yeehaw

We celebrated Olivia and Violet's third birthday with my family last Saturday along with my niece Emma's fifth birthday. It is hard enough to get my whole family together once let alone twice, so we usually tag along into Emma's party so it is easier for everyone. My sister does a great job planning, decorating and carrying out a theme - this year we had a cowgirl/western party. It was so much fun! The three birthday girls looked so adorable in their giddyup getups. It was fun to see the girls play with all of their cousins; we were so happy that everyone could make it. The kids participated in many fun activities: a scavenger hunt for candy, a pinata, and coloring/decorating pumpkins just to name a few. The girls favorite part was opening presents, of course. They loved every minute of it. After Olivia opened her present from Granny & Grandpa, I said "What do you say to them?" She looked at Granny and said, "Can I open another present?" It was pretty funny. Oh well, what can you expect from a 3-year-old!

The birthday cowgirls: Violet, Emma & Olivia:

Olivia & Violet:

Family picture:

Violet and her cake:

Olivia and her cake:

Olivia whacking the pinata:

The pinata broke!

Scavenger hunt for candy:

Violet coloring her pumpkin:

Olivia coloring her pumpkin:
Granny and the birthday girls:

Olivia tried on cousin Alex's hockey gear:

trip to the corn maze

The girls and I went to the Severs corn maze and fall festival yesterday with Terri and William. Basically, a family turned their huge corn field into a giant maze and fall fun area with a petting zoo, pony rides, pig races, big slide, bale maze, food vendors, and more. It was neat because the whole thing was surrounded by corn. We had to walk through a path in the corn field to enter and to exit. All three of the kids loved the petting zoo. Violet had no problem putting food in her hand and letting the animals eat out of her palm. Olivia was hesitant and kept saying "I'm a little scared," so she would hold out her cup of food and let the animals eat out of it. I did help her feed a camel out of her hand. She cried because she was a little scared, but she did it! We also went on a hayride, walked through the bale maze, and watched the pig races. Olivia and I went down the big slide. It was actually pretty fast, so she cried a little at the bottom, but I was proud of her for doing it. Olivia also went on a pony ride; Violet did not want to. The girls behaved pretty well even though we stayed a bit into their normal nap time. After we left, I realized that we didn't even go into the big corn maze, which looked pretty impressive from the picture. They paths through the corn were designed to create the Vikings logo with a big 50 in it for their 50th anniversary year. The girls were probably a little young for the corn maze anyway, so we'll have to try it next time. We had a lot of fun!

Olivia on her pony ride:

Getting ready for the hayride to start (both with a mouth full of animal crackers):

Violet:

Violet & Olivia:

Olivia:

Violet hugging the scarecrows:

Violet petting the goats:

Olivia feeding the goats, she was too scared to let them eat out of her hand so she just held out her cup of food:

Violet feeding the animals: Violet & Olivia walking through the bale maze:

Violet & Olivia:

fall fun

We spent the past weekend at my parent's farm. We spent a beautiful Saturday at Inspiration Peak. My parents used to take my sisters and me there when we were kids, so it brought back a lot of fond memories for me. Inspiration Peak is located about 20 miles from my parent's farm, and consists of a walking path that leads up to the top of the peak, rewarding the climber with a beautiful view. We just missed the peak fall colors, but the view was still great. My parents were there along with my sister Terri and her son William, and my sister Rhonda and her daughter Emma. Olivia and Violet did a pretty good job climbing up and down the hill, but they managed to trip and fall several times. After we descended the hill, we had a picnic lunch on one of the picnic tables just like we used to do when I was young. We all had a great time.

On Sunday, the girls and I headed over to the Suchy farm. Jamie had been there all weekend for duck hunting, but they didn't have a whole lot of luck. It was our nephew Nicholas's first time duck hunting, so Jamie was happy to take him. They shot two ducks on Saturday and two on Sunday. Nicholas got one of the ducks on his first shot, so he was pretty excited. When we got there, Olivia and Violet had fun jumping and playing in the leaves. They also picked out some pumpkins from Grandpa Suchy's garden. We took them home and displayed them on our front porch. We have certainly been enjoying this beautiful fall weather!

Olivia & Violet, getting ready to climb Inspiration Peak:

Olivia, Violet & Mommy:

Cousin Emma, Grandpa, Violet, Olivia, Granny & Cousin William:

Violet, Mommy & Olivia at the top of Inspiration Peak: Violet & Olivia jumping in a pile of leaves:Landing in the leaves:

Violet:
Olivia:

Olivia throwing leaves into the air:

Cousin Chelsey, Olivia, Violet & Cousin Nicholas: