Orr Family Farm

The Lucas family "master calender" was quickly filling up so we knew we needed to plan our annual pumpkin patch trip pretty soon.  It worked out that the weather was fall fantastic over the kid's fall break.  Paul took a couple days to be with the family too. 

It seemed like a perfect day to check out Orr Family Farm...........after we took some pics in front of my fall porch decor.

 

They had a petting zoo that was so stinkin cute complete with a pretend cow for milking.

 

The kids did inform us that they would like to live on a farm.  Perfect.

This place was so much fun.  They had giant jumping pillows, pedal cars, mazes, HUGE slides, a carousel and of course a hay ride.  Our friends the Robin, Avery and Gavin met us out there.

 jumping pillows

 pedal cars of all sizes

 Tyson and his pal Avery

 We took a hayride to the pumpkin patch to pick our little pumpkins.

 These were the tallest slides.......even I got in on these!

 They had a whole  section of pink pumpkins in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Em and I liked these!

Orr Family was pretty special........maybe even neater than Hill Country Pumpkin Patch in Medina, Texas. 

Ready. Set. SWIM!

Tyson is swimming for EAT this year, Extreme Aquatic Team.  He swims two nights a week for one hour and that one hour completely exhausts me.  He must swim over 500 meters.  Which for an 8 year old boy is A LOT.  The first time he practiced he could barely make it down and back once.  Now he has become quite good at it.  He is working on his freestyle form, backstroke and breast stroke.  I couldn't be more proud of him.  This is definitely not an easy sport. 

 Waiting to warm up......

 His pal Avery

The warm up consists of 100 jumping jacks, 25 push-ups and something called stream line superman (which looks kinda like a long extended crunch) then they hop into the pool for 100-200 meters of freestyle swim.  THEN they start they start their drills.  And I wonder why Tyson is so hungry all the time.  The jeans I bought him at the beginning of the school year a a little big in the waste now.  He burns some serious calories.  First meet is next week. 

The 2 Newest Family Members

For the last few months Tyson has been on this "guinea pig" kick.  We honestly thought he'd forget about it.  No such luck.  He told us he really wanted a guinea pig but through all of his research we discovered that "guinea pigs are social animals and do better in pairs or with other guinea pigs."  Of course they do do, I'd expect nothing less.  I've got to hand it to Tyson, he really did do his homework.  We told Tyson he needed to learn about guinea pigs first and find out about their needs.  So he did just that.  Week after week he would check out another guinea pig book from his school library.  He actually checked out so many that our librarian asked Tyson, "if his mom let him get one yet?"  Then he asked us to take him to PetCo so he could research them more and talk to an employee.  We left there and he knew exactly what he needed to purchase for his guinea pigs.  It was then he realized he was going to need a little monetary assistance.  This is when the grandparents came in to play.  Tyson sat down and wrote letters to his his Aunt Jenna, and both sets of grandparents explaining his predicament (aka asking for some donations).  Fast forward a week and it was time for the big purchase.

 Meet "Hamilton" as in Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers.  He is very sweet and likes to be held.

 Looks like Josh Hamilton to me.

This is "Hardin" as in James Hardin of the Oklahoma City Thunder  and he is a little more difficult to photograph, but he too will get used to having a lens in his face........it's just goes with the territory when you're part of this family.

The guineas are sweet and so far Tyson takes really good care of them.  We are in the process of moving them upstairs.  That will become the Lucas Zoo.  Franklin the tortoise and Shiny, Stoops, Tiny the crab have also relocated upstairs.

This is their split level gp condo.  Pretty nice digs.

Oklahoma State Fair

I realize it's been almost a month since we took the kids to the fair.  But better later than never.  It's this "working" thing.........a little less free time on the computer.  I am loving substituting, it's definitely keeping me busy.

We took the kids to the fair on the last day.  We had been waiting for some cooler temperatures.  It was a fun time for the whole family!

 We always end up at the petting zoo.

 The llama was so cute!!!

 The auto show is also a big favorite.

 Tyson couldn't wait to hop in the drivers seat and of course his trusty sidekick was right there too.

 This fair visit was full of "first."  The first time we went to an event like this with NO stroller, and it was the first time for Em to ride the rides.  She loved them and really had no fear.

 

 

 My little girl, she kept bending down talking to her "horsey" so it was difficult to get a picture.

 Another "first."  The Indian Taco on Indian Fry Bread.......Oh My Goodness, it was so yummy!

And you can't go to the fair without having sweets.  Tyson choose the biggest cinnamon roll I've ever seen and Em wanted chocolate ice cream.

It's the uniform......

Tyson joined Cub Scouts this year and is LOVING it!  He's attended the first couple Den and Pack meetings.  He's really looking forward to the family camp out next month.  This is something Tyson and Paul can do together.  I don't know too much about it yet, but for now all I know is that Buddy is a Bear in Den 5, Pack 90 and he looks SUPER CUTE in his uniform!!!

Proud of these two......

These next pictures are very special to me!  Both for very different reasons......

August was a pretty rough month this same time last year for Mom.  She was starting her last round of chemotherapy and it was definitely taking it's toll on her physically and emotionally.  To see her smiling and looking this fabulous really puts things in perspective. 

 Now Jenn.........I'm proud of her too.  If you follow this blog you can see there aren't a ton of pictures of Jenn from the last few years.  But she's been working really hard to change her eating habits and become a healthier person by exercising daily.  Jenn has lost 35 pounds and that is amazing!  And I couldn't be more proud of her.  I love these pictures of us!!! And I love that she wants her picture taken again!

Proud of you Mom and Jenn!!!!  Love you both!!!!

90 Years!

When Mom told me that Grandma was turning 90 and there was a lunch birthday party being planned I knew we had to go.  Luckily Paul's schedule allowed us to leave around noon on Friday and make the drive to San Antonio for a super quick weekend.  While driving down we explained to the kids that we were going to "my grandma's" birthday party.  And that she was turning 90.  Naturally that was difficult for the kids to grasp.  Tyson had been around Grandma a few times but Em only as a baby. We also explained there would be lots of people they may not recognize giving them hugs. 

 This is what 5, 65, and 90 looks like!

 

 Grandma with her youngest and oldest daughter.

 

 Grandma with just a few of her great grandchildren

Happy 90th Birthday Grandma!