End-of-Summer Caching Fun

Brother Bike Brigade!!!

Daddy grilling burgers on the deck and a friend to say, "Happiness!" to is a great way to end a fun summer day!

Graham walked across these stones all on his own!  He was super proud of himself, as were we :)

The Dad and Sons Geocaching version of Abbey Road???

We used this map to solve a geocaching puzzle.  The area was formerly used for equestrian activities, so there were some elements of that remaining.  We walked around the whole arena solving a puzzle that gave us the coordinates of where to head next.  It was a neat puzzle that we all were able to help with.

We had a tough time finding the cache in this area, but I don't think the boys even noticed they were waiting since they were busy having a great time playing in the creek, throwing rocks, etc.!

Even though Josh looks stumped at the edge of this picture, he did eventually find the sneaky cache!

Earlier in the summer, we did a little exploring at Lake Fairfax Park.  We picnicked right by this pretty creek, and we promised the boys we'd come back and bring bathing suits and Crocs to better play in the creek.  So, we did...today!

We picnicked again, and then the boys played in the creek for a good while.  

These four pairs of WET and muddy shoes are evidence of a GREAT Labor Day weekend!

Jackson's First Day of First Grade!

Not much to say about this, except Jackson was SO excited to start school again!  He was excited with his new teacher and classroom and to see his friends again :)

We all walked him to the bus, and off he went!  

He had a great first day, and we are sure we headed into another awesome year as a Pattie Panther!

Potato Digging and Pancakes at Great Country Farms

Backpacks were chosen, school supplies were purchased, the first teacher had been met, so it was time for one fun family day before school started!  Great Country Farms has been on our radar for a while, but it is REALLY far away...  I saw a coupon for a pancake breakfast and potato digging, and I snatched that up deciding this would be our last hurrah of summer!

There was a buffet of pancakes, fresh peaches chopped up for topping, syrup, coffee and juice.  The pancakes were surprisingly tasty considering they were made in huge batches.  After filling our tummies, we went straight for the wagon ride our to the potato fields!

Armed with spades and gloves, off the boys set to "dig" potatoes (most of them were sitting loosely in the dirt...

We had never done this before and had no idea how long these potatoes would last, so Jackson and Graham each got to dig five red potatoes and five russett potatoes.  If it goes really well, we can always dig more next year!

The boys loved this!  I love watching them try new things!

We also picked a few peaches before hopping on the wagon again to go explore the rest of the farm!

This enormous jumping pillow was a huge favorite!

Ultimately FREE putt putt (after you return your ball and get your quarters back)!

I love that there's another little guy to learn the golfing stance from his daddy :)

We all got a kick out of watching these piggies be silly in the mud and water!

"I Was an Animal at Great Country Farms!"

Oh, my...this playground... we could have stayed FOREVER!  There was this firetruck-shaped slimbing structure--insta-hit!

Fireman Graham in charge!

This huge rope spiderweb was perfect for this monkey!

 There were a few tunnel slides that both boys enjoyed

 Another playground

This was one of several maze options to work through.  This one involved using caribiners clipped the ropes and figuring out how to get to the end on the same rope, but it didn't quite work.  There was also a more traditional walk-through maze and a really neat maze using different colored paving stones with specific directions of what order you had to walk on the pavers.  

We didn't even see some parts of the farm!  We LOVED it and are even talking about coming here for our annual pumpkin outing...  The boys loved it all--the U-Pick sections, the wagon rides, the slides, the animals, the playground and all of the fun little things in between.  An excellent end to summer :)

Clemyjontri, Meet the Teacher, and Cisco

Another item on the Summer Bucket List was going with the Cameron family to Clemyjontri playground where Phoebe would be able to play too, even if she wanted to sit in her chair!

Graham is the charter member of Esther's fan club!  He just loves her, and she is so patient with him!

Jackson had been to this playground before, but Graham was an infant, so he definitely had a great time checking EVERYTHING out!

Group shot including a couple of friends of the Camerons.  I wish I had gotten a picture of Phoebe using one of the special swing--it was so neat!

Everyone enjoyed a ride on the carousel :)

I can't believe Thursday was Meet the Teacher for First Grade!!!  I am so thankful that Josh values this time with Jackson, and his education, and made it a priority to work around this outing.  Jackson LOVED setting up his supplies in his desk, chatting with Mrs. Chapman (who was his pick at the end of last year for who he wanted this year), looking around the room and catching up with some old friends in the hall.  We capped the morning off with a delicious lunch at Five Guys for our newly-hamburger-loving guy :)

And, it was a special deal day at Sweet Frog, so we scored some yummy ice cream as an afternoon treat with Graham!

Yesterday, we finally worked it out to go meet Katey's horse, Cisco!  Katey LOVES horses and is lucky to have her own that the Zencuchs board not too far away.  I realized that I liked the idea of hanging out with the horses way more than actually doing it, since they are not, in fact, just big dogs... ;)

Katey and handsome Cisco

Izzy, Graham and Jackson had a fun time playing in the tack shed

Graham would let Miss Teresa hold him and pet the horse herself, but he wasn't too sure...

Watching Katey work Cisco out

What a good boy!

And, it was ok for Jackie to feed him, but still not Graham

Just a girl and her horse!  It was a great field trip, even though the boys weren't quite sure what they thought of all of the horses hanging around... :)