Pumpkin Patch Fun!

We made our way to Bate's Nut Farm (mystakingly called Nate's Butt Farm on a regular basis) last weekend with some friends of ours. They have pumpkin fields, pumpkin patches, live blue grass music, a corn maze, the lamest hayride I have ever been on and a whole lot of bees!!! A long, but fun day with the kidlets.








"Hey you! Get out of my corn field! "


From left to right.....Jaedyn, Ashlyn, Cooper and the invisible Riley (just about an impossible photo to take w/ all 4 of them looking through the head holes)

Getting ready for the hoe down..

This week's events.....

At the Quail Botanical Gardens they have a kid-friendly percussion section which Jaedyn really enjoys. A cool drum, a very fun xylophone and some hanging bamboo which Jaedyn turned into a trumpet.








Super cool tree house......
Ashy wondering what on earth daddy is doing.

This little leaf bug which Jaedyn named Lenny hung out on our condo for a few days and didn't move an inch. He finally moved and we found him on our garage door (which is no-where near our condo) hanging out a few days later. Apparently he likes us.


This little praying mantis came for a visit as well.....




The view from the top of Battle Mountain. This is looking westward toward Lake Hodges which is literally drying up by the second.


This is looking eastward off of Battle Mountain. There's Mom and Dad Brill's future home....right over there in Oaks North. :0)





This was the first official hike with Ashlyn in the pack. She did great and as usual, even though she was completely exhausted she fought through the sleepiness and managed to stay awake the entire time (unlike her brother.....he fell asleep in the pack instantly every time) . Now that Ashlyn is in the backpack Jaedyn gets to be an official hiker. He did great although it took us about double the time to get up the mountain as it usually does!

The Birthday Girl

It's so hard to believe that a year has gone bye already and our little Ashlyn is already one. What a fun year it has been with this little muffin. Rob and I truly could not have asked for an easier baby. From sleeping through the night literally out of the oven, to her happy disposition despite being sleep deprived at times she brings joy to our hearts and is such a blessing.

At one year Ashlyn is currently weighing in at a whopping 16 lbs, 13 oz and is a gigantic 27" tall. This puts her in the 3rd percentile for both height and weight. Yes, she's a peanut. :) She is crawling around like a motorized vehicle, and is now able to stand up by herself for a few seconds. She has mastered crawling up the stairs and has demonstrated her amazing climbing skills on various dangerous items around the house.

Rob and I went out on a date on her birthday, but we did manage to sneak in a round of "happy birthday" followed by some cupcakes that Jaedyn and I made the previous day.

A photo shoot with the birthday girl....

Jaedyn, Ashlyn and I ventured out for a little while on Ashlyn's birthday to one of my favorite spots not far from where we live. It's a great place for pictures w/ pretty backdrops and on this particular day the clouds rolled in just in time to create some very nice lighting. Ashlyn was a great model although as you'll see from the photos she really does not like the grass. I took a bazillion pictures, but here are some of my favorites (sorry, there's a lot...I couldn't resist!)



So bummed..one of my faves, but I chopped off her head. :(
















Jaedyn was not very photogenic this day...he was a bit under the weather. But I do love this one...his Rob Crockett side. :)

Fun with Polar Bears

Allison, Kelly and I took the kids down to the zoo this past week. Now that the weather is getting a little cooler it's not so torturous to walk around and the animals are more active. Jaedyn and I have stopped to view the polar bears numerous times before and not once have they even moved for us. This day was great! The 2 polar bears were swimming around and one of them was smushed up right against the glass where Jaedyn was standing. One of them literally did a swam dive right on the glass and made the biggest splash ever. It was super fun.....Jaedyn has decided that the polar bears are right up there with his other favorite animal, the otters.


Allison and Lilly....
Carson....very much wanting my camera.