My Little Pumpkins

At the beginning of October, we made our annual trek to the Dallas Arboretum Pumpkin Patch to try and get some fall photos. We went with my friend Andi and her son, Evan. We tried to pick a day that wouldn't be too crowded, but we knew that wasn't going to happen when we pulled into the parking lot and saw the school buses :( Yes, there were people EVERYWHERE. It made it very difficult (more than usual) to get my kids to look at me when there were so many other people to look at... not to mention fun pumpkins to play with. It also made it difficult to get a picture without others in the background. But, with that said, can I just say that I love my camera? I am still learning - and forcing myself to shoot in manual - but I love the pics I can get. I know in a few more years the kids will be more cooperative and look at the camera... but I wouldn't wish away these years, so I'm happy with what they'll give me :)

My first attempt to get a picture of them together. Wyatt gave me his "cheese!" smile, but both of them were distracted by something over my shoulder.

 Lila was more cooperative on her own and willing to pose with her little pumpkin. For some reason, though, she seems to equate smiling with tilting her head to the side!

Then I tried to get a cute kiss picture and asked Wyatt to give Lila a kiss. Wyatt's way to "give" a kiss is to lean in and receive one. So this is what I got instead :) 

Best shot I got of Lila. Love those blue eyes.

Wyatt: "Mom, why do you keep forcing me to sit here?" 

 I tried to get a group shot of the three kiddos smiling, but we quickly downgraded that hope to a shot of the three kiddos looking up at the same time (throwing the hay was just too fun!). I love Lila's look here. It's like she's thinking, "Mom, are you seriously expecting this to happen?"

 I think this was one where Andi was helping me to try and get Wyatt to smile for real.

I finally got Lila to keep her head straight, and her smile went crooked :) 

After we walked through the pumpkins, we moved over to the hay bale maze. In a moment of brilliance (or so I thought) I had Lila duck down and then jump up and say boo... thought I would get a more natural smile that way. Well, it kind of worked :) The boys had a great time climbing and jumping over the hay bales - I found hay all down Wyatt's diaper later.

I'm trying to make a real effort to get in a picture - at least one - when I'm doing something with the kids, so it isn't always them alone or them with Dad. I don't love my expression here (I was tickling them to try and get them to smile) but the kids are cute! Can you tell from the twinkle in Wyatt's eyes that he can be mischievous? 

Another group shot. Something about Lila's expression here really reminds me of Ben.

Plano Balloon Festival

At the end of September, we went to the Plano Balloon Festival (our first time going since we've lived here!) Aunt Janina went with us, and we met up with some friends to watch the balloons.

 In the car on the way there, Wyatt modeled his sunglasses for us. I was surprised he kept them on because at his age, Lila wouldn't. We got there right around 5 so we didn't have too much sun.

 At 6 was the balloon launch. We found a seat up on a hill so we could see the balloons fill with air.

 We also enjoyed some fair-type food for supper. Here Wyatt's eating some pizza as he watched the balloons take off. He calls them "hot balloons".

 Several balloons in the air after they launched. You can see one of them looked like a pirate.

I handed over the camera to get a picture of me at this event too :)

 The kids entertained themselves by running around while we waited for the balloons to come back.

 Here's the faces I get when I ask them to sit still for a picture. Aunt Janina had to hold Wyatt still. Evan and Lila look so thrilled, don't they?

 Wyatt also entertained himself by trying on Mommy's shoes.

 Finally the balloons started to fill again... this time for the Balloon Glow.

 Aunt Janina helped Wyatt see over all the people who were standing.

Here is the best shot I got of the balloons all aglow. The announcer would try to get all of the balloons to light up at once, but it didn't always work out... I think he called it "twinkle burns"... at least he said that phrase a lot to the ballooners! We left after this and didn't stay for the fireworks in order to get the kids home to bed. It was a fun time!

Catching Up

The past few weeks we have been pretty busy and I haven't posted much, so I'm going to try and combine several pictures to catch up a little. These pictures capture some of the everyday and not-so-everyday fun that we have around here!

I could hear the kids playing together, so I went to investigate... and found Lila in Wyatt's crib with Wyatt reading books in the rocking chair. I asked Wyatt if he wanted to get in the crib too. Then I went to get my camera.

We can't go very far without George. 

One day we went over to Evan's house to play in his backyard. I think this might have been the last time the kids put their swimsuits on this year.

Wyatt LOVES to jump into the pool and land on his belly... unfortunately, if you look close, you can see that Evan doesn't think it's that fun. 

They also played with a fun little water table. 

This picture isn't the greatest - kind of blurry - but I still like it. This is a perfect snapshot of Wyatt right now: Thomas pajama top, running around in his diaper, holding George and wearing a cowboy hat (he doesn't care to wear other hats, but he likes this one.) 

 Such a sweet little guy I've got.

 One day Miss April (a friend of mine and Lila's Sunday School teacher) came over to help the kids make Grass Head Men. Here Lila is putting some grass seed and dirt in the "head".

 Then Wyatt took a turn. He thought it was really fun to play with dirt inside!!

 Ta-da! Wyatt's Grass Head Man.

 These are an object lesson to teach the kids patience... sunlight, water and TIME... and the men will grow grass for hair. Pardon me, Lila's "man" is a woman. Notice the eyelashes :)

I caught this activity one day. I think it is amusing that Wyatt will push the stroller and change diapers - but never on a doll - it is always with George. Of course, left on his own, he will also happily unload all the wipes from the box (yes, I learned this from experience!)