Sledding

We took the kids sledding for the first time today, and it was a bust. I'm writing this out because I think when we read it a year from now we'll be laughing.

Sprout was very excited to go sledding after getting a new snow bib and sled with Dad. We got all the snow gear in the car along with some snacks and hot chocolate and headed up the mountain. The kid couldn't wait. He went down a couple of little runs with Mr. Mitchell and then decided they needed to go to the top of a steep one. His dad obliged, and we immediately regretted it. Sprout spent the entire rest of the hour and half of the drive home yelling and crying. "I don't want to sled; I do want to sled; no, I really don't want to sled; I want to go with Mommy on the sled; no, I want Daddy to carry me; I am not going sledding; wait, why are we leaving?! I want to stay!" We're not sure why he was so upset to leave when he clearly wasn't going to have anything to do with sledding after the steep run.

Little Lady was pretty oblivious to the plans but was wailing as soon as we had her bundled in snow gear. She calmed down for a bit and even took a turn on the sled once, but it was short lived. She soon cried piteously when we set her down on the ground even throwing herself backwards into the snow and rolling around like the kid on A Christmas Story.

Daddy felt sad since he had been planning our sledding outing for a couple of weeks and was so excited to take the kids. He was, at least, able to find a bit of humor in both of our children coming unglued while looking like marshmallow babies.

I actually rather enjoyed myself.

The sad tale as told by pictures:

Carrying Sprout up per his request only to have him
 start hollering about how he's not getting on the sled.

Has no clue why we dragged her here.

Dejected.

"I'll be cute for a second before I lose it."

"I'm going to be a contradictory, ornery cuss."

A ruthless mom laughs at her crying child. Not really.
 It was more the situation I was laughing at.

Pumpkin Patch

Grammy and Grandpa Earls came for a visit, and the highlight was probably the pumpkin patch. If I don't get to a pumpkin patch my fall is incomplete, and we found one not too far from our home here in Poky.

There was a perfect photo opportunity right when we arrived.

He found it mildly entertaining. The wagon came right when we arrived so we didn't have to wait long to go and get our pumpkins.

There were many to choose from so Mr. Mitchell and I went off to find our pumpkins while Grammy and Grandpa played with Sprout.

After the wagon took us back to the entrance we went and looked at the animals, played some games, and went through the corn maze.

Sprout was completely tuckered out at this point and fell asleep in the corn maze.

It was a very fun pumpkin patch adventure. Grammy and Grandpa also spoiled us with a delicious lunch at Texas Roadhouse and new shoes for Sprout. While they were here I also got help from Mr. Mitchell and Grammy to make a Halloween wreath, and with their assistance I think it turned out pretty darn cute!

Thank you for visiting, Grammy & Grandpa!

Zoo Boise

So, I tried doing the blog monthly so that people don't have my stuff popping up in their faces all of the time. It hasn't worked for me. By the time the end of the month comes around it's a daunting task to try and put together all of the pictures, stories, events, memories, etc. that I gathered from the month. I've decided I'm going to have to break the blog down by event with perhaps a monthly wrap-up to include things that aren't necessarily covered by a single event (e.g. my little boy's awesomeness). Sorry if it becomes obnoxious! Without further ado I present ... ZOO BOISE!

We went to Zoo Boise for me. I'm not dumb enough to think that Caleb will retain any memories from things like this, but I will. I'll remember how big his eyes got when animals caught his attention, I'll remember snuggling him by the lions, and I'll love looking back on those things even though he won't remember them. Plus, as a bonus for this particular mommy-memory making situation, I just flat-out enjoy zoos; Mr. Mitchell and I hadn't been to one since we were dating, so it was time.

Bald Eagle

Giraffe skull.

C.G.'s 2nd favorite part of the zoo.

Smiley boy!

He really wanted that bottle!

It was nap time at the zoo.

Snuggling my baby at the zoo.

Keeping an eye on the monkeys.

Wallaby! 

Kookaburra - he never laughed.

Wild goose on her egg in the middle of the zoo.

He didn't want his head in there.

C.G.'s favorite was definitely the monkeys. They were the first things we saw and went back to them a couple of times just to watch C.G. watch them.

Here are the silly monkeys that C.G. liked the most because they were so loud.


Here's a video showing C.G. studying the monkeys.


For the life of me I cannot recall this little creature's name, but he was one of Mr. Mitchell's favorites because he was so nimble for his size. I thought he was a pretty cute little guy.


My favorites were the red panda and meerkats. The meerkats really enjoyed showing off for us that day.


We had a wonderful day at Zoo Boise.