Thriller

At school Oliver's teacher has been playing Thriller for the kids to dance to and Oliver LOVES it!  Miss Briana is a big MJ fan and her and Oliver debate constantly over whether Michael Jackson is Miss Briana's MJ or Oliver's MJ.  He is always saying "My MJ!"  So Mark thought it would be fun after dinner one night to show Oliver the Thriller video.

Now let me say that I was against this from the start!  Clearly, Mark does not really remember the Thriller video in it's entirety.  Claire clearly stated from the beginning "I am NOT even watching that!!"

 Oliver however, could NOT wait to watch his MJ perform!  It started out like this and Oliver kept saying "There MJ!  My MJ!"

Then it moved into this.  At this point he is not so sure. And he kept saying "MJ? That my MJ???"

Then we moved onto this. And Oliver started yelling "NO! NOT MY MJ!!  I NO LIKE IT!"

Then this.  He just kept yelling "NOT MY MJ!!  I NO LIKE IT!!!"

Clearly he was not happy about this.

But then we showed him various other Michael Jackson videos and he was OK again.  He is in love with MJ once again.

Claire on the other hand,  did not even watch the video and I found her on the couch with her pillow later in the night because she had a bad dream.  Way to go Mark :)

Stokoe Farms

I know I am a little late but two weekends ago we had a great time at Stokoe Farms with our family!  We go to the "Pumpkin Patch" every year with the family and we have made some revisions to which "Patch" we like the best and I think this is our favorite yet!!  Click HERE and HERE and HERE to see some of our previous "Pumpkin Patch" visits.

Claire, Oliver, and Owen had a blast on the train ride.  It is so fun that they can all ride alone now!  It was just too bad that they could not fit in one car.  Notice that Claire is checking on her buddy Owen.

The kids had a blast getting some "feed" for the animals.

Oliver recovered from the "donkey incident" and loved feeding the animals.

All the kids loved pumping water to the animals.

Claire loved playing with the diggers.

Oliver was thrilled that there were trucks for him to play with.

Even Mark got into it, with his dress shoes on and his coffee of course.

The Duckie Race is always a hit.

The kids loved riding the bikes around the tracks.  Oliver was ready for Daddy's turn to be over so that he could ride!

Claire is such a big girl now, she heads off on her own.

Oliver needed a little help because he had to pick the BIGGEST bike there was there.  But I don't think that him or Daddy really minded!

The kids loved riding the big tube!

And going inside of it too!

It kept shaking and the kids loved it!

Oliver and Owen took their time getting through it!

First try at a family shot on the tractor.

And a second try!

Aunt Erin, Uncle Brian, and Owen on the tractor.  Owen kept saying "The tractor is broken!" because it wasn't moving!

The kids loved being spiders on the spider web.  They especially loved when Grandpa came up said they were all flies and he was gonna eat them up!  Then he grabbed them all and they LOVED that!!!

The three Besties on the log bridge.  I love how much fun the three of them have together!!

Claire was so proud that she could make it up to the tree house by herself!

Then she loved coming down the slide!

And so did Owen.  NO HANDS!!

And Oliver.

And Mark!

Mark and Oliver loved coming down the big slide!

And so did me and Claire!  Claire screamed the whole way down!

Then it was off to the Pumpkin launcher.  Aunt Erin held her title and was the only one to hit the van again!

The kids loved the corn maze, although I am not sure Oliver really grasped the point.  He kept walking THROUGH the corn!

The Besties walking along and talking away!

Finally it was time to pick our pumpkins.

After much searching Oliver chose this one.

And Claire chose this one!

We had another great time.  But seriously I think we could all be in a big open field with nothing around us and we would have a blast!  The kids love our "Pumpkin Patch" tradition but, truthfully I think the adults love it even more!  I am already excited about next year!!!

Hidden Valley Animal Adventure

Last Saturday we celebrated Nana's birthday at the Hidden Valley Animal Adventure!  We all had a blast feeding the animals and spending the day together.

As soon as we got there Claire went with Papa right away.  They are totally besties now that they spend their mornings together.  Claire told me the other day that her favorite part of Kindergarten was hanging out with Papa every morning.

Claire and Oliver were super excited as soon as we got there.  They had a blast last year but I think every year it gets better! Click HERE to see the pictures from last year!

Uncle Greg tried to get Oliver close to the bear but Oliver wasn't really into it.

Even though they were setting up for a wedding I had to sneak us in for a quick family picture in front of the beautiful fireplace.

My babies.

John and Nicole had a blast too.

Claire loved spending time with John and Nicole.

Oliver was freaking out!  He couldn't get enough of the animals.

Oliver would have jumped out of the trolley to hang out with the animals.

Claire was a little funny about the animals this year.  She loved them but didn't want them to get too close.  Here she is saying "Whoooaaa!  Back up!"

This place was just breathtaking!

Aunt Sue loved the animals.  

Oliver loved every single second of feeding the animals!  

Claire loved hanging out with her buddy.

The kids loved the petting zoo area where they could just walk around with the animals.

Oliver was in his glory.  That is until he was feeding this donkey and his tooth brushed his finger (I stress BRUSHED not BITE) and the was the end of it!  He kept saying "Donkey bited me!!!!"

After our trip to the Animal Valley we headed for some pumpkins and then we had a nice dinner back at my house.  Here is the cake that Mark and Claire made for Nana.  After last year, I am no longer allowed to make cakes.

Oliver loved singing Happy Birthday to Nana!

Happy birthday Nana!! I hope you enjoyed your day, I know that we did!!!  We love you!!!