Halloween 2013~

Sometimes after Church we go to Togo's for sandwiches.  Sounds exciting, no? 

Anywho, there is a Farmer's Market across the street, so I have Jeff drop me off first and then he picks me up after he gets lunch.  Landen always asks to come with me.  He's my farmer's market good luck charm.  Every time we get free stuff because he is such a cutie pie.  Yesterday he got an apple, a head of broccoli, 3 potatoes, and some basil all for free!  We call that the "nice face discount."  I can never go without him!

Landen found Zach's old Bob the Builder costume from 2003!  He insisted it was the PERFECT costume.  It was a little short, but he was so happy and looked adorable.

Wouldn't you give this sweetie a rutabaga?

Very serious Captain America.

 It's starting to look more and more like Landen is posing with a character at a theme park rather than his big brother.  

 I don't know what's going on with these next few pictures, but I love it!

 Zach went to a friend's house for a party and trick or treating around their neighborhood and we took Landen around our cul-de-sac.  Everyone had a great night, but we were all doing our own thing.  I think the days of trick-or-treating as a family is over, but I am just happy everyone had so much fun.

 And here is Princess Leia.  I refused to buy new costumes this year, because we have plenty hanging around the house.  Mikayla didn't care to wear anything "old" but at the last minute Jeff had the brilliant plan for her to reuse her toga from "Greek days" and do some buns and be Princess Leia.  Miraculously she loved that idea.  She went to a friends house to carve pumpkins and then to a nearby trunk or treat.  It took about 30 minutes and 10 years off my life to get those buns to look the way she wanted.  It was a real mother/daughter bonding moment.

Why does she suddenly look 25?

Mikayla's beautiful carved creation.  Pumpkin carving post coming soon!

Pumpkin Patch~

I guess this is the 3rd annual trip to Underwood farms for us. Here's a look back at the past 2 years. 

2012

 I couldn't help posting all 3 of these from 2011, when Landen was 2.  Oh 2, you were a fun, fun age.

Hot mess!

Oh, the chubby cheeks!!! You're killing me!!

This year it was PERFECT weather.  This is at the top of the hay bale pyramid in the middle of the corn maze.  

The view from the top!

Landen kept shouting, "I can see everything from up here!"

We did the hay ride at Landen's request and then picked some pumpkins!  Like a true boy, trying to carry one that is way too heavy.

Just for the record~43 inches tall & 37.5lbs.~4 years 4 months

He insisted he needed to wear his Great Pumpkin shirt.  Still fits after 2 years! He thinks Snoopy is hysterical.

The 7 year age gap makes no difference, these two are best buds.

Trying to roll the giant white pumpkin!

Our beautiful girl young lady. Due to have her braces off very soon!

Just a couple outtakes to keep it real.

Natalie & Kevin~Engaged!

I had the privilege of taking my niece Natalie's engagement pictures a few weeks ago!  She and her fiancé Kevin are the cutest couple.  Seriously!  He was just so sweet to her the whole shoot, kept giving her little kisses, and it was easy to capture those sweet moments.  We had hoped to make it to the beach to take some pictures, but ran out of free weekends and settled for a quick photo shoot in my dad's backyard again.  I feel like I have squeezed as much inspiration out of his little back yard as I can.  Thankfully I had some beautiful inspiration in Natalie and Kevin.

 Someone else just couldn't stand that he wasn't a part of the fun for once so I had to take a quick pic of him and his sweet Courtney.  The are so in love too!

 Before we left we decided to do another sister picture.  This test shot was just so funny.  Not at all what it looks like, but I can't remember now what they were talking about.

LtoR~Nikki, Heidi, Chrissy(me), Kelly~Love my sisters!

If Kelly's hair had been down you could have seen that it is blond too. I am the black sheep!

Hume & Hearst~

In July Zach and Mikayla had the privilege of going to Hume Lake Summer Camp with our church middle school group.  To say it was stressful getting them both ready would be a huge understatement! The day before they left we went to see Despicable me 2 just to destress a little.  

Landen pretended to be a bus driver the whole way home after dropping them off at church by all the buses.  He did not like seeing his sissy and brobro go, but he seemed perfectly content to have mommy and daddy all to himself for a whole week!

We decided to go stay at Jeff's Aunt's beach house near Pismo for most of the week.  Our first stop was in Santa Barbara for lunch.

WIILLLSSOONN!!!!!!!

Landen talked about playing in the sand the whole time we drove for about 4-5 hours.  Finally we made in to Pismo Beach for a little sand and sun before dinner.

The next day we decided to go to Hearst Castle because it's somewhere Jeff has always wanted to go.  We stopped in Cambria for lunch on the way and also had some yummy olallieberry pie!

You have to take a bus to get up the BIG hill.  Landen loved riding the bus, I hated the heights. But the views were amazing!

You can see the house on the hill!

The outdoor pool.  I wanted to jump in so badly.  It looked so inviting.  For a cool 10k you can rent in out for parties. Bucket list!

Every room had a gorgeous and elaborate ceiling.

Every bed had a desk at the end for writing letters.  I do love me some Instagram, but getting letters in the mail is really the best!

Gorgeous views for every room.  I don't remember how many rooms there are but I like we saw about half and that was probably about 30.  I'm sure I am way off, but the place was massive.

 Me and my man!
 Love the guy in the background taking a selfie with his iPad! Ha!

Chevron is not new!

That's the ocean out there.

The front door.

The indoor pool was my favorite.  So stunning!

Past naptime and getting a little silly.

We really enjoyed exploring and learning about William Randolph Hearst and we were sure the big kids would have hated walking around for 2 hours, but Landen did great!