Indian Summer Festival

It was a hot October day for the Indian Summer Festival at Lincoln Memorial Garden, one of our favourite events of the year.






We saw lots of friends at the festival. Kellan and Olivia are listening to one of the bluegrass bands perform here (after wearing themselves out dancing in the hot sun!).




Kellan and Caden clowning for the camera.




There was face painting.




And balloon animals (Kel started a new trend with his request for a "busy bee" and there were soon enough for an entire hive!).




And pumpkin decorating.





We walked "in the woods" a bit with Caden. Tried to get a nice fall photo of the boys, but this was the best I could do.




Kellan and Carmen watching the clown. Very serious business apparently.



It was a super day full of fun memories (and nasty sunburns!), best of all the time spent with friends. We are truly blessed to have you all.

Kellan and his Cars

Kel thought that it would be fun the other morning to line up his Cars by colour. I just had to take a quick photo. That is more Cars than I realised he had and they're releasing a new series this week which we will of course be collecting. Disney knows marketing.

Pumpkin Patch

Its that time of year again. Pumpkin patch time! We had the most incredible afternoon out choosing our wagon load of pumpkins and gourds. What fun! Kellan used the clippers to cut our selections and we all enjoyed the festive feel of an October afternoon at the patch.

Outdoors in October

Imagine, if you will, the Midwest with a climate like San Diego has year round -- yep, that's Illinois in early October. Beautiful, sunny, warm, perfect. We spent all weekend outside. Wouldn't you?








This is what happens to Kel when he whines about wanting to be carried while we're out on a hike. "Esk-uh-down"!



Seriously, I wasn't kidding. You whine, you'll get carried. But is it worth it?









He's not a pirate this Halloween, but it never hurts to keep up the practise. Pirates are often in demand. He's got the squint for it!




The corn is at the end of its season. Harvest time.








The boys exploring the nature centre at Lincoln Memorial Garden.




Just a bit of Photoshop fun. I like this one of me and my guy. Does life get better than this?

Another fun day at the Jacksonville Steam Show

The Prairie Land Steam Show is another of those annual events that we never miss. There are steam engines, tractors, wagon rides, horses, farm equipment, demonstrations, and just about anything else that a boy could want. A whole day of dirt, steam, and machines. You can't go wrong with that combination!






My boys riding the steam train. This was Kel's third trip of the day. And not his last.








Quite possibly the highlight of the day -- Kel got to learn how to drive a tractor! It wasn't easy to photograph, so these are the best that I got, but they had an obstacle course set up with wooden cows, cones, and a corn field. It was so exciting! Kel did great and got to choose his very own replica John Deere tractor afterwards.








This was at the log cutting demonstration. They have a big steam engine that runs the belt that runs the saw -- you'd be amazed at how long this whole process can captivate a four year old boy...




Eating home made ice cream on a hot September afternoon.




This was at the horse pull. I loved this event and thought I'd include a photo!