Our Fun-Filled Family Weekend

Friday
Our annual visit to the pumpkin farm! We like to go on a weekday because it saves $3 per person, and the girls got out of school early, so it seemed like a perfect opportunity. I had my dollar-off-admission coupon printed and ready to go, but when we arrived the owner met us at the entrance and told us that one of the buildings was in a state of upheaval because renovations were behind schedule….therefore, our admission would be FREE! It was an absolutely gorgeous day, and we were one of only two families visiting that day, so we pretty much had the entire place to ourselves.

The kids' perennial favorite attraction is the corn box. Who knew a big box of corn could be so much fun?

DJ loved the corn so much he tried to hug it.

I found these matching sequined pumpkin shirts for the girls at 2 different garage sales. I was pretty excited about it!

Bee and her Dad played this life-sized tic tac toe game for quite awhile, while the little ones hung out with me in the giant spider web.

DJ, who adores animals, spent a lot of time feeding them. He kept asking for more quarters so he could buy more feed from the machines.

And of course, the kids spent a LONG time performing crazy acrobatics on the jumping pillow,

and my husband raced Bee on the pedal cars.

He's just a big kid himself, isn't he?

On the way home, we stopped at the prettiest little roadside produce stand.

I bought 2 dozen farm fresh eggs, a watermelon, a jar of local honey, onions, bell peppers, and a cucumber, and a truly giant zucchini, all for $20. Before we left, I snapped a photo of this sign, simply because I never stop being annoyed, yet somewhat entertained by all the ways in which people misuse the apostrophe.

Saturday
We went to the Heritage Days festival at a state park about an hour away, and it was a day packed with FREE family entertainment. There were so many events going on within the park that they had free shuttle buses to transport people from the parking area to the different event sites. Riding the bus was a major highlight of the day for DJ, who watches with wistful envy as his sisters board the bus for school every morning.

A highlight for me was touring this one-room schoolhouse, because when I was a little girl, I was completely OBSESSED with stuff like this, on account of my total and complete fascination with Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Little House books.

My late Father-in-law went to school in a rural, one-room schoolhouse, and we had the opportunity to visit it a few years ago. The one we toured on Saturday was still in operation in the early 1960′s, and they had many displays of class pictures and photos of school activities. They were so interesting, and I could have spent hours looking at them, but I got the feeling that my children could not truly appreciate the total awesomeness of this little school. They’re too far removed to really understand or imagine what going to school there might have been like.

Even so, they did enjoy the little kids’ craft table, which was set up with supplies for simple crafts, like line drawing bookmarks, and pipe cleaner necklaces.

Also, Bee and I learned a new skill – fork weaving! We’ve since made a whole bunch of cute little shoelace pom-poms.

Bee made some for all of her friends, and for her favorite bear's shoes too!

Those who hold the belief that children today are unable to appreciate sweet, simple activities should really visit this festival. My kids, and the dozens of other kids who were running around, thoroughly enjoyed every fun, free opportunity to try or make something new.

Making "tree cookie" necklaces

Creating giant bubbles with two sticks, some twine, and a bucket of soapy water

Bee found out that she really enjoys archery, and she's a natural at it.

DJ admired the beautiful view from the mill window

Finally, they did it!

DJ was so upset that he was too little to try the two-man saw.

Doesn't that single, enormous crocodile tear just about break your heart?

Fortunately, a hot dog and soda made him feel much better.

I honestly believe that kids are happy no matter what you do with them. It doesn’t have to be expensive or extravagant – they just want you to spend time with them.

One of the “buckskinners” (reenactors of the North American fur trade era) had some Native American beads and an animal headdress hanging outside his teepee, and DJ was totally enthralled by them.

He accidentally broke one of the bead strings (he wasn’t being rough or rambunctious – the string was just very delicate and fragile), and I felt so terrible, and apologized profusely, but the owner was unfazed. He’d taken a shine to DJ (as often happens), and he told us not to worry about it.

DJ felt bad and was upset. He said, “I sorry….I didn’t mean to,” so to make him feel better, this very kind man let DJ wear the fur headdress.

Just for fun, the rest of us tried it on, too (click to enlarge).

This was such a fun-filled, relaxing day. We’re planning to go back again next year!

Sunday
We helped my Mom-in-law celebrate her 75th birthday. We took her out for lunch at her favorite steakhouse,

DJ didn't care about his food - he just wanted to eat peanuts.

Then we went to my Mom-in-law’s house for cake and ice cream. I made her a chocolate Texas sheet cake with homemade chocolate buttercream frosting.

His Grandma has some little cars that DJ loves to play with, but she also has a glass-topped coffee table. I noticed that DJ was hovering near the coffee table with cars in hand, and he seemed troubled. I asked him what was wrong, and he said, “I don’t wanna skwatch tay-bow…..” He actually remembered that last time we visited Grandma, we put a towel over the coffee table so he could play without damaging it (I couldn’t believe it…I mean, he’s only 2 1/2). He very carefully helped me move Grandma’s treasures off the table, and then we spread out the towel, and he played contentedly for a long time after that.

He’s such a good, sweet boy. This was a long weekend for him, with no naps for three (3!) days, and yet he was as good as gold. He was very, very tired tonight, though. After his bath, he came to me, clutching his kee-kee under his arm, and said, “Mommy, I wanna go bed now.”

I don’t blame him because I’m pretty exhausted too, but I LOVE weekends like this. They create special family memories that last forever.

Tagged as: Children, Daily Life, Holidays and Celebrations