Pheasant Field Farms

Now that Ethan is in preschool there is no fooling him. He keeps asking me when it will be Halloween and every time I give him the number of days he gets upset. For some reason he thinks just because it is October that it should be Halloween right now. Today we decided to go to the pumpkin patch. Ethan was so excited. Since this is our first Halloween in Oregon I had no idea where to go. But after a little research on the Internet I wrote down directions to Pheasant Field Farms which ironically was located in Phoenix, OR about 10 miles from our house. They had many activities for the kids. Our first stop was the wagon hayride pulled by two horses. It was a nice relaxing ride. Ethan was busy taking pictures with his digital camera. After seeing the horses on the wagon ride Ethan was ready to ride a real horse. So we made our way to the pony rides. While waiting for his turn in line Ethan began to notice a foul odor. He was quit surprised when we explained that was horse poop. Hudson was following the music. There was a local band playing near the pony rides. Hudson saw several kids on the dance floor and of course he had to join them. I didn't think we were going to get him to leave. The boys loved the giant haystack. They would climb all over the haystack and slide down. Personally I thought it looked painful but they didn't seem to mind at all. Finally it was time to pick out our pumpkins.


Ethan has his camera and is ready to take some pictures


First stop the hay ride


waiting for the hay ride

sitting on the wagon

pony ride

Ethan was ready to ride again

climbing to the top of the haystack

sliding down

trying to climb up again

Hudson found a pumpkin just his size

Ethan found a bigger one

Hudson really wanted to carry our pumpkins

Not in the Desert anymore......

Since I spent the last 15 years in the desert I am fascinated with the trees here in Oregon. ( I mean the temperatures eventually gets a little cooler in Phoenix but the cactus don't change color.) When we left two weeks ago for vacation I noticed the leaves were beginning to change. Well, when we arrived back in town yesterday they were beautiful. I was in awe. Today after I dropped Ethan off at preschool I drove around the neighborhood to take some pictures. This is when I wish I had a better camera and more importantly new something about photography. Here is my lame attempt at catching the beauty that surrounds our house. I am sure the people outside thought I was completely nuts for taking so many pictures of trees/leaves!

Dunes Baby!

After 10 days in sunny Southern California we continued our vacation at the dunes in Glamis. It was a reunion of sorts. We meet the crew from CBS Technologies. It was liked we had never left since we used to go to the dunes with them twice a year. My Dad and Linda drove out for the day to hang out with us. Last but not least my cousin D'Anna and Scott joined us so they could try out their new quad. It was great to see everybody. Every dune trip has to be an adventure and this one was no exception. Friday afternoon a bunch of the guys were out on a ride. A few of us stayed behind to play cards. All of a sudden we noticed a few flying friends buzzing around. I wasn't sure if they were bees, hornets, or wasps. I was not about to get close enough to find out. We noticed about three or four flying around. All the times we have gone camping at the dunes, bees were never a problem. After carefully assessing the situation we figured out that our pop-up trailer had hundreds of hornets underneath it! By this time I am freaking out worried that they are getting inside the trailer. Thankfully that didn't happen. But it appears the hornets created a home underneath our trailer while in Oregon and decided to go on vacation with us. Needless to say we made a trip into town for some much needed insecticide. Unfortunately while riding the quads there is always a risk for accidents and/or the quad breaking down. This seemed to be the trip where the quads broke down. Just as soon as the guys got one up and running another one would break down. But that didn't seem to spoil our fun. As you can probably imagine the boys had a blast. They kept wanting me to bury them in the sand. I tried to explain that wasn't a good idea because we didn't have the showers to rinse off like at the beach. So instead of burying themselves in the sand when I wasn't looking they were lying flat on their backs making sand angels. Hudson was covered from head to toe in sand. I think his diapers were twice as heavy with all the sand in them. Ethan kept asking to ride the motorcycle. Hudson on the other hand wanted nothing to do with the quads. As a matter of fact once Matt put on the helmet, Hudson started screaming and running in the other direction. You will notice in the pictures that follow that I have twice as many pictures of Hudson. That is because Ethan was very busy hanging out with the guys. Hudson on the other hand was right by my side saying cheese. If I refused to take his picture he would get all upset and yell cheese again. Just in case you were wondering about the drive home. Ethan was content watching the same movie over and over. Hudson was yelling mommy, mommy, mommy, then daddy, daddy, daddy, over and over. He also kept wiggling his way out of the seat belt. Hudson is just not a good traveler. He hates being in the car. We had a blow-out on the pop-up trailer 10 miles from home. Go figure! The vacation was a blast but I am so thankful to be back at home. Now if only the laundry would magically disappear.......

Hudson looks so serious


But now he wants to pose for the camera


Ethan anxious for a ride on the quad


Hudson's way of helping with the dishes


He is such a boy


trying on the sunglasses


always finds the food


waiting for dinner


Yummy


Not my best photo but hey this is after four days camping at the dunes


Little wild man


helping Daddy with the pop-up


Hudson and D'Anna

Oops!

Okay I lied about the science center being the last update until next week. Turns out Matt got finished with his class early so we had time for one more trip to the beach. For some strange reason both boys were afraid of the waves this time. Since they were both just sitting in the sand we decided to bury them in it. To my surprise they didn't object.....

Ethan looking cool

Poor guy was facing the sun


They thought being covered in sand was funny

Discovery Science Center

The boys and I are still playing in Southern California. It has been a great week. The weather has been nice and warm for us. We took a break from the beach and decided to do something educational. We spent the afternoon at the Discovery Science Center. It was so much fun. Ethan loved being able to make all the exhibits work. He really liked putting on the headphones and talking into the microphone. Hudson liked the pitching cage although he couldn't throw the ball far enough for it to track his pitching speed. We went through the quake shake to experience an earthquake. Ethan tried out the hurricane booth. Hudson didn't like that one. Both boys loved the green screen activity area where they could see themselves on the t.v. screen. Ethan was brave enough to lie on the bed of nails. I tried that one too and it is quite surprising how comfortable a bed of 3,500 sharp steel nails can be. He didn't say much about it afterwards, but once we got home he started telling Matt about our adventures. He stopped for a minute and then asked Matt if he would check his back for poky things. We all started laughing! We also walked through the dinosaur exhibit where Ethan got to hear the dinosaur's heartbeat. He thought that was pretty cool. I managed to get a few pictures while we were inside the science center. This will be my last update for a few days. Tomorrow we are headed out to the dunes for a few days. Then we will start the drive back to Oregon.


This was Ethan's favorite exhibit


Can you lift yourself?


Hudson was ready to try


Can I get some help here? Notice he didn't last long with the gloves


Now he thinks he is cool


Green screen play area

this is what we saw on the tv


Now Ethan is ready to give it a try

Hudson was ready to move on


3D bat exhibit


Hurricane booth, Hudson was going to make sure Ethan stays locked in


It was loud and windy...

3,500 sharp steel nails


hanging out in the kidstation


Ethan wanted to go back to the headphones and microphone