Pumpkin Patch with Baby Boot Camp

The exercise classes I attend called Baby Boot Camp regularly have social gatherings. This time was a Pumpkin Patch event! We all met out at Kruger's Farm on Sauvie Island. The weather was absolutely beautiful, the hayride was bumpy, and the pumpkins were plentiful. Did I mention there were also freshly made doughnuts and kettle corn!!

Luka and I are thinking about trying out for the World's Strongest Toddler Competition!

This one is so orange and round!
More pumpkins please!
Does that boy have a tail behind me?
Wow! There are pumpkins everywhere!
Mom, Mom, look!

I swear, I'm not pooping!

Still not pooping. Just facinated by the family next to us with dreadlocks.
Do you like my gourd? Yours is great!
I'm getting sleepy!
Oh boy! GO KARTS!!
Group shot. Nearly impossible to get 8 kids to hold still long enough!

Where did everybody go?

My very own John Deere!
Please Mommy! Please can we take it home!!
Luka even volunteered to push it as far as he can.

More Camping Pics

Just received a few more cute pics from Grandma & Grandpa Rader's camera.

I just love scooters! Especially this electric one! When will I be old enough to ride them?

This mud stuff is really cool! Want to try some dirt?
Rain is hilarious!These guys are kind of spooky! And we are getting SOAKED!
Tillamook Cheese, yum!
Why does Mommy always say "mooooo" when she sees these crazy black & white things?

Funny Snow Suit

Last winter when Columbia Sportswear was clearing out their cold weather clothes, I picked up a snow suit for Carson. At the time, it was for wearing in the jogging stroller where no one would see us so I didn't really think that the "bold" pattern was that big a deal. Well I found it in the closet and now that we're attending a public training class, I'm not sure that Carson is going to feel very manly in his suit. You be the judge!

Where are my hands?

This doesn't feel very cool Mom!
But why do I have to wear it?
I guess it is cozy. But are they frogs or aliens?
Why is Mommy in a box?
Sitting in tubs is so fun! Why am I still wearing this suit?
Peekaboo Daddy!

Goofy Guy Loves to Climb into things!

Silly Carson just loves to climb into things! These are his toy boxes. Notice the fort is still set up to the right!

Month 15- First Fort with Daddy!

Jeremy was very excited to create his first fort for Carson tonight! It took awhile for Carson to warm up to it but once he discovered that Daddy would surprise him at the other end, he absolutely loved it! His shrieks of laughter were contagious!

Month 15- Messy Eater

Carson's favorite fruit is a blueberry. Unfortunately blueberries are expensive and hard to come by right now. So we tried frozen blueberries. It was a total disaster.

Notice that Ian is completely clean (now I feel terrible upon noticing that I forgot to put a bib on him!! Sorry Amy & Jeremy!). Apparently his blueberries were frozen by his mommy, not store bought like ours!
At this point I took his shirt off, doused it in Spray N Wash and hoped for the best. Unfortunately that didn't do it. A second dousing with a stronger stain remover was required! No more frozen blueberries!
Still loves reading. But sitting in his book basket trumped his comfy leather chair today!

Month 15- Play buddies

Sharing a toy is a learned concept for most toddlers. In fact, most toys are really boring until someone else plays with it. Then it becomes the best, most sought-after toy in the room. Here are some examples with Ian & Carson.

The riding toy cannot accomodate two riders, as much as Carson tried to fit on Ian's lap. Notice who has the yellow & blue rake.

Now who has the rake!
And back to Carson!
In the end, the lawnmower worked for Ian and Carson is playing with his shoebox.

Month 15- Goof Balls!

Carson had a brilliant idea to create "designer hair nets" for food service workers! White is such a boring color. Here's his first prototype!

Camping in Pacific City!

We took our inaugural trip in our new camper this weekend to Pacific City on the Oregon Coast! Yes, the rainy, windy, wet Oregon coast. Grandpa & Grandma Rader picked this location which on a sunny weekend would have been gorgeous ;-) We made home in the "Thousand Trails" campgroup which also meant Jeremy had to sit through an hourlong presentation during which two seasoned pros tried to convince him why he should become a member.

Needless to say, after overcoming the Starwood pros at the Westin Maui, saying no to these campers was not a problem. The rain came and went but the mist never seemed to be gone. The awning and trailer kept us pretty dry but Carson didn't want to be inside so we all got good and muddy! He didn't love the short hike down to the beach but then neither did we because that's when the gale force winds picked up!

The food was amazing! A yummy lunch in a cafe in Pacific City, fish tacos of course! Extra scrumptious buffalo burgers grilled up on the new BBQ!

One tragedy did occur when I attempted to make apple crisp. For those that know me well, this is no surprise. I don't enjoy cooking and really try to avoid it at all costs. But I'm on a baking spree right now and after one unsuccessful and one successful bath of zucchini muffins, I felt confident and lept into the world of crisp.

The tragedy began with a screaming toddler (whose bum was on fire with a horrible diaper rash), a warm dinner with 4 hungry people, and a clock that was ticking down quickly to afore mentioned screaming toddler's bedtime. Throw in a brand new RV oven whose pilot light had to be lit but did not want to be found quickly and three large, hungry adults and one screaming toddler all trying to squeeze past one another to light that pesky pilot light. In the middle of it all, the smoke detector started screaming (apparently it doesn't like the oven to get too much attention) and amidst the chaos and a novice "crisp" baker, I neglected to add the butter to the crisp. Who knew that this was the critical ingredient that causes a crisp to crisp!

When dinner was finished and we had chased off the grandparents back to their trailer to put Carson down, I discovered that my crisp (after 20 minutes of baking) looked no different than when I put it in. Now stressed because Carson was late to bed (and really needing his sleep), I turned the oven up to broil to REALLY crisp it up. Wrong answer. At the same time I realized the butter was still in fridge (avoiding crispation), I also discovered that we had not packed any pot holders. So now my broiling hot crisp (that was still raw oats and sugar) was stuck in the oven and my son was peaking over at me from his pack'n'play (which was balanced carefully on the dinette that formerly served us as a dinner table) and still not sleeping.

At that point I gave up. Just turned off the oven and begrudgingly admitted defeat. Just add it to the list of things I've cooked that have gone terribly wrong. We ate plain vanilla ice cream for dinner. Here is what we pulled out of the oven the next morning. At least the camper smelled

quite delightful!

Fat guy in a little coat!! We couldn't figure out why this coat looked so small on Carson until we got home and found his current coat hidden behind a toy.

Trying to stay dry!

Home sweet home!

Loving the rain and mud!Trying to sit on the running boards
Carson sat here for at least 30 minutes picking berries. Don't know what kind of berries so he couldn't eat them.
When it rains too hard, we read books!

Too cute!

Brr! It's so cold and windy out here but look it's the ocean behind us!

Time to dump the tanks! Gross!

Grandpa & Grandma Rader at the Tillamook Cheese Factory