Fall is in full swing...

This past weekend we loaded up the car & drove to Grady, AR. Ever since we moved to Greenville we have heard great things about Hardin Farms Pumpkin Patch. So this year we finally decided to make the trip to see what all the fuss was about! Our neighbors, the Vega's, went with us & we ended up having a fun-filled day!!

They've got everything you can imagine! Once we pulled up Luke spotted the pumpkins & that's all he kept saying..."pupkin...pupkin...pupkin!!!" He was in "pupkin heaven"! They've got this huge field that they have cleared & there are spots to take pictures, picnic tables, a playground area for little kiddos, huge piles of hay for kids to climb on, an area with all kinds of animals, pony rides, face painting, a huge slide, and more! The kids had fun posing in the little wooden cut-out picture spots! They also had a Haunted House. Now, it was a very tame haunted house...it was basically an old trailer that was turned into a little area that you weaved in & out of. They had decorations that either moved or lit up. Grace was dying to go through it, so off we went. As we gave the guy our ticket she grew a bit more apprehensive, but was still quite curious. I held her & Darren had Luke. Roxanne, Jose, Joanna & Michael all went in, too. We were reasurring the kids that it was like the decorations at the Vega's house (Roxanne is a HUGE fan of Halloween). However, our kids were't okay with it! Darren & Luke were the first ones in & as soon as they rounded the corner & saw the first decorated area, Luke freaked! Grace buried her head in my neck & held on for dear life. There were only like 4 decorated areas, so it was a quick trip. Luke cried the whole time & Grace never brought her face up to see anything else! She later told us that it wasn't such a good idea to go in the haunted house. Luke kept telling us he saw a monster & it wasn't long before he was signing "more" & asking for "more monster"!! He recovered rather quickly, but I'm guessing if he had the opportunity to go back in he really wouldn't take it! We then loaded up for the hayride out to the pumpkin patch. There were more & more pumpkins! We searched for just the right pumpkin for us to carve & we let the kids pick a baby pumpkin. They both enjoyed this alot! We ended our day with lunch in the restaurant they had. It was a fun way to spend our Saturday!

Go Coogs!!!

On Saturday Darren's beloved University of Houston Cougars took on the Mississippi State Bulldogs in Starkville, MS. Now, this has happened twice since we have moved to Greenville & we have taken advantage of it both times. Darren is able to get press passes which allow us to be on the field during the game!! Now, this year the Coogs have been doing well in football, so we were excited for this game!! We were gearing up for game day until the swine flu struck our house! On Friday, I took Luke to the doctor because he had been running fever for 24 hours & he hadn't really eaten anything of substance. They did a flu & strep test on him, both of which came back negative. However, they said that he had all the signs & symptoms that they have seen in other swine flu cases, so they were going to treat it as if the test result was positive. They put us all on Tamiflu. I was very disappointed, but that is how life is sometimes. I told Darren that he had to still go to the game...the Cougars couldn't be 3 hours away & him not take advantage of it!! So, he & our neighbor, Jose, loaded up the next morning & headed to Starkville. The kids & I settled in to watch the game on ESPN-U. What a great game it was, too! We saw Darren at least half a dozen times, which was fun for Grace!! Luke really could have cared less...he was just excited that a "hootball" game was on!! The Cougars ended up pulling out a win (just as they did in 2006 against the Bulldogs!!) which was even more exciting!! Darren got some great pictures from the sidelines & is now hooked on sideline press passes!! We're thinking of getting some more for another State game just so we can go together & I can experience the excitement from the sidelines!! Maybe we'll snag some when Florida & Tim Tebow come to Starkville?!?!

As a side note, Luke is fine. I'm guessing we caught his bout with swine flu early & the Tamiflu really helped because he didn't run any more fever & has gotten his appetite back!!

Road Trip...

A few weekends ago we took off on a road trip to Mobile, Alabama. Darren was asked to be a speaker at the University of Southern Alabama for their Student Ad Fed Boot Camp. So, the kids & I tagged along & we made a weekend trip out of it. We left Friday morning & headed towards Mobile. We stopped off at What-a-burger in Jackson for some lunch & a little piece of Texas! We love us some What-a-burger!! We continued our drive and made it to Mobile late that afternoon. Both kids did very well on the drive. It is so nice now that they both can handle car drives! We stayed in the Hampton Inn downtown. We enjoyed some yummy pizza from the Mellow Mushroom that night & then lounged in our room. Darren was scheduled to speak the next morning so the kids & I took off to the Exploreum Science Center which was conveniently located across the street from our hotel! They both love going to discovery museums. There was a special section for kiddos their age called The Wharf of Wonder. There is a shrimp boat with a ball pond all around it. They have all sorts of marine creatures & nets to "catch" them. There was a lighthouse that they could climb into & look out. It was very neat!! Towards the back of the shrimp boat they had PVC pipes set up & you could grab some of the balls from the "water" & put them through the pipes. This was one of Luke's favorite parts. They also had a captain's wheel & bell on the boat which Grace loved. We explored the rest of the museum & while some of it wasn't age appropriate for them, they still loved exploring! There was a mini television station. That is a huge hit with our family since Darren is in the TV business & Grace LOVES to be in front of the camera!! She pretended to do the news on the set & stood in front of the "blue wall" & gave a weather report. They also have an area called My Body Works & they are able to learn all about the human body, see a giant beating heart, see how doctors perform surgery and more. One of their favorite parts of this area was a wall that had an outline of a human body. On this body were little buttons & each button was labeled with whatever sound it would make if you pushed it. For example, they had a button next to the nose & it was labeled "sneeze"...when you pushed it you would hear a sneeze. Well, towards the mid-section of the body were 2 buttons that my kids seemed to fall in love with...one more so than the other! As you can imagine, one was labeled "fart" & the other "pee". As soon as Luke discovered the "fart" button it was all over! He pressed it & heard the sound...Grace giggled & he seemed surprised. Well, curiosity got him! He pressed it again & it was like he realized what it was because he bent over in a hard belly laugh! That was the end of that...he pressed it a half a dozen more times. The funny thing is that each time you pressed it you would hear a different farting noise! There were at least 4 or 5 different sounds and with each one Luke & Grace laughed more. I'm not sure about Grace, but I know I was laughing simply at watching him. At that moment I knew that he was all boy! I was able to capture him in mid laugh so that I could show it to Darren when we got back to the hotel!! We visited the gift shop & Grace picked out some colorful rocks for her rock collection (every time we visit a museum she picks out some rocks to add to her collection!) & Luke picked out a plastic elephant. We headed to lunch at Quizno's (which was connected to our hotel) & then back to our room to rest. Once Darren got back we loaded up to head down to Gulf Shores. We couldn't be that close to the ocean & not take advantage of it. It was raining off & on, but we went anyway. Grace LOVES the beach & Luke is really not a fan. Once we got down there Luke was content to stay in the car. I stayed with Luke while Darren played with Grace in the sand & water. After a while we headed back to Mobile, but first we stopped for dinner at Lambert's Cafe, "Home of the Throwed Rolls" (www.throwedrolls.com). We enjoyed this experience!! If you have never been to Lambert's I would definitely recommend a visit if you are ever near one! The food was yummy & the atmosphere was even better! They throw rolls at you (if you want one) & they are HUGE yeast rolls!! The kids enjoyed that alot!! Actually, now that I think of it, so did Darren!! After we stuffed ourselves we headed back to the hotel & chilled out. The next morning we packed up & headed back home. We enjoyed our little weekend away. It was fun to get away & enjoy each other with the distractions that we allow to get in the way so easily back home!