Pumpkin Patch

There's nothing like going to a pumpkin patch the first week of October.  My brother actually lives right next to a pumpkin farm so it was EASY to find one this year.

They let all the kids wander out in the fields & pick their own pumpkins.

Bladen found one just his size.

They even had a Brinley sized pumpkin.

Korbyn is always so happy.

And of course Lorien has to get the biggest pumpkin in the entire field.

They had a cute little petting farm with a GIANT pig!

Cousin Time

Lorien is always climbing things & Korbyn is right behind her.

They had an AWESOME "corn box" (instead of a sandbox).  It was tons & tons & tons of dried corn that the kids could play in & bury each other in.  It was really fun.

It was a fun Saturday activity.  The kids had a blast.

New School, New Teachers, LOTS OF SMILES

In the craziness known as Halloween at the Potter house, I've completely failed to update my blog on the day to day happenings in our life.  I want to catch up on October first, & then I'll FINALLY post the pics from Trek's graduation & our move from Monterey to Utah.

The day we got to Utah I immediately drove to the elementary school the kids belonged to.  I filled out all the paperwork & they were ready to start school the very next day.  I literally cried the minute I walked into the school.  It was BEAUTIFUL.  It had walls & wasn't a bunch of outdoor trailers!  There was a library 5 times the size of the library in Monterey.  There was a music class, a computer lab, & a PE room (all programs cut from our CA school).  The lunchroom had a well-balanced school lunch for $2.00 with something from all 5 food groups (as opposed to a $4.25 lunch that consisted of milk & 7-11 Pizza).  I was THRILLED.  So were the girls.

Lorien got Ms. Moody for her 2nd grade teacher.

Cadence got Ms. Jarvis as her 4th grade teacher.  Our next door neighbor is in her class which makes it even more exciting.

Taya isn't in elementary school yet, but we found a sweet lady in my parent's ward that owns a preschool.  She got Taya in the pre-kindergarten class right away.  Taya LOVES it.

The older girls immediately became part of what the neighborhood calls

THE BIKE BRIGADE.

Every morning (until it starts snowing), the bike brigade rides their bikes, skateboards, roller blades, etc. to & from school.  It makes it easy on me & it helps the kids make friends.  I LOVE IT.

So, life is good here in Utah.  The kids are great, the schools are great, & we are loving it here.

Swamp Creatures

Tonight we had a delicious dinner:

SWAMP CREATURES

(that literally look like slugs)

These are fast & easy believe it or not.  Just buy some of those frozen chicken cordon bleu things in the freezer section of your favorite grocery store.  (Or make your own from scratch, but who has the time right?)  Then put our favorite sauce on top: 2 cans of cream of chicken soup & 2 cups of sour cream warmed in a saucepan.  Add 2 olives on toothpicks for eyes & a tomato wedge for lips.  Funny & delicious!

Enjoy!

Corn Bellys

I have never heard of Corn Belly's before, but my entire family set aside a whole Saturday to dedicate to it.  My brother LOVES it & couldn't wait to take us there.  It was a BLAST.  If you love Halloween, Corn Belly's is the place for you.  I was in heaven.

Corn Belly's is up at Thanksgiving Point at the point of the mountain here in UT.  It's about a 30 minute drive from Spanish Fork, but it was well worth the trip.  

We were greeted by a HUGE rocking chair which REALLY made us miss our old bishop in Germany, Bishop Stewart.  He always takes pictures with large oversized chairs so any time we see one, we think of him.

The kids couldn't resist putting their heads in this cute farm animal cutout.

First we ate lunch. . . some chicken strips, tater tots, hot dogs, nachos, & frito pie.  It was a smorgasbord of fair food goodness.  Trek & I downed several bottles of APPLE BEER. . . . the absolute closest thing we've ever found to Apfelschorle in Germany.  We were literally in HEAVEN.

Then we found our way to the pedal bikes.  Everybody raced each other while I hung out with the babies.  They had a blast.

Poor Taya.  She's never been able to ride a bike properly.  I guess we'll have to keep working on that.  Baba was a good sport & pushed her around the entire track.

My brother Justin was a pill.  He was running over all the kids & made them wreck.  He may be a grown up now, but he's still just a big kid.

After playing on the bikes & throwing around some basketballs & footballs, the kids found a giant spider web to play in.  It was hilarious because once they got in, they couldn't get back out without help.  We were laughing SO HARD at them.

And I don't know what possessed my kids to WANT to go inside

THE CREATURE

but they ALL wanted to go.  It was a huge blow up dinosaur like creature thing & you literally walk into it's mouth & have to find your way through it's body.  There was a blow up heart, lungs, stomach, etc.  GROSS!  It was pitch black for the most part too.  Oh, & then there was only "one way out" too.  DISGUSTING!  But of course my kids thought it was AWESOME.

After grossing ourselves out at the creature, we stopped off to play some corn ball . . .

aka volleyball with big corn balls.

The whole park had the coolest little play areas for kids.  Their favorite was a giant pirate ship with a slide on the side.  They LOVE being pirates.

After playing on the playgrounds we took the kids to HUGE pillows of air where they jumped & jumped until they exhausted themselves.

After pillow jumping, Baba bought all the kids bags of sand/gemstones to mine at the mining area.  Cadence thought that was the coolest thing ever.  She found all sorts of gems in her batch.

 

Then we let the kids blow off more steam at the bounce houses.

 

and the swings & slides. . . 

and more playgrounds like the castle & train play set.

We were completely EXHAUSTED.  It was time to go home.  But first we had to say hello to Jack the Pumpkin King.

It was a BLAST.  I can see why my family goes here every year.  FUN FUN FUN!