Walk A Thon

Each year, Kaylyn's school holds a Walk a Thon for the 4th grade to earn money for their trip to the state capitol.  Kaylyn is in a combo 3/4 classroom this year so her teacher has started noticing a few differences between 3rd and 4th grades.  4th grade has about 5 field trips this year, but 3rd grade has only 1.  So it was decided that this year the 3rd graders would also participate in the walk a thon to raise money for them to have more than 1 field trip this year.  Kaylyn was NOT excited about this.  She complains that when she runs, it makes her head and stomach hurt (which we're going to figure out how to figure out).  So I set a goal on Friday to be back from the pumpkin patch in time to walk with Kaylyn at the walk a thon.

They had already started when I arrived but Kaylyn came straight to me when she finally got finished with her first lap, apparently I was standing at her finish line.

 And we started off on our walk together.  Halfway around our first lap, we spotted one of Morgan's besties Savana.  So Morgan diverted off the path to visit Savana and we continued on around.  As we were on our 2nd lap (K's 3rd lap), she was attacked.  She was starting to freak out a little bit but I made her leave the bug on her until I got a picture.....of her adoring fan, a lady bug.

 Here's her face AFTER I got the lady bug off of her.

 And we came back to where Morgan was.  She was VERY happy to be with Savana and that let me focus on Kaylyn who was having some friend troubles she needed to discuss.

 Kaylyn stopped to visit with her friends Leah and Ryan, and to get a water bottle, before we did our last lap.

 We did our last lap and Kaylyn got rewarded with a popsicle and capri sun.  She also took the chance to chill with her friend Lilly D (as opposed to her friends Lilly P., Lilly B., and Lilly N. - seriously?  Did everyone in 2003 name their daughter Lilly?).

Overall, I thought Kaylyn did awesome.  She walked 6 laps in 1 hour.  3 laps is 1 mile.  So she walked 2 miles.  I believe that except for our walking all over DC last summer, Kaylyn has never walked that far at one time.  so it's a personal best for her.  But we are not comparing to those kids who jogged the whole time and did 20+ laps!!

Pumpkin Patch Oct 2011

Morgan and I took a trip to the pumpkin patch on Friday (Oct 14th). We brought along several friends and had a great time. I love this patch because they are simple, fun, outdoor fun, for a low price.

After checking in, we went exploring around the barn.  And found some pigs...





 Some cute photo spots...

 We had a short program on different kinds of pumpkins.  The moms learned something new - the type of pumpkin that is in the can is "cushaw" - and it looks nothing like I expected but I failed to take a picture.

 There was a mum "garden" by the photo spots.  Savana couldn't resist the purple ones.

We loaded up onto the trailer for our hayride out to the pumpkins.

 Here's Morgan and her besties - Avalee and Savana.  The 3 of them talked non-stop for the 30 minute drive from the Church to the pumpkin patch.

 First stop was the whirlpool maze.

 And then we explored Charlotte's web (maze)

 Now we're off to pick our pumpkins.

 The kids didn't want to wait for us to pull them on the wagon so Morgan and Ava took turns pulling Zane.



Ben and Ashley

Our friends, Ben and Ashley, are wanting to adopt to help their family grow.  You can check out their profile here.

Ariel's Birthday

We left for our Allison Family Reunion on Saturday, June 25th. After meeting up with Spencer and Sheree at our hotel in La Plata and checking in, dropping off Beggar (our cat) and getting her settled in, we all headed north to Chris and Naomi's house in Kirksville for a birthday party. Our niece, Ariel, was celebrating her 3rd birthday. What a great way to start off a family reunion!

 As the Allison siblings (plus Sheree) greeted at the door, I grabbed this picture (minus Alma who was still inside).

Then we ventured inside - the kids immediately loved on Grandma...

 Sheree quickly grabbed William to love on.

 A little about William - he will be turning 4 at the end of July.  He's a special kid in that he was born at about 24 weeks.  He may be little - in May he finally hit the 1%ile for size but he's strong, healthy, and extremely active.  And being Naomi's son, I'm sure he's strong-willed and independent.  Fortunately, he's also very eager to be a helper around the house - his favorite is helping with dishes.

Two of the girls decided to take a ride on Grandpa.

 Here's another view - it's Rebekah and Ariel.

 We ventured outside to have a little more room.  Alma immediately grabbed a spot on the rocker.

 The boys and "boys" got a basketball game going.  Chris was mighty impressed with the skill of his brothers-in-law.  Adam showed off his moves and Spencer proved he could dunk (with the bruises to prove it).

 The girls decided just to run around.

 These two - Morgan and Rebekah - were born just a month apart.  They get to see each other every other year for a few days but yet they are immediately best friends each time.

 This is little Hannah exploring the gravel in the driveway.

 Daniel, Rebekah and Morgan played tag, an unofficial version.

 We then all headed inside to celebrate Miss Ariel's 3rd Birthday.

 She didn't cooperate with blowing out the candle so Morgan was trying to instruct her.

 She thought she could stare down the candle, though.

 Finally, she got the idea but still needed her Mom's help.

 After cake and ice cream, it was back outside.  Some of the kids kicked a ball into the neighbor's yard.  Spencer and Hannah retrieved it for them.

 Then it was back inside for presents.

 This pink purse is from Grandma Allison.  Ariel carried this around at Church the next day and all over Nauvoo.  Grandma picked a great present.

 We just couldn't separate these two.  You'll notice that as I continue blogging about the reunion.