Pumpkin-ing 2013!!!

 Cox Farms was an absolute blast again!!!  This is definitely one of my favorite family traditions!  Blogging about it is second best because I like to go back to the posts from other years and see how everyone has changed :)  I linked to them at the bottom in case anyone else is curious :)

Our first stop this year was the hayride, because Josh had never been on it!  The boys and I went with my mom last year, and it was so awesome, we knew we could never miss it in the future!  Josh was impressed, and we all loved it!

 Our past experiences have also taught us to head to The Big Slide right away too before the line gets too long.  Josh and Jackson had a great time riding, and then I ordered them to go again right away since I hadn't been able to get a good photo op ;)

 Silly Farmer Jackson

We got to see a demonstration about milking a cow, and then the kids all got to try it!  Poor cow...

 There was a new piece of equipment--a real fire truck turned into a slide!!!

 I don't remember there being dressed-up animals before, but Jackson was all about them this year!  Not so much for the hugs, but he liked giving a high five and then thumbs up :)

 I was too slow to get a picture of Jackson coming down the barn slide, but I got Josh!

 Jackson thought this flower person statue was funny!

 SLIDE!

 Thumbs up for the cow!

 Jackson going down the volcano slide

 Mommy and Graham on the volcano slide!

 He loved it!

 Goat Jackson...

 ...and Goat Graham--pretty similar!

 And, then it was time to feed the goats!  Jackson's cone of food lasted MUCH longer this year, and he got to share with several goats.

 Still feeding

 It didn't occur to me until we were at the farm how funny Graham and the goats would be!  It totally lived up to the hype in my head-_LOL!

 Daddy supervising the petting and feeding

 Let me pet you!

 Peeking out at the all of the goats!

 Peek-a-boo!

 Hello?

 So, what's new?

 Farmer Jackson

 Farmer Josh

 Graham on the side in the stroller and Josh and Jackson peeking over the sign.  We all rode Dino-Slide one more time!

 Pumpkin Jackson

 Pumpkin Graham

 Obligatory pumpkin patch shot

 LOVE these two!  Super pumped that they were able to wear their new Halloween glow-in-the-dark shirts!

 Sweet boy exploring the hay

 It was pretty empty, so we used some props...

 Hey, where did this come from?

 Two boys in a wheelbarrow

Pretending to drive the tractor!

We had a fantastic time, and of course, Jackson is already asking when we can go back!  LOL

Our First Trip to Cox Farms--2009

Pumpkin-ing 2010

Pumpkin-ing 2011

Pumpkin-ing 2012

Pumpkin-ing 2012 with Mimi

Apple Picking 2013

Even though it isn't officially fall, I felt like fall unofficially started for us this weekend with apple picking :)  We had SUCH a good time last year, and we couldn't wait to get back for some tasty apples!  They just taste so much better from the orchard.

We headed back to Stribling Orchard again, and we had a wonderful time!  The picture we took last year like this had a little 4-month old baby strapped to me...I can't believe how things change in a year...

 Jackson was most ecstatic because there were plenty of pickers this time!  He had a ball helping Josh get all of the apples down!

 And, this little moocher LOVED eating apples right off the core!

 Jackson was a wonderful helper and helped Graham eat his apple :)

 "Wait, I want more!"

 Pretending to pick his own apple.

 It was a picture-perfect day.  Literally!

 Jackson (one month shy of five years old) and Graham (just over 15 months) at Stribling Orchard in September 2013

 Family shot :)

 More picking

 Check out that blue color

 Happy with an apple!

 Daddy and Grahammers

 Our half bushel of apples!!!

I love our tradition that we started last year: apple picking in the morning, and then straight home to make apple pie :)

Jackson's Last First Day of Preschool!

This big four-year old is ready for orientation!!!

 Super hero poses!  So glad Daddy was able to come with us this year!  During orientation we walk through a sample of the preschool day and listen to the teacher--I wanted Josh to come with for this since it's way more insight into the program than he ever got just dropping off or picking up on a random day!

 I LOVE how this picture turned out :)

 I don't even know...

Orientation went really well!  There is such a difference from last year!  I am SO happy we returned for a second year to Good Shepherd Lutheran--it is refreshing to not be the new kids on the block figuring everything out.  Jackson was so relaxed at orientation (after some initial trepidation about switching teachers), and he was excited to see a couple of familiar faces.  As a mom, it made my heart happy that the teachers already could call Jackson by name, and that I recognized some kids and parents.  Mrs. MacHenry is Jackson's teacher this year, and she is wonderful!  We loved everything she said about her plans for the year.  We are thrilled that all of her plans work towards the larger goal of the class being ready for Kindergarten!  

 Ready to go this morning for the first day!!!

 Our old-looking boy--so handsome :)

Brothers!  Graham was a wee little squirt in this picture last year...

Graham Joseph is 15 Months Old!!!

I decided I would do a post all about Graham after his fifteen month check-up, but it's becoming clear that I should have done a few more before this, since I'm pretty sure I forgot lots of cute things!

Grahammers is our squishy, for sure!  We want to squeeze him all the time!  He is really happy-go-lucky 98% of his life, which sure makes that 2% that he's not happy heartbreaking for this mama :(  He LOVES playing with Jackson...and any other kids!  He especially loves books, balls, music and anything he's not supposed to play with ;)  He spends quite a lot of time rearranging everyones shoes, and he has started trying to put my flip flops on his chubby little feet!!!  He is crazy fast climbing up the stairs, and he always seems so proud of himself!  If he gets upstairs unnoticed, he can be found in our master bathroom turning on the faucet, taking clothes out of the drawers and taking them to the laundry room, in Jackson's room playing, or in Mimi's room if it's open just hanging out since he is rarely in there.  Graham hangs out a lot in the little blue chair--he will take books, toys, drinks over and just relax :)  He gets super excited when we put on his shoes, because he knows he's getting to wander around somewhere--most likely outside!  He LOVES playing outside with our friends in the neighborhood--he especially loves the Cozy Coupe and the little lawnmower.

Graham is a pretty spectacular sleeper!  He goes to bed at 6:30 and sleeps until 6:30 or 7:00 in the mornings.  He naps around 9 and 1:30 for about an hour and a half to two hours.  At naptime, I still snuggle him to sleep, but at bedtime he goes to sleep after some milk, a few stories and a short snuggle.  SUCCESS!!!

Graham has discovered his love of MILK!  I weaned him at the very beginning of August, and it really went well.  First I cut out the naptime feedings, then the bedtime one, and then the morning one.  He really hasn't looked back--phew!  He is so stinkin' cute when he is sitting in his chair watching me bring his milk--his little legs kick, and he shakes his hands, and he has a huge smile!  He is still a really good eater, but he has his picky moments especially when he's teething.  He LOVES slices of American cheese, pretty much all fruit, pancakes, hot dogs, chicken, green beans, and pouches.

 He's not saying a ton.  He does say, "Dada," and "Mama," and he growls A LOT!  LOL  He knows what to do with a phone, a remote, a comb, and socks.  He's doing really well staying with babysitters and friends, which makes  my heart happy--he knows he has lots of people who love him!

Graham's fifteenth month stats:

Height: 30 1/2 inches (25th %ile)

Weight: 26 lbs (87th %ile)

Head Circumference: 19 inches (86th %ile)

Geocaching with the Smiths!

Geocaching has taken the Smiths by storm this last few months!  A super simple way to explain Geocaching is treasure hunting.  That's what Jackson calls it :)  This is a world-wide activity, and there are caches, or treasures, hidden ALL OVER.  Caches are all different sizes--some are even virtual.  Most caches contain some swag--coins, stickers, bubbles, Matchbox cars, pretend bugs, Happy Meal toys, keychains, etc.  Finders are welcome to take something from the cache as long as they leave something.  There is always a log in each cache.  It is a record of each person finding that particular cache.  There is an online log as well.  Josh's profile online keeps track of how many caches he has found so far.  He and Jackson are approaching 150 finds!

Before we even got married, a friend took Josh Geocaching and he thought it was neat.  I thought it would be a great gift idea for Josh to get him a handheld GPS unit for Christmas.  It was, but it wouldn't really get used for a LOOONG time!  We searched for a couple of caches when we still lived in Springfield, but it didn't really grab our attention then either.  For some reason, Josh decided to look into it some more this Spring, and he and Jackson have spent HOURS searching for caches!!!  Josh finds his caches on Geocaching.com.  

Here is a good example of a typical cache size--a small Tupperware container.  The picture above this one shows Jackson standing by a guardrail.  This small Tupperware was tucked on the backside of it for its hiding spot.  In the woods, shoebox sized caches might be tucked near trees, but covered up strategically with sticks and logs.  We have found others the size of film-canisters or even as small as bullets velcroed or magnet-ed (I don't think those are words) on the bottom of signs, on guardrails, on fences and on street signs.

Josh and I actually started our weekend in the city off with a Geocache find!  It was a bullet-sized little container that was stuck with a magnet to the bottom rung of a fence in Capitol Hill.  Caches that small only contain a tightly rolled strip of paper as the log.  Sometimes you need tweezers to pry out the log!  On our second day, Josh showed me a few different types of caches.

We started with this one.  It was in the drainpipe in the ground!

The pipe was loose, pulled right up, and there was a tube inside!

We opened the larger tube to find the medicine bottle inside.  There was some small swag inside with the log.  I LOVED this find!  It was right in the middle of DC!

This was a second kind we found--a cache hanging from a tree!

This is a virtual cache--we had to find a specific part of the Navy Memorial, and then Josh took a picture of me holding the GPS by that part to add on the online log.  

Josh has started working some puzzle caches--I would never have the patience for those, but he has worked a whole bunch out!  For those, the cache owner does not list the actual coordinates for the cache location.  Instead, the puzzle works out to reveal the coordinates.  There are also trackable items that go from cache to cache.  One person starts it off, sometimes with a goal (like to "see" as many places as possible), and then the different people who find it, move it around to other caches and log the locations online.  

We saw a hilarious bumper sticker the other night that really sums it all up: