Soccer and swiming

I have had this post sitting in here forever and now chasen is about to start wrestling!

this was fall soccer this year!

chasen had some great games and had fun with his friends!

he did take a ball right to the face and some how i captured it!

dash enjoyed playing during practice and will start his own soccer practice this February!

chasen has done 2 rounds of privates swim lessons and his last lesson will be this thursday if he isnt sick. once he is done we will start lesson 7 in feb. when dash will start tadpoles! chasen learned a lot better/faster in private lessons but he asked to go back to the class with other kids so I said ok! Hopefully he will pay attention a little better! :)

 

here he is swimming the length of the pool!

his dive

and his back stroke

before these swim lessons he couldn't do more then 2 or 3 strokes before sinking

and after only 3 private lessons he can do pretty much the length of the pool!

we are so proud of him!!

Im excited to have both boys in lessons at the same time this feb. Dash will be all on his own! and I will get to sit and watch them both....by myself!! it will be like a vacation! HA!

Before Winter Invaded Fall

we played baseball outside!

in our PJ's

and picnics in our PJ's

fed the animals

watched the combines harvest

and played hide and seek!

kevin is the worst because he comes and stands by where you are hiding!!

fed Maggie apples and pumpkins

and we saw a Bald Eagle in the field...thats the closest ive ever been to one

and enjoyed beautiful sunsets!

The Cutest Story Time Ever

The weekend before last we were visiting for Grammy's birthday and all 3 boys listened to books read by Great grandma! Like, stood in line with book in hand and listened, no hitting or fighting.
It was the sweetest thing EVER!

Colorado Videos: rides and the road race

Dashtyns race

Chasen and Garins race

the slide

dancing in the streets

Apple Orchards & Pumpkin Farms

we went to lots of places this fall!

we went to Wilson's apple orchard 3 times, once as a family, once with the iowa city mom's blog group and once with friends! Its free and fun! the apple donuts and slushies are our favorite.

we tried to go to other apple orchards and the one we picked to check out was closed/shut down. but ive got 2 on the list for next year!

 

we went to 3 different pumpkin farms.

we did not go to the north liberty one or the bloomsbury farms. both charge a lot for their activities and I found 2 that had free activities, which i think is nice for kids who are younger plus i was more inclined to buy products/produce from the free places! 

I dont think bloomsbury farms is that over priced since they have the haunted hosues but my kids dont like those any way!

we went to Krouls pumpkin farm with our friends and it is free!!

the boys spent most of their time in the mud but they also had a hay maze, corn maze, little cars for them to ride and its decorated really cute!

we bought most of our pumpkins here and they are priced by size not weight..biggest pumpkin was $10!!

 

we all went as a family to Bass family farms it was also free and had a hay rack ride

a sling shot which was really fun...you shot golf balls at pumpkins on posts

2 jumpy houses

and a hay bale maze. we bought one pumpkin here and it was huge and they charge by pound and our pumpkin was $13.

they had free popcorn inside and free coffee...kurig coffee so you could pick your flavor!

 and I also bought some home made soap and barbecue sauce. they had all kids of sauces and dips out with pretzels to taste test!

My mom also took the boys to this farm and they spent 4 hours there!!

both of these pumpkin farms have CSA (community supported agriculture) groups and I think we will join one in the spring!

and on one of Chasen's half days we went to grinnell to Uncle Bill's Pumpkin farm with cousin Nile.

it did cost $7 admission but that included everything! jump pillow, tractor ride, they had tons of animals, a park, trikes to ride, corn bin, a maze, and Im sure other things Im forgetting!

we had a ton of fun!

Im sad that pumpkin farm and apple orchard season are over,but now I know exactly where Im headed next season!! :)

Palisades Park

Ive posted about this park before, but it's our favorite place to go!

we went with Ean a few sundays ago because it was actually warm, just a little misty that day

but an absolutely beautiful spot!

I love this picture of Chasen

the boys found a tee-pee someone built

its right along the river

2 weekends ago we went with my family after Chasen's birthday party

and I dont think we will go back until spring :(

Lily had fun climbing all the rocks.

the leaves were brown and gone, but it was still pretty