Chinook XC Invitational

    Dawson had his final cross country race this Saturday.  Cross country season is now over.  The final race is huge one held at the kids' school.  There are several other elementary schools that participate, so the races are huge.  We have had unseasonably warm weather this week.  The weather has been just gorgeous.  As luck would have it, a cold front came through and the weather got much, much colder. It was very cold and windy that morning.  I kept reminding  Dawson that the faster he ran, the faster he would be done.  His race was the first one, and he was off!  He ran his little heart out and he finished towards the front.  I could really tell he was giving it his all at the end.  I am proud of him for completing another season.  After his race, he was ready to go home and cuddle up with a warm blanket and some hot chocolate.

The start line

Look at Dawson go!

Love that he has a smile on his face

I was cheering for him and he gave me the sweetest little smile

Coming into the corral

Clearly he was ready to be done!

Dawson and me after his race.  You could tell by his face how cold it was!

Anderson Farms

    Due to Parent/Teacher conferences, the kids had another Thursday and Friday off from school. My sister wanted to take the kids to a new pumpkin patch that we had not been to before.  Ashlyn went up to the cabin, so she wasn't able to join us.  We ventured up to Anderson Farms which is north of Denver.  It was quite the drive, but so worth it!  Anderson Farms is the Mecca of all pumpkin patches!  It is huge and there is so much to do there.  The corn maze alone is 30 acres big!  We were a little overwhelmed because it was so much bigger than the pumpkin patch we usually go to.  We went to the corn maze first and spent over an hour looking for clues.  The kids really had fun in the beginning, but they soon got tired from all the walking.  It was super warm that day and it was almost 80 degrees! We did a good job finding clues, but there were two we never found and had to eventually give up because they kids were done with the corn maze!

      After the corn maze, we took a tractor ride to the pumpkins.  I was amazed as to how many pumpkins they had out there.  Wow!  The tractor ride was a lot of fun.  The kids also had a great time playing at the all the playground areas they had.  

   We could have stayed all day long, but we didn't want to fight Friday afternoon Denver traffic.  Before we left, we went and watched the pumpkin launcher.  That was quite the experience!  They launch pumpkins out of a canon and they fly pretty far.  The kids thought that was the coolest thing in the world.  I think we will definitely make a trip to Anderson Farms next year.  There is just so much to do and such an awesome farm to visit.  Hopefully next time, we will get a chance to check out more of what they have to offer.  

Perfect fall farm

Heading into the corn maze

The tractor rides

This tower of tires was very entertaining to the kids

Finding clues in the maze

Searching for clues

On the tractor ride

Pumpkins as far as the eye could see

They picked some good ones!

Pretty full cart!

More pumpkins

Gracie enjoying the sucker she got for a treat

Ella insisted that I take her picture too!

The pumpkin launcher

Diana's Pumpkin Patch

    The kids recently had a Thursday and Friday off of school.  We always like to try and take advantage of extra days and do something fun.  We decided it would be the perfect day to head to Dianna's Pumpkin Patch.  This is the pumpkin patch that we go to every year and we always have a nice time.  It never really feels like fall, until we have made a trip to the pumpkin patch.  We chose a Friday to visit because we figured it would be less busy then on the weekends.  Since it was still early in the season, there was such a good selection of pumpkins to pick.  The weather was absolutely perfect and it was the perfect fall day.  The corn maze was great this year.  Gracie and Joey stayed and played in the corn while Ashlyn, Dawson, and me tackled the maze.  We weren't able to find all the clues, but we did manage to find our way back out so we called that a win in our book!

Ready for some fall fun

Dawson ready to play

Random shot Joey took of me

They had the corn bin all to themselves!

Who knew playing in corn could be so much fun?

Heading down the big tube slide

Here comes Dawson

Out pops Ashlyn

Time for some duck races

Gracie even figured out how to do the races too

Dawson trying out the tractor

My girls

She is getting pretty tall

She loves showing off how big she is

What cute pumpkin faces!

Lots of pumpkins to pick

Looking for the perfect pumpkin

Our goal was to pick the biggest ones, and we found some huge ones!

Too big for Gracie!

Too big for Dawson too!

Our huge pumpkins!

Dawson and his pumpkin

The corn was really tall this year

Our yearly family picture but with 5 1/2 this year!

So sweet!

The annual corn field flying shot

I really think this may be Ashlyn's last year of this shot.  She didn't get a whole lot of air.  

Dawson catching some air.

In the maze looking for clues