First horse rides

One of Sandi's co-workers has a 3-acre mini-farm with miniature horses and chickens. She invited everyone for a potluck and promised all the kids rides on the horses. We jumped at this opportunity.

It was a beautiful November Saturday.  The drive down to Corvallis was amazing.  The food was plentiful and delicious.  Best of all, both Amber and Taryn had fun with the horses.  Each petted the friendliest horse and Amber gave her a carrot.  (Sandi and I was sure Amber would shy away from an animal 10x her size, but she was pretty taken with them.)

The saddles are special kids saddles - these miniature horses can only carry 75 pounds.

Taryn even got a turn. 

Amber also got to ride in a carriage!

It was a pretty special day for us.  We drove home the back way enjoying the spectacular fall colors and the girls' car naps.

Trick or Treat!

 This year Amber was a mouse....

 ... and Taryn was a ladybug.

 We had a great time taking the girls around the block.  Amber chose the spooky houses (and only on one side of the street).  We tried to get her to say 'Trick or Treat' but she couldn't because "she lost her balance" each time. Our neighborhood is great for trick-or-treating because the houses are far apart and there was a reasonable amount of families going through.

We got home and they checked out their booty.

yummmm!

Getting Ready for Halloween

After our pumpkin outing we were ready to carve pumpkins.  Grandma and Grandpa came down the weekend before Halloween so it was the perfect time to carve our pumpkins. 

Amber wanted to paint her pumpkins so we got our her color pallet and created master pieces.

Annual Trip to Home Depot

It is now a tradition for us to make a family trek to Home Depot to see spooky things. Amber reminded us this year because she had such a great time looking at the dragons on display last year.

I'm pretty sure this was Taryn's first time, but she confidently took the wheel and drove to the spooky scary section.

Amber loved it!  The witches, goblins, cats and ghosts enthralled her.  Taryn held it together until the headless horseman's horse spooked her.  We then bailed on the spooky stuff and consoled Taryn by looking at the Christmas decorations across the way.  I had a little shopping to do so I took Taryn in search of a scraper and Sandi took Amber through the Halloween section again. 

Taryn's First Bikeride (poor Taryn)

I had to pick up Amber from preschool one day.  Though it is only a half-hour walk from our house, I decided to expose Taryn to the joys of bike riding.  It was not only her first ride, it was her first solo ride in the trailer.

This captures Taryn's first ride in the bike trailer.  I don't think it was the ride as much as the helmet required to ride.  

Amber is a pro at this.  Taryn calmed down considerably when Amber joined her for the ride home,
though she still wasn't took keen on the helmet.

This is what Taryn thinks of Daddy blogging about her first ride in the trailer

The pumpkin patch

Living on the urban growth boundary gives us great access to local farms (and wineries).  Each fall we make a pumpkin run and an apple run.  This year we visited Hoffman farm with 'this' Grandma and Grandpa

.  They have a tractor that takes you two their pumpkin patch.   

riding the train out to the pumpkin patch with Grandma and Grandpa

Daddy and Taryn found the perfect one

I love these two photos of Amber because they capture her contemplative/content smile

This is such a beautiful place!

Down at the farm

Recently we went to our favorite farm 'Smith Berry Barn' to see the goats and chickens.  It was a beautiful Friday afternoon for a wagon ride.

Taryn insisted on pulling her own.

A few cute photos I came across

What else do you do when your princess Amber asks for your hat and sunglasses

Taryn taking a snack break on the way to see Grandma and Grandpa

Amber giving her friends a ride in the bike trailer while camping with Grandma and Grandpa

Taryn on a beautiful summer day

Mommy reading to Taryn

My funny Amber wearing her snowsuit in May

Ambers 4th Birthday!

Our sweet little girl turn 4 today!  This was fun because Amber is finally old enough to appreciate birthdays.  She really wanted mommy to make chocolate cupcakes with white frosting so we could sing Happy Birthday to her while she blew out candles.

So we did

a xylaphone

said cupcakes (yum!)

a Princess book

Taryn wanting to play the xylophone

Happy birthday Amber.  We love you!