Hay ride and such

Last Saturday we found ourselves with a free middle of the day (Dave had a service project early in the morning and I had the women's conference in the evening), so we went down to the barn by the beach to kick off the Halloween season. I know, it's not even October yet, but I feel like I need to do as much as I possibly can before I have my baby.
For the life of me I could not get a picture with all the boys looking at me and smiling. I guess there were just too many cool things to look at.

I love all the funky pumpkins and various autumnal vegetables there. I didn't take a picture of it, but they had the most gigantic zucchini-looking thing that reminded me of the snozzcumber from The BFG.

The major advantage of going early in the season is that it wasn't at all crowded. Last year there were so many people we had to wait a really long time to go on the hay ride. This year we practically had it to ourselves, although it didn't actually take us to a pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins. We rode by them, but we didn't stop. It seemed a little early to buy pumpkins anyway, especially since it was over 100 degrees here all last week.

Here's the entrance to the big hay maze. Good thing we remembered Spencer's allergy meds that morning.

The little hay maze. Another advantage of going early is that this maze is still intact. By the middle of October it's practically flattened from everyone running on top of it.

Then we got treats before we left - ice cream for the 3 big boys and candy for Brennan. The boys asked him for a taste of his candy, but we told them, "No way." First of all their mouths were covered with melted ice cream. And secondly if Brennan can't eat their ice cream then they can't eat his candy. He's gotta have some perks. I love the view behind them. It was such a gorgeous day, and I just might have to go back there one more time before Halloween. But I'll go during the week to avoid the crowds.

Bunk Beds

Sorry for the long absence of blogs. What can I say - I've been otherwise preoccupied. Between weekly doctor appointments, Christmas shopping, scrubbing kitchen cabinets and napping, my schedule is packed. Plus I haven't been taking pictures, and that's usually my starting off point.

Last Saturday we were busy doing projects around the house (well actually Dave was doing the projects while I was sitting with my feet up and reading - have I mentioned recently how much I love my husband?), when our neighbor asked us if we wanted to buy their bunk beds. We knew we wanted another set for Dallin and Brennan at some point so we'd have room for a crib in there; but we were leary, since it took us months to find ones we liked for Spencer and Tyler's room a few years ago. We went over to look at them to be neighborly, and we ended up loving them. In fact they're a lot like the ones we already have, but they have this cool L-shaped loft thing going on. I like being able to sit on the bottom bunk to read bedtime books and help Brennan say his prayers without having to duck my head. Plus they came with a dresser, very nice mattresses and 2 end tables. So we bought them and spent the rest of the day moving everything around, reorganizing and cleaning. Their room looks so much more official now, as opposed to Dallin's old brass day bed (which someone gave us and we appreciated, but still, it wasn't very little boy room-like), and a toddler bed. It's now everyone's favorite place to play.

Drive-Thru Doc

I hate to go to the doctor and avoid it as much as possible. I mean I do take my kids to all their first 2 years of well child checks and keep them up-to-date on shots - I'm not one of those negligent anti-medicine moms. I just hate to spend time and money to sit and wait and hear something I probably learned in school. Plus I'm going to the ob/gyn doctor so much these days that I'm appointmented out. So it really works out that Dave is a PA and can pretty much treat the day-to-day stuff that comes up with the kids. Well last week the kids all had colds - no big deal, just runny noses and coughing at night. Then Thursday evening they were all happily riding bikes outside until it got dark. By the time they came in and got jammies on, everyone said they didn't feel good. Dallin was especially pale and hot to the touch, so we took temps and they all had high fevers. Dallin's was the highest at 104, and the others were between 102 and 103. So we drugged them all up with Motrin and cough medicine and they fell asleep super quick. The next morning the fevers were high again; Dave noticed Dallin's breath was suspicious of Strep, and all the throats looked red. So he had me take them to his office during his lunch break. I weighed all the boys at home, then I called Dave from the parking lot when we got there; he came out and did a Strep test on Dallin through the car window; it immediately came back positive, so he did a quick exam in the car - listened to lungs, etc., and called in antibiotics for all 4 boys. I'm telling you, that is the way to go. I much prefer the drive-thru method over making an appointment and sitting in a waiting room with 4 little sickies. They weren't even wearing shoes. Every job has his perks - my brother travels a lot for his job and has used frequent flyer miles to take his family to Europe and his wife to Hawaii several times. But at least I get to avoid the dreaded doctor's office occasionally.

Gymnastics

This week our mom's group from church met at the gymnastics club, and Brennan loved it. A couple weeks ago Tyler and Dallin went to a birthday party there, and Brennan was very sad he couldn't go too. So when I told him about this, he was thrilled.
It's a good thing I didn't tell him about it too far in advance, because that whole morning he kept asking me if it was time to go yet. Then Dallin decided he didn't want to go to school that day. I mean school is great and all, but not when there's something more fun to do.

He especially loved the long trampoline and running around the mats chasing balls. And he's been working on his somersaults ever since. Kristen and I are going to put him and Eric in the 3-4 year old class. I think they're going to love it, and it'll be good for them to have something fun to do while all their big brothers are at school.

Random Updates

We're having our big end-of-the-summer heat wave this week. It's been up over 100, although it's "cooled down" to 99 the past couple of days. Dave and the boys did yard work Saturday morning before it got too hot, and Tyler mowed the lawn for the first time. He was very excited, and it was just so cute to watch him push that huge thing around the yard.

Spencer told me this week that Dilbert has helped him with his come-backs when someone teases him at school. He started reading Dilbert a couple years ago and just loves it. At first he needed help understanding half the words and concepts, but now he reads it everyday and thinks it's hilarious. Anyway he told me that once a girl told him,"You are so weird!" to which he told her matter-of-factly, "You need therapy." She had no idea what that meant, so she responded, "No, I ... don't?" I love his confidence, but Kristen warned that intelligent insults can get him into trouble.

On Monday Dallin and I did the family home evening lesson about putting on the armor of God. This worked out extremely well. Usually the only way we can get him to sit relatively still and quiet for 5 minutes is to remind him he can only have a treat afterwards if he's good during the lesson. He's been known to miss out on the treat. But he took this responsibility very seriously, helped me teach the lesson, reminded me to tell the cool story about Elisha showing his servant the huge army of angels fighting on their side, and of course demonstrated putting on the armor.

Brennan's vocabulary has exploded. He says new words and phrases every day. Last week I put shorts on him (not the swimming suit in the picture) that were too big, and they kept falling down. After a few minutes of trying to hold them up he said, "This isn't going to work for me." He has also developed fear. He freaked out when I got my feet wet in the ocean Saturday. And yesterday the boys were riding bikes out front; his tricycle was sitting right at the end of the driveway, and he screamed in fear that it would roll into the street, although it wasn't actually moving. If any of the boys lean back in their chairs he shakes with panic. When Dallin and his friend went out the front door yesterday (they're not supposed to be out front alone), he cried so hard I thought he had gotten hurt. I'm not sure what he thought would happen to them in the front yard, but he was obviously very concerned for their safety.