Pumpkins

We did lots of visits to pumpkin patches this year.  We tried to meet our friends the Rogers and the Galbraiths at Rock Creek Farm (tradition!), but our plan didn't go quite as well as we hoped.  They both live a ways away, so we had planned on meeting there.  The crowds were unbelievable that day and long story short, we had to just fend for ourselves, then meet at our house for some dinner.  Oh well...  At least we had planned to have them over after!

 

Consequently we were pretty quick picking out our pumpkins.

 

Searching...

The boys were mostly fascinated with the little dull knives you get to cut the pumpkins from the vines.

These knives, of course, were good for digging too.

 

The boys and I tried another day to meet friends from church at a pumpkin patch, but it was a chilly day and we hardly saw anyone.  But we had fun!

 

Almost smiles...

We had already gotten our carving pumpkins, so we chose some little ones for fun.

 

Zach also got to go on his first field trip to another pumpkin patch with school.  It was so strange to send him off for the whole day!  He had a great time and was so excited about it.

 

Fall is so fun!



Digger-men

Right now Austin is super obsessed with digging, diggers, and anything vaguely related.  And since Austin is so into it, Zach has gotten into it too.  Anytime we drive anywhere, Austin in particular is on the lookout to find "diggers," trucks, and "workermen."  When he spots one he yells, "I see a digger!!"  (or an excavator, or a dump truck...)  He will repeat this until you acknowledge that you have heard him.  I've gotten so I look for them and get excited when I see them, because I know he loves them.  I find myself excitedly finding them even when I am alone in the car.  Oh, to be the mother of boys.  :)  We have a line-up of diggers in the house, and a line-up of diggers outside.  We have lots of digger books, and lots of digger talking.  We have a digger placemat, on which plates and cups must be placed so that they don't cover up vital diggers in the picture.  We are serious here.

After the first freeze of the season, the boys and I ripped out the dead vegetable plants from the vegetable garden and then they hopped in and started digging.  They can spend hours out there, just digging.  It's fabulous. 

 In all the digging and "road making," our potatoes, onions, and carrots were dug up...  Somehow our cilantro miraculously survived both the freezes and the digging.

Austin likes to narrate what he is doing or what is going on.  For example, something like this:  "I've got my big big tough digger.  It working so hard.   Building a big road tonight.  Moving big loads.  We're working so hard...."  It is so cute and hilarious.  Sometimes he pretends that he is the excavator with his shovel.

They play surprisingly well together for a long time.  Directing each other and working hard.  It is serious work.  I'm glad it is another thing they can enjoy together.  I must say it makes me wish for more land.  I love the simple pleasures.  

It is unfortunately very dirty.  But I always say that a dirty boy is a happy boy. 

And it is so worth it.

They spend a lot of time in the sandbox, too.  Especially Austin.  He is our outside boy.  He often is begging to go play outside.  Here they are one chilly morning.  The cold didn't deter them much.

My digger-men.

 



Aspen

On my birthday Cal surprised me by telling me he had planned and arranged for he and I to go on a fall trip together.  At the end of September we went away for a weekend.  We stayed in Glenwood Springs, but spent most of our time in Aspen, hoping to see some pretty fall colors.  We were a little worried we would be too late and miss the leaves, and it may have been a little past it's prime, but it was gorgeous.  We took the shuttle up to the Maroon Bells and hiked around a bit.  By the time we caught the shuttle and got up there, it was past lunch time and we had neglected to pack more than a couple of light snacks, so we didn't spend too long there.  It was pretty crowded anyway.

 

There were lots of signs of beavers in the area.  There were lots of beaver dams and we found lots of tree stumps like this that beavers had gnawed down.  Pretty impressive!  

There was this huge beaver lodge at the lake too.

After getting some lunch in town, we headed up another canyon to the ghost town of Ashcroft. The drive up was spectacular.  

These aspens were incredible.

 

This was about as far up the canyon as you can drive, and close to Ashcroft.  So pretty!

Ashcroft was a silver mining town in the 1880's.  It is at a really high elevation and sounded like really harsh living.  The town didn't last very long...

 

I love ghost towns!  They are fascinating.

View from inside the old hotel.



RMNP

We love to go on Fall drives in the mountains to see the leaves.  This year we didn't make it up to Golden Gate Canyon State Park, like we usually do.  Instead we decided to go to Rocky Mountain National Park so we could also see the elk.  This time of year there are tons of elk out and it is fun to see them and hear them bugling.  We've had a lot going on, so one Sunday afternoon we threw some things in the car and went for it.  It was not optimal timing, as it was getting dark and was cloudy and cold, but it was fun anyway.

 

 

We thought about hiking a bit, but decided to just take it easy and play around.  We had brought a picnic, but it started raining and got windy and cold so we huddled in the back of the explorer to eat.  It was pretty fun.  :)

 

"Look at the leaves!"

It was so dark that the pictures are not good, but it was very pretty up there!