Pumpkin Everything

Our October has been so busy.  Between Disney and the weather and soccer - we haven't had a chance to go to the Pumpkin patch this year which is my FAVORITE thing! So I was determined to get there this past weekend.  Saturday was SO cold but Sunday was nice so we left after church and ate lunch and went straight to the patch.  It was the last day it was open for the season so we slipped in just in time.  

And it was SO worth it.  It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun.  

My favorite part was how much Will Holden loved it.  He was running around so happy! 

We go to McGarrah Farm in Pea Ridge.  We also love Farmland Adventures in Springdale.  I LOVE this pumpkin tree/display.  

Will Holden would have climbed on the train play set the entire time if we would have let him.

But there were more things to do.  

He loved the Mule Train and rode it twice.  

I mean.  How can you NOT love fall??????????

Pumpkin dresses.  Pumpkins.  The leaves.  Cider.  Kettle Corn.  Fall is just the best! 

We went on a hay ride.  I couldn't get over how still Will Holden sat for the whole thing.  He kept his little hand on my leg and just sat and looked around.  I couldn't quit smiling.  

The girls were DYING to have their faces painted.  They had to go to choir and GA's at church that night and they totally went in their faces.  And were so happy.  

So much can change in two years.  I try not to get weepy when I look at this.  

I had an unfortunate trip to the ER when I was 12 after a pumpkin carving party. This was before carving kits - when we used big knives. I haven’t wanted to carve a pumpkin since. But the girls begged me this year and I don’t want them to have a childhood without the memory of carving pumpkins so we did it today after school. And it was fun!!! I’m glad my kids teach me and take me out of my comfort zone. 

I baked the pumpkin seeds.  I made half salty and half with cinnamon and sugar.  I'm the only one in the family who liked them.  ha! 

I've written this many times before but  I truly mean it.  Every fall when I was single or especially before we had kids - I would be so sad because I dreamed so much of the day I could go to a pumpkin patch with my "family" and take my kids and put them in orange clothes.  It was one of my main dreams as I waited for a family.  I was always sad seeing pictures of families doing that together because I wanted it to be me.  I just want you to know ........ if you are still waiting - your pumpkin patch days are coming. 

Don't give up the dream of your pumpkin patch! 

Ducks, Slime, and Weddings

Now that I have recapped all of our Disney trip - I'm back to blogging regular life.  Here is a little peek into what we have been up to for the last week.  

Last Saturday night, our friend Timesia had a record release party and the girls and I went.  Timesia has a horrible neurological illness called NMO.  She has overcome so much and now she is helping people in the same boat with a foundation she has started.  Her album is helping raise money for that. We are so proud of her! 

Harper has been having headaches a lot for a while - mostly during school hours.  So, we went to our pediatrician first and then we went to see her eye doctor last week.  She is a little far sighted.  So we got her glasses for reading and screens.  She was THRILLED.  She was hoping for glasses and I was hoping she wouldn't have my eye sight (which is not good).  Her doctor said it would correct itself in another year or two but I have a happy girl with darling Vera Bradley glasses on my hands.  

Thursday night we had a double date with our friends the Robertsons.

Ok maybe not.

There was a charity dinner for Help One Now held at our friend's awesome barn and we were so lucky to be apart of it.  I had met Korie about 5 years ago at a Dot Mom event and had dinner with her.  She remembered me which I was shocked by.   We took this picture during the mingling hour and then we went in to sit at our table which was right next to the stage.  And as we sat down - our babysitter called and Will Holden had thrown up.  

sigh

So we ended up leaving before we could even sit down.  I was so sad.  But thankfully - Will Holden really wasn't sick.  He had just eaten a lot and then got mad when it was time to go to bed and made himself sick.  

Friday was costume day at our school and Fall party day.  This was the first year the kids were allowed to wear costumes at school.  The first 20 years of the school it was year round and always out of school during Halloween.  It was a fun day for the kids! And Bless the teachers.  

Friday morning I got to attend a brunch for Help One Now with Korie Robertson.  It was an intimate party and just about 30 women.  It was a great group of women gathered and I had a good time visiting with a lot of them.  And it was wonderful to hear more about the work Help One Now is doing.  

Love all these ladies! 

Then I was off to school to run Harper's party.  The hard part about having two kids in elementary school is they both have parties at the same time and I can only be at one if I'm helping. Thankfully I can switch off for the next party.  

I lost my mind a little and had the kids make slime.  This is the recipe I use.  Only I had regular glue and added food coloring.  But the kids and I made this recipe at home and it worked great! 

Saturday Harper had swim team.  The Razorbacks played at 11 and the game was going really awful so the girls and I left to run to Target to shop for our operation Christmas child boxes and to get a few other things.  And then I got a text from Scott that we ended up winning the game.  Miracles still happen!  

Saturday night I met some friends at a wedding reception.  

We may have had some photo booth fun! ha! 

So thankful for these friends of mine. 

Sunday was a special day.  Our friend Joseph was baptized and we were there to help him! 

Such a sweet boy.  

It's been a busy but great week! 

Disney Vacation - Magic Kingdom

Our last day we spent at the Magic Kingdom.  

We had a fast pass to see Belle's Enchanted Tales.  It was so cute and the girls loved meeting Belle.  

We took a few last pictures.  

I'm telling you - get the photo package!!! 

This was the one day we didn't carry ponchos and this was the one day it rained.  But we didn't let it ruin our fun and it didn't last too long.   We rode a few rides we didn't before - like the Pirates ride.  And we re rode a few things.  

We took the train around the park.  

It really is pretty to go at Fall.  I have heard Jan/Feb is a good time because it's less crowded and cool so that's when we hope to go next time.  

We had a snack break.  

We had a fast pass to meet Little Mermaid.  

She was SO lovely.  I wrote an IG post saying I wondered if the princess' did their own makeup and how much money they made and things about if they broke character.  Apparently there are you tube channels where they show how do their makeup.  And they also can't say they are a certain character .....they have to say they are "friends" with that character.  I actually ended up hearing from a few "friends" and it was so interesting.  

This sweet face shows it all! 

We met Tinkerbell. 

By this 5th day - we were all kind of over the crowds.  Everything had long lines so we ended up just leaving earlier than we had planned.  

We had reservations that night at O'Hana at the polynesian.  I loved this hotel because it reminded me of being in Hawaii.  

This was hands down my favorite meal of the week.  If I lived in Orlando I would be trying to eat there at least once a month.  It's family style and they bring you salad and noodles, vegetables and delicious pot stickers.  Then they bring around steak, chicken and shrimp on sticks.  And the dessert was this amazing banana bread pudding with a caramel sauce.  

We were all stuffed but we had to use up our snack credits and have a dole whip before we said goodbye to Disney.  

Love these people

We were back up bright and early the next day and flew home.  We were so ready to see our boy.  He was happy to see us but he also had the best week with his grandparents.  

We had a really fun time.  I want to go back.......but probably not for about 3-4 years.  We want to take Will Holden when he is around 5 or 6.  I look forward to that! 

If anyone has questions on Disney - maybe you have a trip coming up - ask them in the comments and all you Disney lovers can help me answer!!!! 

Disney Vacation - Hollywood Studio

Okay - you have been asking!!! The girls shoes - you can find the link HERE! We have the rose gold.  But they have pink, silver and black as well!! And only around $25! My girls wore them all around Disney and never complained of their feet hurting.  They wear them to school nearly every day too!

AND if you are jealous and want your OWN pair - they have them in adult sizes too!!!!

Well after we rode Avatar - we knew we had to ride it again.  So we changed our plans.  Our original plan for Tuesday was Hollywood studios and then back to Epcot and we had dinner plans there.  Steve checked in to change our plans but our only real option was to do a character breakfast at Hollywood that morning.  We were up for a big breakfast so we took it.  

Love these girls.  

They weren't super excited about Disney Jr characters but they humored us for pictures anyway.  We just kept saying how much WH would have liked to see Doc McStuffins. ha! 

They had an ice cream machine (yes at breakfast.  Hey we were on vacation) and Hollis came back with a HUGE dish.  She said "Handy Manny did it for me".   Apparently he had pushed the lever for her.  I don't know why we thought that was funny but it was.  

Hollis wanted to meet the ducks! :-) 

I know it's small but we really loved Hollywood studios.  It helped that this day was about 20 degrees cooler than the others.  And it was 80% less crowded.  But it has some fun rides and we had a great time.  

Their faces - I love it! 

We rode Star Tours about 3 times.  We loved it.  We saw Frozen Sing Along which we loved.  They had this really funny guy that starred in it and so Scott even loved it.  ha! I mean - it snows on you in the end! We also loved the Toy Story ride.   We ate a quick lunch there and then we headed back to Animal Kingdom.  

We rode all of our favorite rides again.  It was starting to rain so we put on ponchos and wore the river ride.  

I loved Hollis in this Snow White outfit! 

Then we waited two hours in the Avatar ride line.  Yes Two hours.  It was SO worth it.  The girls couldn't get over that we got in line when it was light outside and came out when it was dark.  We shut down the park and were all hungry so we decided to go eat at the Rainforest Cafe.  The girls thought it was so fun to eat there.  

It was maybe my favorite day.  Just relaxing and fun and not super hot.  

Tomorrow I'm going to do my last recap.  If you have any questions on anything - I will be happy to answer it on that post!!!