The Tire Swing Tree

Every time we go to Rocky Creek Farm, the tire swing tree is one of Ellie's favorite things. I was so excited to get a picture of the whole thing this year, using our wide angle lens. I don't use it nearly often enough. =D

Rocky Creek Farm

Every Fall we go to Rocky Creek Farm for pumpkins. Because of the early snow and freezing, I wasn't sure we were going to make it this year. Thankfully, though, the weather warmed up the last few days they were open and we made it! Ellie and I went with our dear friends Amber and Josie (who may very well be Eliana's new best friend):

Aren't they cute?? Ellie and Josie are just a few months apart in age and they get along great! They play together twice a week (Amber and I kid-swap so we can get things done!) and it was so fun to see them interacting as they examined the pumpkins...

The girls played on the tire swings and we got to watch the cider press, which was fun!

And, of course, there were lots of pumpkins and squash to look at:

We got to go on a hayride this year, too, even though we weren't part of a large group! I wasn't sure we'd be able to, so that was a fun surprise!

When we got to the pumpkin patch, Ellie took very little time choosing her pumpkin:

This is the winner!

Josie picked a pumpkin pretty quickly, too, though hers was bigger to carry!

Because of the early freeze, the pumpkins had already been brought in for the season, but Pete at Rocky Creek is nice enough to spread pumpkins out in a field for the kiddos to choose from. It makes the experience more fun!

While we were waiting for the hayride to take us back to the barn, Amber got to hold both the pumpkins while the girls used her as a base around which to play tag. That's a good mom!

We enjoyed the hayride back as the girls cradles their pumpkins. There's just something special about picking your own from the pumpkin patch!

This year the farm was quite a bit muddier than in years past, as evidenced by the caked mud on Ellie's boot. It was so muddy we got the car stuck in the mud and had to have assistance getting it out! Here's Eliana, showing off her muddy shoe:

I tried several times to get Eliana to smile for me, but she kept giving me goofy grins, so these are the smiles you have to choose from today:

All in all, it was a wonderful day to head to the pumpkin patch and I'm glad we didn't miss it this year!

A bean, with peas in it...

The other day, Eliana drew me a series of pictures, and told me what they were...

There was a boat in a storm...

A set of beans, with peas in them...

A storm...

And a rollercoaster...

But really.... three "scribble" drawing and... this?

I asked her questions about it and wrote the questions and answers on the paper. She knew exactly what she was drawing, and was very fond of these little pea pods. I think they're cute, so I'm sharing them with you, but this paper gets filed away in the "cherished these things and pondered them in her heart" file that I'm sure every mother has. =D

Football Game

This morning a buddy called me to ask if I wanted to take the kids to the local college football game. That sounded like a perfectly reasonable excuse to get me and Ellie out of the house so Elizabeth could have some time to herself.

The game was really fun to watch. The game had a number of defensive goal line stands. The home team came from behind to take the game into overtime. In OT, they managed to pull ahead and stay ahead.

The kids, however, didn't find the game quite so interesting. Fortunately, the stadium has grassy, open areas by the corners of the end zones that the kids could play in. They had a blast running around on a sunny, warm, beautiful day. 9 days ago it was frigid and snowy. Conveniently, there was a little snow left in the shadow of the stadium that they could play with.

They also practiced tackling.

I can't help myself...

... I love reading the cops section of the Bozeman paper!

• A man burying a dead horse hit a natural gas line.
• A person, who appeared to be doing CPR on the side of Interstate 90 around 6:30 p.m., was cutting up a dead bear.
• A large tent set up near the Montana State University stadium was being blown onto Kagy Avenue by the wind.
• Someone crushed a bunch of crabapples in a woman's driveway overnight.

Seasons of change...

... or lack thereof...

I am so ready for fall. Beautiful leaves, crisp air, hayrides, cute fall sweaters, pumpkins... This is what I long to see:

Instead, we went from 90 degrees to snowing overnight and have stayed in a winter wonderland. I'm not ready for it yet! So I'm just going to keep reliving the drive we took up the Beartooth Pass a couple weekends ago.

We got to drive up, up, up to the highest point in MT, until we were driving above the clouds.

It was really, really windy, but the drive was beautiful. The aspen and cottonwood trees were afire with their fall foliage and the peaks were beautiful.

We had a nice mini-vacation, staying in Red Lodge at a hotel with a pool. Eliana thought that was great! We stayed in a hotel and ate at various local restaurants along the route. It was really nice.

Ellie Quotes

Every once in a while Eliana says things that just throw us for a loop. Sometimes they're rather insightful, demonstrating her thought process, and sometimes they're just plain funny. Here are a few recent quotes:

• Last night Ellie was sitting at the piano, playing and singing. She was singing one of the verses she memorized last spring, and she was having trouble remembering exactly how the words went. She sang, "All we like sheep each to the way..." a few times before folding her arms and looking at me crossly. "That doesn't make sense, Mommy." she pouted. I informed her that the words were, "All we like sheep have gone astray..." when her face brightened and she turned back to the piano and kept singing. "Oh, okay!" she said cheerfully. Apparently, all she needed was the right set of words for it to make sense. =D

• Later, Leif was playing with his new vacuum coffee pot when he realized he put the coffee in the wrong section. He made some disgruntled comment when Eliana turned around and said, "Daddy, don't argue with yourself."

• We were watching PBS together yesterday when a new-ish cartoon came on that I'd never seen. I asked her what it was. Here's the conversation that followed:
  Me: "What's this show?"
  Eliana: "It's Dinosaur Train."
  Me: "Do you like Dinosaur Train?"
  Eliana: "I like dinosaurs. It's a show about dinosaurs. I like it."
  
  So there you have it: Ellie logic. She likes A. B is about A. Ergo, she likes B.
  

Ellie and Grandpa

On the way back from a distant cousin's wedding, my folks and grandfather stopped by our house. Ellie hadn't seen Grandpa since early this year, so it was understandable that she didn't immediately recognize him. It took a little while for her to warm up to him. But once she did, they were all grins.

She even wanted to show Grandpa her toy horse, which she calls "Pegasus."

Unfortunately, they needed to get on the road shortly, so it was a too brief visit.