Bates Nut Farm Pumpkin Patch - 2011

Our next adventure was to go to the Pumpkin Patch.  We had never been to Bates Nut Farm before but I researched it online and heard it was the best Pumpkin Patch in San Diego.  This place was insane, I never expected it to be so huge and with so many things to do, and not to mention half of San Diego had to be there.  When you walk in you don't even know where to start. There are hundreds and hundreds of pumpkins everywhere from all sizes and colors and they also have a fair going on with slides, pony rides, hayrides, face painting, and tons of yummy food. 

Skylar made a b-line for all the pumpkins in hoping to find one her size.

Some of the pumpkins there were the largest pumpkins I think I have ever seen. They had to be close to 100 pounds.

Next we decided to sample some of the food, which of course is always a must when you are at place like this. 

We took a quick tour of the farm by taking the hayride.

It was time to start picking out some pumpkins to take home and Skylar decided that at first she wanted to ride in the wheelbarrow, then she wanted to push it herself.

Eventually Skylar found her perfect pumpkin!

Bates Nut Farm was an great experience and I think we are going to definitely make it a family tradition.

Legoland

Talk about a packed filled weekend!  We had a ton of fun this past weekend with Grandpa Paul and Grandma Suzie.  Our first stop was the Legoland Aquarium and let me tell you, it didn't disappoint. 

Skylar was immediately in heaven when we walked in as she was able to go down the slide and get up close and personal with all the sea life.

Grandma Suzie was very excited to see her first lego Pelician!

Skylar loved touching all the starfish in the little pools.

To our suprirse we were excited to find out that if you purchase tickets to the Aquarium they let you go into the park and explore for an hour, which we totally jumped on since we had never been to the park before.  The park was totally awesome and I can only imagine how much you can do if you are there for the whole day.

We found the perfect section of the park where Skylar was able to run all over the place and climb through things.

There was even a lego train ride that we took Skylar on, but I think Grandma Suzie and myself were more excited to be on the train ride than Skylar.

After our morning at Legoland I have definitely decided that starting next year I'm purchasing a year pass.  We had a ton of fun and I can't wait to explore the rest of the park with Skylar.

Pumpkin Bread...YUMMY!

I'm loving now that Fall has arrived because it finally gives me a reason to make my Mom's delicious Pumpkin Bread.  Seeing what a carb eater Skylar is I knew she would love it.  She has been having a piece every day.  She even shared some with Elmo and her Princess doll the other morning. 

Matthew & Erin's Engagement Weekend

This past weekend was a big weekend for our family, as my little brother proposed to his beautiful girlfriend of six years.  Matthew had had this weekend planned for a few months now and he wanted to surprise Erin by having our family and Erin's family fly out to Arizona and celebrate with the both of them.  So after Matthew popped the question at the Grand Canyon on Thursday, they drove into Scottsdale on Friday where we were all waiting.  It wasn't the big "SURPRISE" as we thought it would of been because of course with Facebook and everyone knowing about their engagement Matthew and Erin's Arizona friends were trying to make plans to hang out and celebrate with them on Friday night and Matthew had to tell Erin they couldn't go out with them because all of us were waiting for the two of them at the resort.  Either way, I think Erin was still surprised!!

Friday night my parents hosted a happy hour/dinner at the resorts restaurant to congratulate the happy couple.  We all sat outside in the private section of the resorts restaurant where there was a live band and delicious food and drinks.  There were ponds and fountains surrounding the whole place so Skylar was in heaven running around and putting her hand in the water.  I had to take Skylar to bed around 8:30 p.m. but everyone else celebrated into the wee hours of the night.

I have the worst camera on the face of the earth!

The next day the boys all went golfing, Erin and her family did some shopping, while Mom, Skylar and I went back to the pool for some relaxing.  It was overcast most of the day which made it really nice.  Skylar enjoyed just working on her tan.

While shopping Erin wanted to play a little joke on Matthew so she purchased a $5.00 wedding dress and a bunch of $3.00 bridesmaid dresses and wanted to trick Matthew into thinking she wanted to have the wedding that night.  It ended up being pretty funny because Matthew looked pretty shocked when we all walked out dressed for a wedding ceremony.  I also think it was good practice for Skylar as I'm hoping she will get to be the flower girl in their "real" wedding.

For the last night Erin's parents set up a really nice dinner for everyone at an awesome resort down the street from where we were staying.  It was a really beautiful place and the food was beyond amazing.  Skylar unfortunately wasn't in the mood to sit at the table so Jake and I were back and forth with her at the fountain or the chair swing by the fire pit the entire meal. 

   

 

I don't think our family could be happier that Erin is going to be officially apart of our family.  She has been such a major part of our lives for the past six years and it's now nice to know that we are going to have several more years with her.  I feel that Matthew had perfect timing with it all and that he couldn't be any happier.  I'm looking forward to their future together and excited for their next step in their relationship.  Congratulations again to the happy couple, we love you both very much!