Black Island Farms . October 2013

I am so very behind on this blog.  Life has just put it on the "back burner".

Adding to our busy life, I recently discovered that I am not able to continue using Shutterfly for our family scrapbooks.  I had the 2013 nearly half way complete when I received notification that a book is limited to 1,000 pictures.  Never mind the fact that you can have 30 pictures/page, and up to 111 pages - a total of 3,330.  I was already worried I wouldn't be able to condense to the 111 pages, but being limited to 1,000 photos just wouldn't work for me.  So, I've had to search other options.  I think I've finally found one that will work (and, yes, I've been in contact with Customer Service to ensure there is no unspoken picture limit!).

One final note - my plan is to publish posts as I create them, but as I find time (a few weeks later), I will be moving them to the dates they occurred - so that I can find old posts more easily in the future (I'm confident I won't remember to check February 2014 for October 2013 posts!).

And, finally - the pictures!

We continued our annual tradition of visiting Black Island Farms mid-October.  For the first time, we participated in the "hay ride" to the farm's pumpkin patch, where each of us got to pick our own pumpkin from the field.  The ground was rather uneven, which made each of you a bit nervous to explore.  The pumpkins were still attached to their vine, so dad had to pick each one for us.  Once we gathered all of our pumpkins, we headed back to the main "Courtyard" for more fun!

We spent a small amount of time looking at the animals, but no one was really interested in it this year.  You all LOVED the tall hay slides, but still needed a bit of help to get up the rope ladders.  Jarrett was the first to tire of the slide, and found throwing the lose hay around much more entertaining!

The grain chute was the final slide. Ryder was big enough to ride on his own, but Harvick & Jarrett each had to ride down with Patrick.

Everyone was eager to ride the train - Harvick and Jarrett even shared a car!  After a few rides, Ryder and Jarrett jumped right into the corn box, while Harvick was a bit more hesitant to participate.

We stopped for a snack break, which included  an order of FRIED OREOS (dad's choice, of course!) - everyone enjoyed them!

The boys went down the kids' slide a few last times before heading out for the day.  We'll be back again next year!

Later that evening we went to Hooper's "Halloween Haunt" where we enjoyed cookies and hot chocolate.  The park is full of lit luminaries, and along the fence various vignettes are on display - the boys were all fascinated with the lit ghosts!