his guitar pic's on the floor after the show!  Awesome (I know, I'm a big dork)!!  Now my guitar playin' husband can play some Pat Green music (which he does) with one of Pat Green's pic's! :-)

 

After a late night out for me, I was very thankful that Sara Kate slept in until 8:30.  We had lots of fun on Saturday, though.  We played puzzles...

And we read books...

We went and met some sweet friends at the playground for a picnic and some play time...

 Love these girls and Landry's sweet mama!  Sara Kate was telling Landry all about it!

After the playground Sara Kate crashed on me, which I love the snuggle time, but when I went to move her to her bed she woke up.  Hello 30-minute nap on a day when this mama could have REALLY used a nap too!

After the short nap, she had a snack while she watched Elmo while I watched some football...

Then we went outside for more play!  We've had some beautiful weather here lately!

Sara Kate is so funny when I turn the camera around to snap pics.  She was smile for a SPLIT second and then say 'ok, I see.'  And 95 percent of the time, I don't snap the pic in the split second she's smiling! :-)

We played chalk for a while, where she wanted me to keep drawing whales (weird request, and no pictures of my awesome whale drawings that now line the driveway, haha!), and then she wanted to take a walk.  She knew exactly what she had in mind when she said that, too!  She walked us straight down to our neighborhood park!  So we played...

 

And walked some more...

We finally started walking home as it was starting to get dark, and we got home just before Chris did.  We ate dinner, had bath time, Sara Kate crashed, and then I crashed!!

Today we had church...

Hello size 12-month pumpkin dress from last year that still fits...yay!  And she looks like she's been crying because she had been...she fought everything I got out of the closet for her to wear and I finally convinced her to wear brown pumpkins because mama was wearing brown too.  Thankfully she bought that because we had to go!

 We came home, had lunch, and read books...

 Had snuggle time...

All before nap time (which she is in her bed for today, haha!).

Chris has had photo shoots all day so we're going to attempt family pictures again when he gets done after she wakes up.  We'll see how this round goes and hopefully I'll have some good stuff to share! :-)

Hope ya'll enjoyed a glimpse into our weekend, and I hope ya'll had a good weekend, too!

Victory Dress!

*As I was logging into Blogger just now, I noticed I have over 25,000 views to my blog!  Thank you readers, who ever you may be!! :-)

As you know, we haven't had much success with our football program here in Razorback Country this season.  But after a soggy game last night that got called in the 3rd quarter because of bad weather, we are on a 2 game winning streak, which we haven't had all season, haha!  Wa-hoo!!  In honor of our 2 game winning streak (hey, gotta start small, ha!), Sara Kate got to wear her 'victory dress' to church!  It's an 18 month size, and I bought it for last football season hoping she could get at least 2 years use out of it.  It's a little shorter this year but still fits her great as a dress.  I love this dress so much and am so glad I found it online at a discounted price, especially since local boutiques have it WAY marked up in price!  We had to have a little photo shoot when we got home from church.

 A quick look back at Sara Kate in the dress in 2011 (bad pic, sorry!)...

And 2012...

I LOVE this picture!  My sweet baby is looking more and more like a little girl and less like a baby. :-(

 

 Her daddy can get the biggest grins out of her.

 

 

 My big girl.

 And here's that sweet daddy who got all those precious smiles out of his baby girl.

 We are happy Hog fans right now!! :-)

El Do Weekend & Prayers

This past weekend Sara Kate and I traveled to El Dorado to visit my family and to celebrate my mom and dad's birthdays.  Mom's was October 3 and dad's is today!  Happy birthday dad!

We left in a serious torrential down pour.  Driving down 540 was so scary but I finally ran out of the rain around Clarksville.  We stopped in Conway for a picnic at a park so Sara Kate could stretch her legs and run around.  She loved sliding and running from play set to play set, but I think her favorite part was watching the squirrels.  She just laughed and smiled and would say 'Where they go?  Up the tree!'  She did great on the trip.

 

 

We got to El Dorado about 3 and my aunt and uncle from Alabama got there around 6.  We spent the evening playing with my old My Little Ponies, which were BIG fun!!!

We also had cake, which is huge hit with a certain 2 year old.  At dinner she said, 'Ka Kate eats pizza then Ka Kate gets cake!'  And she was not disappointed!  Rick's Bakery in Fayetteville makes the most beautiful and delicious cakes!!

 

Saturday morning came early, as my dad and I ran in a 5k that was going on in town for the annual Musicfest.  I started training this summer when it was 100 degrees (I know, I'm an idiot) and I'm a week away from finishing the C25K app.  I ran the race in 36 minutes, which isn't great but it's something to work from.  Dad finished in 31 minutes.  We went home and watched the Razorback game (finally a win and something for us to *smile* about!!) before heading to the Arboretum for a walk and to take pictures.  It was all decorated for fall and it was just so pretty with all the pumpkins everywhere.  This time last year we were in El Dorado also and we went to the Arboretum.  

2011...

2012...my how she's changed!!

 LOVE this picture!!!

 

 

Saturday night I got to visit with one of my childhood friends from up the street.  It was wonderful to catch up and to let our girls play.  It's kind of surreal that we used to play at each others houses and our daughters were sitting there playing withe same My Little Ponies we played with.  Sara Kate had a great time with Amelia, who is about 7 months older. 

 

The rest of the evening was spent playing, of course!  Somebody did NOT want to go to sleep but when she finally did I woke up with an upset stomach.  Made for a long night for this mama!

My aunt and uncle left Sunday morning and we played some more before we hit the road after lunch.

She's saying, 'I did it' because is learning how to use the slinky.

Unfortunately, Sunday morning I read some terribly tragic news about the passing of a former local news anchor, who was our age.  The saddest part is he leaves behind his wife and 10 month old daughter.  This just makes my heart ache.  I don't know Julee but I know several people that do, and I've followed her blog for a couple of years now.  The blogging world really lets you get an intimate glimpse into other peoples lives, as you live their stories with them.  The Northwest Arkansas community has really rallied around the Turner family, even though they left this summer for Matt to go work in Little Rock.  Please pray for Julee, baby Preslee, and Matt's family as they grieve his untimely death.  His funeral is tomorrow, and they all definitely need to be covered in prayer.

So that was our trip in an nutshell!!  Mom and dad, thanks for letting us come visit.  And just so ya know, Sara Kate is still talking about going to 'Ghee and Poppa's house!'

(no picture with Ghee and Poppa because she didn't want to take a picture with them both before we left!)