Tanaka Farms

This weekend we went to Tanaka Farms in Irvine. We all had a blast! The kids got to pick vegetables (carrots, onion, radish and green beans), which was a first for all of them. They also played in the mazes, the wheelbarrows, huge pumpkin patch and the petting zoo. We also saw a cool pumpkin launcher, which we all enjoyed watching! Lauren has overcome another one of her fears... petting zoo animals. She is no longer afraid of sheep, goats and pigs. She pet them and followed them all around. We have two more fears to overcome- pony rides and Santa Claus. Anyways, Tanaka Farms is a fun place to take the kids. Different times during the year they also have strawberry and watermelon picking. We will definitely be back for the strawberry's. I am also missing Riley's Farm and want to go back and see some more. I am craving an apple dumpling with carmel on top. They looked so good there and the line was way to long to get it when we left. We just might have to make another trip back there soon.

This week is going to be another busy week. Today the kids were off of school and so we went to Disneyland. Despite the winds, junk in our eyes, and being crowded, we had a good time. We had to go take some more pictures with the characters for Lauren. We went on a couple rides ,then decided to head over to California Adventure (less crowds). We went on some rides there, ate tortillas and sourdough bread (only thing free at Disneyland), and saw a couple shows. One of the shows was the Bugs Life show. Lauren actually sat all by herself with her 3-D glasses on and watched the show without moving at all. That show is kind of scary. She didn't move when the stinger went in her back (which actually hurts), the water sprayed in her face or the bugs crawled under her bottom (it's really the seat moving in areas). When the show was over, Amanda said she started to cry when it got dark and the fog sprayed in her face, which I think she was kidding (I didn't see any signs of tears and she told me with a smile on her face) and Lauren said she liked it when the bugs crawled under her seat. Blake of course liked it too. I would not suggest that show for young children though. Most kids would cry, especially with the glasses on. The rest of the week consists of school conferences for both Blake and Amanda, a Cub Scout meeting, a Daisy Troop parent meeting (yea, finally), a research project study (yea, free money), a birthday party, work, practices and games. Yep, a busy week.

Blake's carrot. He's very proud of it!

We picked 3 little pumpkins.

Corn Maze

Petting the goats

Fun on the farm.

My Bible Class

I just got done teaching the 2 and 3 year old class at church. I have been teaching them for 6 months now. We have A LOT of kids in the class. This picture is most of them minus about 3. The class would range from 12- 16 kids on Sundays. All of the kids were so well behaved and a pleasure to teach. The first quarter I had about six new 2 year old's who had never been away from their parents before. So there were a few tears, but they got over it quickly and now come into class with a big smile on their face and are very confident. The kids are so well behaved, sit on the carpet nicely, treat each other nicely, say their memory verses, sing songs and are all around a good group of kids. I had a fun time teaching these guys. I will now have a break for a little bit and go into the adult class, but will be back in January for another round.

Trying to get 14 kids to all look at the camera and smile was a difficult task, but this was the best picture I could get. It's hard enough trying to get my three to all smile at the same time.

Big Girl Lauren!

Lauren finally decided she was ready to go and hug one of the Disneyland characters. Blake and Amanda were never scared the of characters and I could always get their pictures taken with them with no problem. They would even go off with them if I would let them, but Lauren, no way! She has had nothing to do with them until now. She convinced herself at home that she was going to go and give Minnie Mouse a big hug. So we went to Disneyland last night and when we came in guess who we saw right away...Minnie Mouse (dressed in her Halloween costume). Lauren was excited to see her, but I don't think she cared for her costume. I asked her if she wanted to go give her a hug and she said yes. I could see the nervousness in her face but she didn't back out, which is what she has always done in the past. When it was her turn she went up and gave Minnie a hug and she stood by her so I could get a picture. That was a big accomplishment for her. Of course we all made a big deal and she said she wanted to see Goofy next, but he was no where around. We went over to Woody's Roundup where there was a little singing show going on and Woody and Jessie were there. Lauren had no interest in seeing Woody, but decided after about 10 minutes and with Amanda's help that Jessie would be o.k. to see. She gave her an even bigger hug and sat for another picture. Hopefully our scare of characters is over and she can enjoy seeing them when we go to Disneyland.

Lauren is also fully potty trained! It has been about 2 weeks now and it was so easy to do. She was beyond ready. I just wasn't ready this summer to do it. But she got it in about 2 days and now she's a big 2 year old! Yea Lauren!

Riley's Farm

Well, we've been up to the same ol' stuff. School, practices, games, school, practices, games...you know that's all our life consists of at the time. We try to squeeze in some fun like having school friends over, going to Disneyland, going to Angel games and this Saturday we went to Riley's Farm in Oak Glen. That was a lot of fun. We went with my sister, Matt and the kids. The kids all had a great time! I have been hearing about this place a lot recently and decided to try it out. It's located in Yucaipa and you can pick apples, pears, raspberries, and pumpkins. We decided to stick with the apples this time. There are tons of apple trees with different types of apples and you pay for a bag and fill it up. There are also tours you can go on and other different things you can do, but we just walked around and picked apples. We went on a long hike through the hills looking for the green apples that Bryan wanted, but didn't have much luck in finding them. By that time it was starting to drizzle, Jack was shivering and everyone was starving. We will have to do it again next year, my kids liked it a lot! Other than that there has been nothing really exciting going on.

Blake is doing really well at soccer and baseball. He usually always scores at least one goal a game at soccer and I'm pretty sure they will be going to city cup finals. They haven't lost a game yet. In baseball he likes to play catcher and pitcher and does great at both. Today he played catcher and struck two kids out who were running home. The play looked just like the professionals. He's really enjoying his sports and they are lots of fun to watch. So, here are a few pictures of the last week or so.

Lauren has a lot of apples!

Blake and Amanda having fun!

All the kiddos under the apple tree.

Angel Game

The kids with friends from school (Amanda & Aaron).