Jaker's Jack O Lanterns

The other day we met Kaylie and her boys in Springville at Jaker's Jack O Lanterns. It's a pumpkin patch with various children's activities. And the activities are all free. My kind of fun. 

The animals are pretty stinky. 

Elise kept trying to feed them hay and splash in their water.

We spent most of the time in the corn pit. 

Sadie and Hunter jumped off the hay bales over and over. I love the faces. 

Elise would step off these lower bales and then get really excited like she had done something amazing.

We also spent time in the little and big mazes. Elise enjoyed walking away from me and then jumping out from behind a corner.  

Hunter came in our car when we went back to the Faucettes so the babies could nap. 

Sadie wanted to try on Hunter's Halloween costume, but she had no idea who Batman was. It never occurred to me that Sadie doesn't know any super heroes. The only "boy" characters she knows are from movies, like Cars and Toy Story. We may need to get a few more costumes for our dress up box. I think she looks great with muscles. 

Goobs

Elise gets called a lot of things- Louie, Lou, Goo, Gooie, Goobs, Goobies, etc. Don't know why her name has lent itself to so many variations, but it has. Anyway, Lou has been on a whining bender pretty much since we got back from our trip. Maybe it's the age, maybe it's that I abandoned her for 8 whole days, maybe it's teething and/or possible lactose intolerance (or probably a combo of all of those), but it drives me crazy. She has also gotten pretty good at tantrums. The kind where you throw yourself to the ground, kick the air, and hit yourself in the head. It makes me laugh just typing it.

I keep telling myself that we are rounding a corner to extreme cuteness with her; I just need to be patient. I was very disappointed when the picture above was dark. She came over and said "cheese" and smiled for me. She frequently says a word one time like "cheese" and "mine!!!" and "Jesus" out of nowhere and then won't repeat it. But she comes up with the word on her own and uses it correctly, so she's not just copying one of us. Strange girl. I have a feeling one day she'll just start talking in full sentences. Or maybe I just tell myself that since she's kind of behind the curve with speaking skills.

And this shows one of her new favorites- carrying around a baby. She feeds her and gives her lots of love. On this day she carried her around the yard for a long time before abandoning her to eat dirt. Did you think I meant her baby eating dirt? No, Elise eats dirt. And she really likes it. I can't get her to stop.

Fall Colors

Last weekend we went to Huber Grove in Midway. We picked apples there last year, but because of a late frost and hot summer there were no apples this year. The girls didn't seem to mind.

Sadie made me read every plaque to her and then she repeated what she remembered.

We went on a little walk through the woods, which Sadie called a nature walk.

We took in the scenery

Or rather, I took in the scenery while the girls played in the dirt in a hollowed out tree stump

And we played on the bridge over a creek for 45 minutes. Sadie nearly fell in no less than 3 times while she was throwing rocks. Elise did not understand the draw of throwing rocks into the water. Sadie kept handing her rocks to throw in, but she gripped them tightly in her pudgy little hands.

I took a few pictures on the way down the canyon while the girls watched Madagascar.

Then we stopped at a roadside stand just out of the canyon to get pumpkins. Sadie got to pick them out. The other side of the 2 orange ones is not pretty, but I couldn't convince Sadie that we should get pumpkins without large brown spots on them.

Class Time

We considered putting Sadie in preschool this fall, but decided to try dance and gymnastics classes first. I was worried about her behavior and ability to follow directions (plus she wasn't potty trained at the time we would have had to commit her to a preschool), so we had her do these once a week classes. Sadie completely surprised me by being an extreme rule follower and a generally delightful student. Sadie looks forward to classes all week. She was probably totally ready for preschool. Maybe in January.

I've surprised myself by being the most stereotypical class mother ever- I take a million pictures during every class. I can't help myself. Here's about 2% of the pictures I have taken during classes the past 3 weeks.

Dance Class #1

Thrilled about the outfit

Sadie's solo at the end of class #1

Gymnastics Class #1

So, Sadie's gymnastics class is somewhat intense. Much more intense than I had imagined a toddler gymnastics class could be. 

Three year olds flipping themselves over a bar? Yeah, right. Except, most of the kids in her class could do it. 

Here's something she did proudly- walk up the wall

Here's what Elise did the entire class- squirmed and whined

Dance Class #2

Sadie's favorite part had nothing to do with dance

Gymnastics class #2

Sadie is not as coordinated as the other kids in her class and she especially struggles on the balance beam. She sincerely tries to follow her teacher's direction to keep her hands on her hips and walk one foot in front of the other. 

She started off strong (above) and then slowed down considerably (below- pictures taken about 2 minutes apart)

Then came to a stop in the middle and held up the line until her teacher helped her.

But she stays on her colored plastic square like nobody's business- and she frequently reminds other kids to do it too

Sadie got very frustrated because she was expected to do a few stunts on bars that were above her ability level (and probably above my ability level also). I could see she had tears in her eyes, but she still tried everything. On the way home that day she told me sadly that she wasn't big enough to do it and I felt bad for subjecting her to the class.

Dance Class #3

Look at Sadie in the mirror in this one. She loves every second of dance and cries when we leave.

Gymnastics Class #3

Ok, so this class brought some of the most pride I have ever felt. My girl Sadie got on the beam this week and did it at moderate (instead of snail) speed without any help from her teacher. Oh man, I almost wept. 

She swung on the rings by herself for the first time as well. Then I found out the girl I had been comparing Sadie to was a)almost 5 years old, and b)asked to move up to a more advanced class because she's really good. I was on a high for like 3 hours after that class. Sadie's not a total uncoordinated and helpless mess!

Septiembre

Miscellaneous cell phone pics from the month of September. Enjoy.