Oil Ranch

At the beginning of October, Cody and Jaden had a couple extra days off school as a fall break. Our family took advantage of the free time on Friday and visited the nearby Oil Ranch, a real working 50-acre ranch with tons of great fall activities. We loved our time there!

The ranch had over 80 decorated scarecrows spread across the property.

Cody found his favorite!

Nearly all of the activities (other than paintball and mining) were included with the admission costs, so Cody and Jaden could return to any activity as often as they wanted.

The Kid Hopper was a definite favorite! The boys came back to this big "jumping pillow" 3 or 4 times during our visit.

The boys also got to experience some ranch/animal activities-- like riding a horse...

...and milking a cow. Jaden was the only taker for this experience.

One of the large barns was a petting zoo. Jaden and Cody breezed by the animals and weren't too interested in them. The boys spent a long time, however, sliding down a large slide in the barn and jumping in this hay pile.

Adley and Daddy decided to have a little fun in the barn too. :)

 A few other fall-favorite activities included making our way through this hay bale maze...

...and going on a hayride. Since it was a weekday, the ranch wasn't busy at all. We had our own private hayride!

Halfway through the hayride, the driver stopped in a field to allow the cows to feed from the trailer. The cows got really close to us, which made Cody a bit nervous. Jaden, on the other hand, proudly fed the cows some hay and some of the "cow candy" we had been given. 

Adley seemed interested in the cows too.

Our train ride wasn't very full of people either. The boys picked their own seats several rows away from each other.

Cody and Jaden laughed the most at this event-- the rubber duck races. Unfortunately, the third pump wasn't working for Daddy to join in on the competition. The boys happily raced against one another over and over again until we finally had them stop to let another family try it out.

The Oil Ranch had quite a few different playgrounds, most of which we didn't even visit. (Are you getting a sense of just how huge this place was?!) The boys did like trying out this spider web swing...

...and these hamster wheels were a HUGE hit!

Mommy even tried a few races with the boys. Moving these large wheels wasn't easy!

One of the last activities we did (before we started getting too hot-- it was a warm day!) was going on these special swings in a playground called Indian Village.

Daddy worked hard to spin the swings. (Mommy tried too, but Daddy's fast running gave a much faster ride!)

The boys had a bit of a learning curve with figuring out how to jump onto the sandbags, but once they got the hang of it, they both rode for quite some time.

Once he got it spinning fast enough, even Daddy took a ride.

At the very end of our visit, all three of our kids were allowed to pick out a free mini-pumpkin to take home.

By this point, we had been at the Oil Ranch for a few hours, so our little girl was wiped out! Cody and Jaden were happy to select a pumpkin for her.

Other than the heat and humidity that morning (which doesn't feel at all like pumpkin patch weather!), we were so pleased with our visit to the Oil Ranch. Definitely a spot we'll go to again!

7 months old

Our 7 month old girl is a girl on the move! All month long, this sweetie has been showing readiness for crawling, and then just four days shy of turning 7 months, little Adley decided to move. What a new world has opened up for her now that she can explore on her own! Our sweet Adley Grace is a curious, content, and now mobile little girl.

Here are a few other facts about Adley at 7 months:

PHYSICAL

• No longer content just sitting-- constantly propels herself forward to crawl
• Tries VERY hard to stand-- pulls up on chairs, musical table, piano bench, etc and gets to her knees
• Loves to practice-walk with Mommy or Daddy by taking steps when we hold on to her hands
• After constantly chewing on everything this month, got bottom two teeth on 9/19 and 9/28

"Can you see my little pearly whites?"

SLEEPING HABITS

• Fell back into bad sleeping habits (waking up often) after teething and getting a runny nose
• Likes sleeping on her side
• Falls asleep easily and often in the car
• Usually wakes up to stay between 6:30 and 7:00am
• Bedtime is between 7:30 and 8:00; typically falls fast asleep while Mommy is nursing her
• Sometimes Jaden and Cody will sing her sweet made-up lullabies before bedtime (Mommy is still trying to get a video of this!)

EATING HABITS

• Tried rice cereal, butternut and acorn squash, sweet potato, banana, apple, avocado, oatmeal, peas, pumpkin, carrot, and mum-mums. Loves it all, except for avocado.
• Usually eats solids twice a day-- something new at lunch and an old favorite at dinner
• Still nurses with Mommy about 5 times a day and sometimes once or twice at night

PLAYTIME/OTHER

• Screeches loudly with a high pitch
• Loves standing by the activity table and can do so much more steadily this month
• Doesn't cry in the car very often anymore (yay!)
• Flaps her arms happily when she sees her brothers after their school day
• Hates having her nose wiped!
• Started to bite Mommy's shoulder (ouch!)
• Much prefers chewing on books rather than listening to them

Can you tell this girl is regularly in motion?
She LOVES to flap her arms and screech!

Adley endured (but didn't really enjoy) this stroller ride.
She loves her cousin Nathan, though!

Adley on the move:

Adley loves to sit on her playmat and watch her brothers ride their bikes down the street in the evenings.

People frequently tell us that Adley is looking more like her brothers these days, especially Jaden. What do you think??

Jaden and Cody continue to dote on their little sister. They call her their little "sweetie pot pie" and regularly give her kisses. Adley certainly has two brothers who look out for her and love her dearly!

Happy 7 months, sweet girl!

We are so thankful for the sunshine you bring into our lives!

Football Fans

It all began with a simple Internet order. In September, Daddy ordered a set of mini NFLfootball helmets for Jaden and Cody, thinking it would be a fun way to introduce them to his love of football. To say that the boys were interested would be a gross understatement. These boys are now football fanatics! Cody and Jaden quickly memorized all of the NFL team logos on their helmets. They ask Daddy each week which teams are playing against each other, and then they'll line up all their helmets in a face-off position.

Nearly every day, they'll ask if it's a "football day" so that they can watch a portion of the games on TV (or at least check the scores). When the games are over, they'll excitedly run up to their room and place each helmet on a sheet of paper marked with either "WIN" or "LOSE."

Jaden and Cody's favorite teams change almost weekly. Unfortunately, they refuse (at least for now) to continue Daddy's allegiance for the Detroit Lions. Instead, they unabashedly cheer for teams like the Browns or the Bills or the Titans and proudly tell family members and their kindergarten teacher about their current favorite teams.

Cody and Jaden's interest in football doesn't just stop with the sideline cheering. These boys also love to play! Regularly on weeknight evenings, Daddy plays tackle football with his boys in the yard. The match-up is always Jaden and Cody against Daddy. The boys have learned so much about the rules of football as they play. Their games are always so cute to watch! (If it's fair to call football games "cute...") The boys often begin with some sort of huddle to discuss their play.

Daddy has taught them how to call their play (they usually just shout out random words, often trying to distract their opponent) and then to say "hike" before they can move. Lessons about penalties have also been learned here! ;) 

Whether the play includes passing,

...running,

...blocking Daddy,

...or just tackling (These pics are my favorite!!),

these 3 boys always seem to enjoy their workout and their father-son bonding time. Occasionally Mommy and Adley sit nearby on the lawn to watch and cheer. Adley is probably more interested in the play mat or the grass than she is in the game. 

But we think that this little lady makes a pretty cute football fan too!

Every couple weeks, it seems like Jaden and Cody will go on a new playtime kick. Whether it's Legos, coloring, block building, or something completely new, the boys are "all in" on that particular activity. Football is certainly the new favorite. And this obsession, I'm sure, is one that Daddy hopes will last for quite some time! ;)