Pumpkin Patch, the sequel

Gallup hosted employees and their families for an afternoon at the pumpkin patch and we took advantage of a gorgeous, warm fall day to explore parts we hadn't seen before.

Kate says, "This isn't Papa's tractor. Papa's tractors are green. This one is Beauty's, it matches her dress."

Yep, that's panic on her face. NOT a fan of the rug slide.

Kate and her friend Avni from preschool waiting in line to ride the train. Kate LOVED seeing her friends outside of school.

(Oh and we're in that stage where every time I say "smile!" I get this face. Awesome.)

Tradition

In keeping with fall tradition, the littlest Hoybook and a pile of leaves.

Tiny Dancer

Our little social butterfly tore it up on the dance floor at the wedding. A very blurry photo sampling below...

The Event of the Season

I had been waiting for last weekend to come for such a long time. When I think about, I've probably been waiting three and half years for it. Ever since I met Brittany and Tanner I knew that they were going to end up like this. Married!

We just got back from an awesome weekend in Raleigh, North Carolina for their gorgeous and personal wedding. I was so honored to be asked to be a bridesmaid and since the entire wedding party was coming in from all over, it was the best blend of people (and accents!) anyone could have asked for.

We flew in on Thursday so I could hang with the girls and then spent Friday morning at Pullen Park. The oldest "amusement park" in the country, it had a carousel, train, pedal boats and a playground. Pretty much Kate's favorite place ever.  This is her first carousel ride, on the back of a giraffe.

 For her second act, she chose the ever graceful ostrich.

I think Kate is pouting in the this shot because the turtle we saw went back underwater. Turtles just don't listen.

 Wedding day. The ladies walking over to the meadow for the ceremony.

 Me and my girl all fancy.

 The ceremony site was in a meadow, followed by a reception in the most beautiful old barn.

 I would say the dance floor was Kate's favorite spot, but running a close second was this DIY photo booth outside. "Let's go be silly and take our picture." Ok kiddo, whatever you want.

Brittany the beautiful bride, little miss scary face and me. Gorgeous shots from the professional photographers can be found here: Brittany and Tanner are married!

The day after the wedding, we explored downtown Raleigh, including the North Carolina State Capitol.

And revisited Pullen Park one more time. Kate was pretty much the very best traveler ever during the entire trip, so we owed her one more carousel ride. Her animal of choice? A reindeer of-course.

 The Goodsons and the Hoybooks. We miss these two tremendously and wish them the happiest years together!

The First Annual Hoybook Bowl

B and I spent eight Thanksgivings in Portland together. Some of those were spent at Marilyn and Tim's mountain cabin, some spent in Portland with friends, one even included my parents. Of the times we stayed in town, very often these Thanksgivings included a football game of some sort. (The staff at my REI store always organized a game since we all had stay in town to work on Black Friday.)

It was a tradition that B and I wanted to start here with our friends in Omaha. Last year, I got everyone rounded up and made plans for a Thanksgiving football game, only to be thwarted at the last minute because the high on Thanksgiving Day was going to be 25. Brr.

This year, we decided to just move it up a bit and over the weekend, we hosted the First Annual Hoybook Bowl.

Moms and kids versus dads might not have been completely fair, but I'm happy to report that there were no injuries and since we didn't really keep score, no losers either. :)

Chickens, tricycles & ponies...

Just another day at the pumpkin patch.

 With Hudson and Harper, enthusiastically waiting in the pony ride line.

 Taking a bounce break with Harper and Mindy.

Happy Autumn!

Conversations with Kate

Overheard from the backseat, Kate: "Hmm...I can't find my magical powers, I wonder where they are."

While reading a bike racing brochure, Kate: "Let me read this to you. It says, I love you stinky face."

Mommy: "Kate, did you know milk comes from cows?"
Kate: "Yeah, I knew that. It comes out of their butts."

While sitting on the potty chair, Kate: "Mommy, I have really big poops and you have tiny, little poops, right?"

Kate: "When I am bigger, I will get to ride roller coasters and lift lots of heavy pumpkins. I'm so excited to be bigger!"

Kate: "I need to call my boyfriend."
Mommy: "What do you need to tell him?"
Kate: "I need more food. I ran out of cake!"