More Fun at the Orchards

In the past week, we visited two more apple/pumpkin orchards on different days.  We went again with our friends Jack and Charlie and then we went over the weekend with Daddy.  I know I have mentioned this before, but Minnesota really has a lot of these and it is the fun thing to do in the fall.  The trees are gorgeous colors, the weather is crisp and cool, and there are lots and lots of outdoor activities.  It is a fun, albeit somewhat exhausting, day!  Let's just say that the boys (and I) were more than ready to go to bed at the end of our days at the orchard.  Finn was a trooper at each orchard and thankfully the weather was cool, yet warm enough for him to come along.  The pictures tell the story and I have lots to include on this post!

Corn Pit with our friends

Liam and Jack in the corn pit

Luke, Liam, and AJ (courtesy of Kirsten while I was feeding Finn)

Reading the map in the corn maze

Jumping pillow with our friends Jack and Charlie.  The boys loved this!!  Aiden was even able to do it a little with his leg.

This will WEAR. THEM. OUT.

Corn Maze with Jack, Charlie, and little brother Andy

More Corn Maze

Cow Train

Shooting apples 

Sweet Finn was a trooper

Watching other people shoot apples into the field

John was the entertainer here and everyone followed

Corn pit with Finn.  No, Finn is not sitting on his own yet so this was making me nervous.

Waiting for a bite of the caramel apple

Picking out our pumpkins

Luke

Aiden is "king of the hay"

Buried in Corn.  We have been washing corn in our laundry for about a week now.

An interesting fact about bees:  "All worker bees are female."  Enough said.  

Daddy and the Boys

Daddy and Finn 

Visit with Grandma and Grandpa Carrithers

We enjoyed a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Carrithers over the weekend.  They were here to meet Finn as well as enjoy some time with Luke, Liam, and Aiden.  Despite the rainy weekend, we had a wonderful time.  The boys enjoyed trips to the Science Museum and Aquarium as well as time to work on puzzles, legos, and read books with Grandpa and Grandma.  I failed to take a lot of pictures over the weekend, but will post a few cute ones I managed to take.  Most of all, the boys loved all the extra attention and having someone new to play with and talk to.  Thanks for visiting, Grandma and Grandpa Carrithers!

For our 11th anniversary, John gave me a set of "Willow Tree" figurines by an artist named Susan Lordi.  Each figurine represents a member of our family and the children are each called "roses in my garden."  I found the following quote from the artist very poignant.  

"Roses are a universal symbol of love.  Like children, they require extra care, patience, and hard work from the gardener.  But when they bloom, they're outstanding.  Their combination of intense fragrance, color, and beautiful form is worth all the effort." 

MR. ANIMATION!  I took these pictures of Aiden entertaining Finn one morning after the big boys had gone to kindergarten.  Aiden is so animated and loves to entertain his brother Finn.  Actually, he loves to entertain just about anyone, but Finn is very attentive!

Watching Aiden 

Grandpa reading books to the boys before bed

Hanging out with Grandma, Daddy, and Finn

Working on Star Wars legos with Grandpa.  Luke is very into legos and Star Wars right now.  

Finn at a little over 2 months

Grandma Carrithers and Finn

Grandpa reading books again!  John and I enjoyed watching and the boys had a great time with Grandpa

A Day at the Apple Orchard

Minnesota has some amazing apple and pumpkin orchards that are packed full of things to do every fall.  We have a few of our favorites that we try to visit each year.   I am not sure, however, that I would classify where we went recently as an apple orchard because it has so many other fun things to do.  Other than the yummy caramel apple we bought, I am not sure the boys will ever associate it as an apple orchard.  The weather cooperated recently on a non school day so we went with our best friends.  The boys enjoyed holding the baby chickens, playing in the corn, feeding the goats and cows, taking a tractor ride, playing in the pumpkins, and more.  It is truly one of our favorite things to do each fall.  It will be sad next year when the big boys (Luke, Liam, Jack, and Charlie) are in full day, every day school and we will miss our fun trips to the orchards during the week when it isn't crowded.  But, until next year, we are enjoying our freedom as much as we can!

Luke, Liam, and Aiden in the hay

It was nice outside, but super windy at the orchard.  Thankfully, however, Finn slept like a champ!

Although we honestly never planned it, all the boys had on their Life is Good shirts (even Andy, who is missing in this picture).  Finn actually wasn't wearing his Life is Good shirt passed down from Aiden because he has already outgrown it!  

Liam showing me the corn in his mouth

Luke is stuffed full of corn

All the pretty pumpkins

Luke picking out pumpkins

Playing in the old tires

Liam showed no fear in holding every animal possible

Charlie and Luke

Aiden driving the tractor

Luke holding a baby chick.  

Playing in the corn

All the boys (minus Finn)

Luke holding the kitty

Feeding the goats

O.k., this one wasn't taken at the orchard, but I thought it was cute.  Finn was really interested in the fake Halloween spider that we have in our decorations.  It goes up and down on the string when you make noise and he loved watching it.  

Happy 2 months Finn!

Sleeping in the jogging stroller.  Mom is excited that he will soon be big enough to go on runs in the stroller.  

Liam is showing me his airplane from the movie Planes

Aiden just being Aiden

Luke loves to relax

Luke holding Finn

Liam and his new tie shoes!

Playing with their new airplanes.  They were, of course, battling with the planes and they had teams.  There is always always competition among these three.

The days are getting shorter and the weather is getting cooler in Minnesota, but this past weekend it was still warm enough that it felt a bit like summer.  We will take as much of this as we can get.  Finn loves riding in the stroller and typically sleeps on and off.  We updated our family pictures over the weekend to include Finn and because the ones we had were about two years old.  This was quite an endeavor, but thankfully the timing, weather, and moods of everyone actually fell into place so I am optimistic we got some good pictures.  We will have a few to share pretty soon.

Finn will be two months old this week which is so hard for me to believe.  He has outgrown all newborn clothing and most of the 0-3 month clothing as well.  He is moving right into 3-6 month clothes and will soon be in #2 diapers.  He is getting a few chubby rolls on his chin and legs so we know he hasn't missed too many meals.  He continues to be very tolerant of small hands in his face, loud noises, sudden screaming, changes in his routine, car rides to and from school, and just about anything else we have thrown at him in the last two months.  He smiles and coos just like his brother Luke.  He has the same little grin and its just precious.

We are all still adapting to our new school schedule.  We can relax and do fun things on Mondays and Fridays, but on Tuesday to Thursday we are fairly scheduled and busy with school.  The boys got their first pair of tennis shoes with laces that you tie so we have been doing a lot of practicing on how to tie shoelaces.  Liam is pretty close if not already there.  Luke, on the other hand, is having a little more trouble but I feel like when he actually starts to listen to the instructions then we might make some progress!  Both have been excited about wearing shoes that tie which is good because our feet are getting too big for the velcro shoes.

Welcome Fall!  We hope to make a couple of our favorite apple orchards this fall so stay tuned.  Lastly, John and I celebrate 11 years of marriage on the 28th.  I am pretty sure neither of us envisioned our lives would be so blessed with four boys 11 years ago.  Its chaotic, loud, and busy most of the time, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  Happy 11 Years, John!

Finn and other random pictures

Finn and his sweet grin

He is becoming a little more alert each week

Half smiling and half tired

Sitting with Daddy

AJ is getting around much better

Luke finished his lego batman while Liam and Aiden were playing and Finn was eating.  Always lots going on....

Finn at 7 weeks old

Goofballs.  I took this picture because quite often my brain is not working.  I switched the pajama shorts and gave Aiden's shorts to Luke and Luke's to Aiden.  

Finn LOVES to take baths!

He generally doesn't like to get out of the bath tub.  He's o.k. once he is wrapped up in the towel and all warm!

I don't have a lot of "newsworthy" things to report this week.  We are in our third week of school and its still pretty tricky to get everyone out the door on time, but we have somehow managed.  When possible, John will take the older boys to school on his way to work which also means he is here to help everyone eat breakfast and get dressed.  Some mornings are, of course, better than others depending on our moods.  I have had a few conversations about why we "have to get dressed," or "have to go to school," or my personal favorite "have to wear underwear."

Finn is 7 weeks old and changing all the time.  He is holding his head up a lot better and he even tries to "stand" when you hold him up on his legs.  This is something that Liam also did at an earlier than normal age as well.  He has been hitting some growth spurts recently so he has been hungrier than usual and a bit fussier.  He is also in a stage I remember vividly with Luke and Liam at this age where he gets pretty fussy in the late afternoon/early evening.  Knowing now what I did not know five years ago, this too shall pass!  

New Routines and Finn at 6 weeks

Finn is really getting stronger and able to lift his head and even turn from side to side.  Unlike his brothers as infants, he doesn't complain about being on his stomach.

AJ is showing Finn the spinning top

More spinning top

Sweet Boy

Our attempt at a picture with everyone after church.  Finn was getting hungry and not all that excited about a picture.

We have even seen a few grins from Baby Finn.  

Last week was a week of transition for us as Luke and Liam began kindergarten and Aiden started back to preschool.  It was odd to have Luke and Liam gone for three days from 8:30 am until 3:30 pm for school.  I thought Aiden would miss them and he did, but I think he also enjoyed being an "only" child for a few hours (while Finn was asleep).  He talked non stop and he was so agreeable to just about anything I asked him to do.  It was a nice time for Aiden and I.  I am not sure John or I were prepared for how tired everyone would be after three full days at school.  Aiden was tired because we had to move up his nap earlier in the afternoon so we could pick up Luke and Liam and it took Aiden awhile to adapt to this so he missed a couple naps.  This week has been a little better, but we are still trying to get into a better routine.

Finn is growing quickly.  It is amazing how much he has changed in just six weeks.  He is more alert and awake during the day (even though he is still up a couple times at night).  He is smiling a little and responding to us.  He loves his brothers and is very entertained by them.  He has started lifting his head when he is on the floor and seems to follow the noises from his brothers in the room.  The daily schedule is still really busy with very little downtime, but I am hopeful it will get easier with time.