Wordless Wednesday - Crazy Sock Day

Until next time...

Carving Pumpkins

You might remember while at the pumpkin farm, we picked a couple pumpkins from the patch.  So on Sunday afternoon (to end Fall Break), we decided they needed to be carved!

Reba dug right in scooping out the seeds.  Dallas, as you can see, wasn't so sure about it!

Momma even got caught on camera helping get the guts out (mind you I'm standing behind/bending over the bench part of the picnic table; I wasn't afraid of getting messy - as it might look)

Once Dallas found a spoon, he was able to dig out the seeds

Then, the kiddos decided this was the best approach!

Daddy carveing drilling the design on his and Dallas' pumpkin

Their final product (go Redlegs!)

Reba with the girls' pumpkin

Once it was dark enough, we set them on the front porch and lit them up!

The kiddos loved 'em!

Until next time...

Pumpkin Farm

We had so much fun last year at the Mayse Farm Market, that we decided to go back this year while Dallas was on Fall Break.  It was a little chilly, but the kiddos did not seem to mind!

Little Miss thought she needed help from Daddy on the Rat Race

Dallas, on the other hand, took off on his own

They were very excited about doing the gourd sling shot!  Reba did it all on her own this year...

Dallas knew to get a low stance

Momma even gave it a go

We then took a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch.  The kiddos thought this was a swell one to pick.

A nice family photo on the ride back from the patch.

Dallas said he could carry the pumpkin...he didn't get too far though

The kiddos have these sit-on bouncy balls at home that they have fallen in love with the last few months, so I thought they would get a kick out of the Lil' Buckaroo's station...and they did!

After the horses, the kiddos headed over to the straw bale maze.  I think it might have been their favorite part!  We lost count how many times they went through...

Reba kept asking about the big slide, so we made our way through part of the corn field maze and ended up at the slide

A quick photo with Momma before going to another turn down the slide!

I wasn't fast enough to catch Dallas coming out of the slide...

We loaded up the Cool Bus and made our way to the petting zoo goats

Until next time...

Fun Friday Fotos - School Pictures

Dallas Matthew Bergman

Kindergarten 2013

Reba Elizabeth Bergman

Preschool 2013

Click on the previous years for past school pictures
2012
2011

Until next time...

Apple Pickin'

After visiting the zoo on Friday morning, we headed out for lunch and then home for naps!  I had been wanting to go to a local apple orchard to pick apples to can.  We are on our last jar of apple butter and last jar of applesauce.  I was also out of apple pie filling.  Luckily, the orchard near us still had a great deal of apples!

The yellow apples were pretty much gone, but these red rome trees were full!

Off to find some apples...

The branches were so full that they hung nice and low so the kiddos had no problems pickin'

or taste tastin'

I wasn't quite sure how many apples I would need, but here are two of the three bags we brought home (a total of 62 pounds!)

I first made apple pie filling - I ended up with 12 quarts, which should make 6 pies.  Yumm-o!

I then made applesauce out of the remaining apples.  I saved 20 cups worth to make apple butter this weekend, and the rest (7 quarts) was kept as plain applesauce.  I'm sure everyone - including Baby B#3 - will enjoy it over the next year.

Until next time...

Trip to the Zoo

Dallas was out of school last Friday for Fall Break, and since Daddy was finished with harvest, he took the day off as well!  The previous Sunday at church, my friend Carla mentioned she was going to take her girls to the zoo on their Fall Break.  It got me to thinking about some free zoo passes we had from Daddy working Boo at the Zoo last Halloween.  When we got home from church, I found the passes, and discovered they expired at the end of the month.  I mentioned the idea to Doug, and he thought it would be a great start to the long weekend.

A quick snapshot before entering the zoo.

Here's a quick look at the last time we visited the zoo...over 3 years ago!

We found a couple bats hanging around in a cave

Dallas really liked this Scarlet Macaw (remember, his favorite color is red)

Can anyone guess what Dallas said when he spotted this guy?

Reba couldn't wait to see the giraffe.  Unfortunately, they weren't up as close as the last time we saw them.

Although, she was able to craw on the "baby giraffe", so she was pretty happy with that!

Monkey see, monkey do...

Until next time...

West Side Nut Festival

A couple weeks ago was the 92nd Annual West Side Nut Festival.  The city claims it is the second largest street festival in the country (next to Mardi Gras).  The best thing about the festival is that all of the 130+ food booths are non-profit/charity groups.  Many of the booths are churches, schools, band/sport boosters, etc.  They all come up with their own menu, and if you can imagine a "fair food", you'll find it there!  Our church/school had a booth, and they were selling chocolate covered Oreo truffles, Burgoo, Kuchens, and grilled cheese sandwiches.

We finally made it out to enjoy the festival on Saturday (it runs all day, everyday from Monday-Saturday).  That morning there was a pet parade, so we decided to check it out.

Dallas enjoying an apple cider slushy before the parade started.

This old truck lead the parade

Then, this big red familiar face!

Daddy was impressed with this young lady's pedal tractor

I don't think my kiddos realize who the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are...

Reba has the figured out if you wave at the parade, they will throw candy!  This is how she looked the entire parade (unfortunately, many of the participates didn't have candy to throw)

There were many different pets in the parade...include these chickens!

and a monkey! (Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat)

even Little Bo Peep's sheep

and a unicorn?

Even Duck Dynasty made an appearance!

Overall, the kiddos enjoyed seeing a different type of parade, but they did complain about how little candy they got :o)  Just can't please 'em.

Until next time...