Pumpkin Party

We went to a really fun place for our nephew's first birthday: Jaker's Jack-O-Lanterns. Because we were with the birthday party, we got in for free, but the regular prices are fantastic. Kids 3 and under are free; everyone else is only $2. (Personally, I hate going to places that are clearly catered for kids and I have to spend $12 on myself when I'm not the one really enjoying it.)

When we first got there, Charlie was super excited for . . . wait for it . . . the hay. Yes, that's right, they hay. In fact he wanted to carry a strand with him the whole time. Not wanting to encourage such weirdness but being the compassionate, loving mother that I am, I said no.

After the hay, Charlie insisted he had to climb the pumpkin silo.

Then we found a mini hay maze.

Then the corn maze.

And a Bigfoot sighting.

Then climbing a hay pyramid.

The petting zoo was a lot of fun, too. They had donkeys, pigs, goats, llamas, angry geese (what other kind is there?), and even a kangaroo.

In a big hay maze, we found the creature from the black lagoon. The boys didn't really care for it.

Then a fun slide that ended in a corn kernel pit.

We had a really good time. You could also buy pumpkins there, but having bought pumpkins for 9¢ per pound before, I wasn't willing to pay their prices.

School Carnival

We went to Charlie's school carnival. It was a fun little carnival with ring toss, fishing pond, bean bag toss, and other typical little carnival games. The absolute best part was the bumper ball field. I have no idea if there was supposed to be any structure to it. Our boys had a hard time standing up and running with the giant balls on them, but they sure loved rolling around--especially upside down. While Charlie definitely had a blast, the look of pure joy on Emmett's face was priceless. Here are some views looking down into the balls:

And here's what the balls looked like with the boys standing (or attempting to stand) inside them:

The boys also got to take a picture with a Jedi and a clone trooper. We love Star Wars!

Bridal Veil Falls

We went for a little walk to enjoy some nature and thought it'd be nice to get away from our usual haunts, so we went up to enjoy some nice, cool mountain air. The "hike" to Bridal Veil Falls is hardly a hike. It's mostly flat, paved, and less than a mile one way. It's a fun, easy, beautiful stroll through nature.

Hyperbole and a Half

There are many ways to get recommendations for new books. One of my favorites is through the Provo City Library's blogs. Libraries are amazing; if you're not familiar with your local library, check it out--either in person or peruse their website. You might be surprised at what you find.

I especially like checking the library's reviews because the librarians read everything, and sometimes I want to read something a little outside my norm. And that is where I found Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh.

Hyperbole and a half apparently started as a webcomic/blog. Then because of the blogs success, the book was published. The book is a collection of stories, often hilarious, from various points in the author's life as well as her ruminations on how she's dealt with depression, not hilarious, and her own self-discovery.

The book starts strong. I was laughing to tears by page 30, and considering the amount of drawings involved, there is much less than 30 pages worth of text. The combination of how she expresses herself in writing and in her simplistic comics is amazing. I loved it.

While the hilarious stories were my favorite part of this book, I also thought the author's introspection was worthwhile, and there were many times where her descriptions hit pretty close to home. She put on paper things I've thought, but I'm not sure I'd ever have the courage to say. Overall, it was an enjoyable, quick read.

Transplanting Iris

I have two flower beds full of iris--no idea what colors/kinds because we bought our home after all the blooms had died this summer. I also have a couple empty (except weeds, they don't count) flower beds around my house. So, I figured I should spread the iris around, and since they multiply on their own this needs to be done every few years anyway.

So we got out the gardening tools and got to work. I started with clearing the weeds from an empty section of flower bed. Then I dug up and separated about a square foot of iris. That one square foot yielded about twenty iris bulbs. I was not expecting that many. I now realize that I have my work cut out for me with spreading out my iris, and I'm trying to think of other places I can put it. Also, should anyone in the area want iris of unknown color, let me know--I will happily share!

Throughout the process, Emmett was my "helper." (We tackled this while Charlie was at school.) He really liked the hand held rake and trowel. He didn't really do what I asked most of the time, but he didn't really get in the way either, so I'm considering this a success.

The one the he did do well was planting the bulbs. The holes were dug, and I told him to put the bulbs in with the roots down and cover them with dirt. It was fun seeing him focus on this new task and his excitement when it was done. (I gave up after the first twenty bulbs; it was getting hot, and I'm lazy.)

Assuming we didn't kill them all when we moved them, it will be fun anticipating their blooms in the spring.

I'm planning on starting a vegetable garden next year, and this was a good start for us in getting in the habit of gardening. We'll see how we keep it up.

Kindergarten: Our Next Great Adventure!

Charlie's Kindergarten adventure got started with his assessment. He met with one of the teachers and she asked him a bunch of questions to get a sense of what he knew. He did great, and halfway through the assessment he turned to the teacher, put his hand on her arm, and said, "It's really nice to have someone to talk to." The teacher smiled and agreed.

At the end of his assessment, he asked if he could give a speech. The teacher looked at me questioningly, but I didn't have a clue about what he was going to do. In the end, he did a puppet show in which everyone died. It was really interesting for me to see a total stranger's first impression of Charlie form.

Then, pretty quickly, came his first day.

The school even had a fun hero themed photo backdrop set up.

Charlie did great. He got in line for his class without any problems. No tears; just a smile, wave, and he was good.

Emmett did just fine, too. He didn't even seem to miss his brother. And it was nice to have some time with just him.

When Charlie got home, he had a small package of M&Ms and a list of questions--one question for each color--about his first day. It was a fun way for us to hear about what he did at school. All in all, I'd say his first day was a success, and we're all looking forward to this fun, new adventure!