Fall Fun 2013

The Dalton Family loves some good fall fun.  In KC we had our favorite pumpkin patches that we went to every year, so I was thrilled to find that the Joplin area has some great pumpkin patches as well.

We checked out the first one with our friends Easton and his mom Misty.  The kids had a blast, and since we went during the week, we had the place almost completely to ourselves!

Ava really enjoyed the horses.  Her Mimi keeps telling us that we need to buy her one!

The kids checked out the mini-hay maze too, as well as the corn bin.

Next up, the bounce house and the huge inflatable slide.  Misty and I were both surprised at how brave the kiddos were, climbing right on up the slide and going down again and again.

Easton pushed Ava on the swing...how sweet!

The train was next, but Ava was too scared.  Easton loved it!

We checked out the animals at the petting zoo.  The kids had a great time feeding and petting the animals.

So we decided to try the hay-maze....yikes!  We made it to the end easily, which (surprise, surprise) was the middle of the maze.  Finding our way out, however, was a totally different story.  We tried everything, and found every dead-end possible.  But the sun was going down and we wanted out...so we sent the kids, the stroller, and finally ourselves over the hay bales.  Yes, we cheated our way out of the maze. Soooo worth it.

Photo op before we left.  Vivian wanted to eat the straw, of course....

Josh and I took the kiddos to another fun pumpkin patch outside of Pittsburg.  We had a blast!

Ava in the bounce house.

We didn't have to cheat our way out of this one, we actually made it out okay!

Josh even joined Ava in the slide.

We hit the corn bin...twice.  This thing was HUGE, and the first time there it was absolutely packed with kids. This picture is actually after it had calmed down!

Big slides are always a hit...

We had a great time getting through the corn maze...

And the petting zoo, of course - Ava loves animals.

We found our pumpkins!

And a few sweet pictures of my girls before church....

Newman Love

On October 17, Newman went to sleep forever.  It was a terribly difficult decision, but he was no longer himself and was obviously in pain.  The date just happened to be the 10 year anniversary of the day that Josh and I met.  For those who do not know the story, Josh first noticed Newman sticking his cute head out of the back of my car window, while stopped at a stoplight.  Josh started talking to me, got my number, and the rest was history. 

Newman was an onery, fiesty dog from the beginning.  So many great memories of this guy....too many to share, really.  So I thought I would just share a few of my favorite pictures.

Swimming at Shawnee Mission Park...he loved that place.

Newmie putting the smack-down on pup Emmitt.  

The last picture taken of these two, the morning before I took him to the vet.  Snuggled up together, this one pulls at my heart.  Emmitt misses his buddy (and so do I).