Pumpkin Patchin'

On Saturday we went to Aplin Farms! We had a great time visiting with the animals...

And playing in/on the inflatables...

I seriously loved the slide and may have overly encouraged that we keep going on it...

We also loved being pumpkin heads...

And when we needed a little snack/drink break, we hopped on the train for a ride through the sunflower fields...

After resting up on our train ride, we took a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch, and we sniffed beautiful sunflowers...

We hunted for the perfect pumpkin...

Makaela may or may not have grabbed one, yelled "bAWWWL!" (ball) and rolled it aggressively. Oops. 

We explained they were pumpkins and she looked at us like we were nuts, and requested a "han" (hand) to hold and continue walking through the field. She tripped and face planted in the dirt approximately 7 times, but who's counting?

Turns out she did know what pumpkins were because a little later she started greeting all of the pumpkins. "Hi Pum Hi Pum!" and then she would bend down and kiss it. 

Lottttts of love for dem pumpkins...

And when we told her we had to leave to get back on the wagon, you guessed it, she changed her tune to "Bye Pum!" and the kissing continued...

What a great time we had, and what a different experience from last year. Look how little baby Mak was last Fall!

That little pumpkin butt was just starting solid foods and hadn't even learned to crawl yet. Things sure do change fast!

Who you calling a pumpkin butt??

Oktoberfest!

Last night we went to Oktoberfest in our neighborhood. We knew what to expect because we had gone last year, so we were super stoked for Makaela to experience all the kid stuff she was too small to enjoy last year.

It was actually a bit "chilly" so Makaela rocked her skinny jeans and her Converse - her first pair of lace up shoes, ah!

And she helped herself to a juice box for the road...

Because the festival was only two blocks from our house, we just strolled on over. Yay for not having to search for a parking spot!

First we walked around and looked at everything, because we knew once miss thang was out of her stroller there would be no going back.

And we enjoyed some not very authentic German food, and beer with Oktoberfest in the name ;-)

There were lots of activities for the kids - pumpkin painting, face painting, zip lines, bounce houses, pony rides and more. 

Makaela loved running (and sometimes marching) around, waving to everyone and of course making friends along the way. 

I didn't expect her to want to go in the bounce house because a month ago when she was exposed to one it made her nervous, but she surprised me and confidently ran right over to the bounce house and began to climb in!! See ya later mom!

For the most part she preferred to crawl around, but every once in awhile she'd stand up and give a little bounce, bounce. 

We were so proud of her for trying something new, and LOVED watching her hang and play with the other kids. It was impossible not to smile from ear to ear. 

After the excitement of the bounce house she was ready to go check out the ponies! 

"You mean I get to sit ON TOP of an animal?!"

At first she kept saying "moo moo." LOL. Then we reminded her these were horses, and then she was all about "nay nay." 

Last time she rode a pony, Daddy walked with her, this time Mama walked along side her girl, while Daddy captured some nice photos. 

She absolutely loved it and did not seem hesitant at all. What a happy girl!!

After a couple rounds she started waving to everyone as she passed by. Such a ham. 

At the end we told her she could pet the horse "just like you pet Ginger." 

She did a great job being gentle and I think her horse friend liked the pets ;-)

After the pony ride, we burst her bubble and told her it was time to go home. Makaela waved to us, said "bah!" and ran off in the opposite direction. Sorry sweetheart, you have to go home WITH us.

She cried most of the way home as Tim and I took turns carrying her because she was wiggling out of control. The only bad part of having fun is that it has to come to an end!