4th Annual Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

On Sunday we met with some friends of ours at a pumpkin patch in Morgan Hill (about 45 minutes southeast of our house).

We had a fabulous time, and this place definitely took top prize in our list of pumpkin patches that we've experienced. The farm was about 70 acres, with pumpkins of every color, shape and size you can imagine, as well as rows and rows of marigolds and sunflowers. There was a train ride, hay ride, bales of hay to jump on, a corn maze, and of course lots of pumpkins to choose. The kids had a blast!

And I musn't forget there were hundreds of scarecrows throughout the farm - all of them had name tags - and Merrick was completely obsessed with knowing every.single.solitary scarecrow's name. And, we had to tell him each name more than once.

Merrick's First Camping Trip

Craig recently decided it was time for Merrick to experience his first time camping. And what better place to break out all the gear for the first time in many years than right in our own back yard? We bought a little charcoal grill, brats for the boys and a veggie dog for me, baked beans, macaroni salad, and of course the meal couldn't be a successful camping meal without s'mores.

Merrick was loving every minute of it. Much to my chagrin (no really, I was truly disappointed, really), we remembered that there were only 2 sleeping bags and there just wouldn't be enough room for me to camp out there with them. So at the end of the night I parted ways with my campers and begrudgingly made my way to the really comfortable, warm bed -- sigh -- while Craig and Merrick were cozied up under the stars.

I have to admit I wasn't certain how long it would be before the novelty wore off and the two of them came stumbling into the house in the middle of the night searching for the comfort of their warm beds. But I was very surprised and proud that they actually made it until 5AM - and the only reason they didn't finish the entire night out there is because Craig forgot to turn off the sprinklers so they were awakened by a nice little shower (we made a note that we need to make sure we get a new WATERPROOF tent).

Bend it Nothing Like Beckham

I recently signed Merrick up for an 8 week session of soccer lessons. Every Saturday, bright and early at 9AM, we meet with about 25 other 3-5 year olds for a half hour of pure joy, love of competition and passion for the game. Except, not exactly like that. Don't let these soccer moms fool you. Here's how it really goes down...

1) They really wanted to torture the parents, so they decided practice would take place on a field strategically located right smack in the middle of two amazingly fun-looking play structures. I mean clearly, what 3 year old child would be interested in play structures when you have the opportunity to listen to a coach drill soccer technique into your head?

2) Never underestimate the intimidation power of a group of 3-5 year olds. I would say out of the group, about 1/3 of the kids had already done this before and knew the drill, therefore were not shy in the least when it came to getting out there on the field and interacting. The other 2/3? A combination of crying because they didn't want to play, crying because they wanted to be on the play structure, crying just to cry, you get the drift. Merrick all in all did pretty good...he wasn't crying, but I did have to hold his hand during the entire lesson. We were attached at the hip.

3) Throw the idea of rules completely out the window. During a session of practicing dribbling and then kicking into the goal, Merrick decided - why on earth would you kick the ball into the goal when you can just pick it up and walk it in? So that's exactly what he did. And continued to do the rest of the lesson.

All in all, I think after a few sessions he'll start to get into it a little more. My M.O. is to bribe him -- if he participates in the soccer session, I'll let him play on the structures after the lesson is over. Certainly I don't want to force him into anything he's not excited about....but I at least want to get my money's worth for this session!

Mori Point

We found another great hiking spot recently that we took both Merrick and Dexter to - just outside of Pacifica. I was so proud of Merrick - he probably hiked about 1.5 miles that day...which for his little legs was quite a feat. I think Dexter had the most fun though, he's been getting the short end of the stick lately and was so happy to be out on a hike!