Pumpkin Patch Day

it was the only saturday that we could go the pumpkin patch as a family, and it certainly didnt start off like a day i wanted to spend in the heat with three kiddos on a farm...

but it turned out to be perfect! Addie and I had just been to Dreamfield Farms with Addie's school (post to come of course!), and we knew we wanted to take the little girls!

after a soccer game, cfa, and a quick rest on the drive there, we made it to the farm. of course, the first place these girls wanted to go was to see the animals! addie fed the goats and sheep over and over and over (check out anne perry's face right behind her!). anne perry more like threw the corn at the goats...but it's a start. audrey kate was much more reticent and very observant, but just fine watching and not doing.
we then headed over to the cow train. what's the cow train you ask? just a bunch of white plastic barrels with painted black cow spots with a built in seat bolted to wheels lined up like a train being pulled by a tractor at a ridiculous speeds over bumpy terrain. sound fun?
addie had a blast; anne perry informed us that it was so much fun; and poor audrey kate would grab my arm the minute i attempted to hold on and wrap it back around her! paul and me? we paid for it the next day!

after a quick picture (where of course they all decided they wanted to hold a bumpy pumpkin)...
we headed down to the corn boxes. and these girls had a b.l.a.s.t!  audrey kate had that smile (on the left) on her sweet face every time she jumped in and rolled in the corn! it only took a gazillion pictures to capture it!and anne perry was just as grinny! addie got all serious on me at one point and then immediately turned goofy. love her eyes here! it wasn't long before addie was "cambell"-ing into the corn. apparently she'd heard someone say cannonball as they jumped in the other day.

...and then she tossed corn at me and found herself back on that bench behind her! it did make for a cool picture!

audrey kate's hair is by far the funnest when she jumps!  anne perry was the queen of jumping. hands out. legs up. that girl could get some air (so much so that i intentionally cut part of her head off)!and then they all piled (or rather i piled them) in the huge tire swing...this picture makes me smile. after we rolled everyone out of the corn boxes and dug the corn out of their pants/underwear/diapers/hair/etc, there were a few quick tractor rides before we got on the hayride.
to get our two little pumpkins and one big one!

while paul and the girls searched for the perfect pumpkins, i took a few pictures of a sweet family we ran into...and then she took some for us! (thank you rivers and hope!)
we were hot, tired and hungry (again), but the girls had a blast on the blow up slide... ...right before we ended our day with a little cotton candy & funnel cake to share!  even with that boost of sugar, all three girls were asleep before we'd made it very far down 82.

fun day making sweet memories with all our girls! ♥

Wamsted Crazy Beach Week: Our Girls

i was looking back through drafts and realized i never published this one...well, never even wrote it!
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it didn't start out well. i almost threw my hands up and quit. i waited until the last morning of the Crazy Wamsted Beach Week to try to grab some pictures of the girls. the lighting was gorgeous...but the girls were not keen on getting dressed and having their hair did at 6am! And the sun in the face sure wasn't going to cut it! so we moved and things got a little better...

and a little silly...

and i may or may not have done a head transplant to get this... but it was absolutely worth it! we got a few more and then added Kira in. love how anne perry has her arm around kira! i really wanted a stair step picture of girls: four, three, and two; but sitting down will work too!

it quickly turned to play...

and i just loved watching them all together.



especially these two first borns! and what's the beach without filling your dress full of sand and letting it go!  i can't believe this is my big girl. i simply can't. ♥

Rex & Jessa

A few weeks ago, our whole family (even finn!) headed out to meet some new friends.

the girls were SO excited! our friend beth lives out in the country along with three of her own four legged babies and at least two additional four legged german shorthaired pointer foster babies. the girls ran and played...

with gammon, beth's 14 year old golden.

sweet gentle boy.

and then it was time...to let the dogs out!

Rex was first. you'd never know he is a 7-8 year old boy...because he is wide open!

but oh so sweet! check out those looks he was giving me! but what i loved the most about rex is how sweet he is. and loyal. and obedient!

and i'm pretty sure handsome would describe him as well!while i took pictures, the girls managed to sneak into the dog proofed area with tomato plants and crawl through a cobwebbed tunnel...but they had a blast!
and while finn might have needed a breather, he had no idea what was about to be let out!

 

jessa girl...this pretty much sums her up!

i knew this was a very active breed, but i learned the true meaning of tracking and shooting like there was no tomorrow just to capture any image of this girl!this puppy was wide open! and finn was not interested in her getting anywhere near our girls. we were amazed as we watched him herd her away from our girls. he made sure he was between jessa and our girls anytime jessa was anywhere near them!

but look at this face! she may be wide open...

but she is a doll! finn still made sure to stay between us and sweet jessa! we're pretty sure she has some hound in her, but she sure is a pretty girl!and after all of that, our Finnster came home and slept for three days! 
if you're looking for a specific breed of dog and can't seem to find it at your local shelter, make sure to search for breed rescues in your state and surrounding states. i've heard of rescues transporting dogs practically cross country using a half dozen people just to get them to their forever home!

make sure to check out the Southeast German Shorthaired Pointer Rescue if you're looking for an addition to your family! our friend beth regularly fosters dogs from this rescue; and both Rex and Jessa are on their site!

beth, thanks for giving us the opportunity to get to know these sweet guys! i can't wait to see them both find their forever homes!