Free For Fall (Part 2)

Our next event in the Free For Fall 2011 lineup was a stop in Poplarville, Mississippi and The Blue Jack Ridge Farm.
We were invited by Mason Lamonico, Jacob best bud at school (even though they are not in the same class this year). This farm was a bit more "touristy" than the first one, but I actually enjoyed it more. The theme was geared more toward Western style games, complete with a saloon. The highlight of the overall farm, though, is the corn maze, which we actually went through.

There was also a petting zoo. Jacob is proving to be a much braver boy than I ever was at his age. Check out the slide in one of the pictures below. He went down that with Mason several times without hesitation. It probably took me until seventh grade to do something like that! He also went on a ride (by himself) through the air. I would call it a slow "Tilt-A Whirl" type ride but again neither Su nor I ever expected he would do this alone. Very proud of our big boy for trying new things! My personal favorite moment was when the free roaming pig decided to try to come try to take a bite of Jacob's snowball.

Free For Fall (Part 1)

What an October it has been! I cannot remember a period of time, up until now, where it seems that something is going on every weekend. It is certainly always a fun time of year with Halloween festivals aplenty, followed by Thanksgiving and Christmas. We started it off THREE weekends ago with two trips to two different farms in two days. We'll start tonight with the first trip to a place called Red Bluff Farms in Folsom, a small rural town outside of nearby Covington.

They regularly host school field trips and open the farm during this time of year with some sort of Pumpkin Patch theme. The pumpkins were frankly a bit scarce but the fun was not.

Among other things, we got to:
See a live sheep sheering
See a cow give milk
Feed a baby calf
Ride in a horse buggy
Take a tour of the farm
See bees making honey
Pick the few pumpkins that remained
Pet baby goats and pigs
Ride antique tractors

We also ran into several people that we knew, which made for a fun day. Here are some photos of the event.

Park Partners

I took the Brister brothers to the park on Sunday for a bit of playtime. The weather here is still very hot so we only lasted about an hour. I managed to snap a few pictures during that time. The fun including a game of chase all over the park (Patrick was doing the chasing, although I'm not sure he realized it), see-saw, swinging, sliding, and everything in between. They had a blast!

Pi-Booooo

In completely, totally unrelated news, I'd like to wish my beloved bride a Happy Anniversary. And not just any! 10 years!!! It is hard to believe that the time has passed so fast. I am very proud of my wife, the best mother that I could've ever asked for. She is a true blessing in my life. Happy Anniversary, Su!

And now a gift from Patrick, to the blog world.

Finding Nemo

This is a great video that is a couple of weeks old. You may remember the neighbor's cat, Nemo, who used to come around the house quite often and bother George. We rarely see him anymore. However, one random day, he paid us a visit. Patrick was very excited to see him.

School Daze 2011

Yes, seriously, Patrick is now in school. Today marked the first official school day of the year. As a refresher, this is a mother's morning out program at one of the local churches. Jacob has been going since he was one year old and now it's Patrick's turn.

Suzanne was given a good report by the teachers of both boys. Patrick was held a lot and was flirting with falling asleep for periods of time. He did not eat lunch until she picked him up. But he made it through the full day (9AM-1PM), which was a "win" in our book.

Jacob was a bit shy, which is not unusual. It takes a while for him to warm up to new people. Once he does, he is very sociable. One of his teachers was moved up from the two years class so she brings a familiar face.

Here are some pictures taken just before loading up for the ride to school! They look very official, I think.

August Ramblings

A special "hello" to my grandmother Granny who I know has been waiting patiently for a new blog post. This little global economic crisis has prevently me from doing much of anything other than work. Although the issues have not died down, I figured I needed a breather! The month of August is almost over and I've not gotten one picture on here. So the following is a collection of happenings from the month.

Jacob before heading to the pool on his "cell phone"

Patrick looking "buff"

Perhaps my favorite picture of all time. The boys waiting on their daddy to come home from work. The best feeling I have every day!
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Two weeks ago, we took the boys to Hammond to a quaint, but new and nice, children's museum. There were plenty of great activities for kids their age. They had a blast.

Patrick checking out his guns

Jacob listening to some music from up above

His favorite. Playing cashier at Middendorf's a famous seafood place about 40 miles away.

This is not real Middendorf's food :)

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The day after the Hammond trip, we were invited to join Reece, Porter, Mack, and Lindsey at Mack's mother house in The Rigolets, also about 40 miles away. The Parnells came and the kids enjoyed themselves. The real winner was dog, Jake, who got to eat up all of the table scraps dropped by seven children.

Back on the homefront, Patrick is really growing up. He tries to do everything his older brother does. Here he is eating with his fork. He does *not* like for you to help him.

And he LOVES George. I wish I had the video camera here. He's likely saying. KITTTYYYYYYYYY. HIIIII, KITTTYYYYYY. And if any of you know rough George, it's a minor miracle he hasn't swatted him. Patrick is not afraid, regardless. And George allows both boys to have their way with him. They're a tight knit group!