Botanica

The boys and I went for a little mini-vacation to Wichita last weekend.  Dan had Friday off from school, so we packed way too much stuff and made the 3 1/2-hour drive on Thursday.  (Zach was pretty busy with school so he took advantage of a quiet house to catch up.)

After an 85 degree day on Wednesday, I don't think the temperature made it over 65 the whole time we were home.  Maybe fall is finally here to stay!  The chilly weather didn't keep us inside, though.  On Friday morning, my mom and I took Dan and Ben to Botanica, a fantastic botanic garden in Wichita.  My parents have lived in Wichita for 20 years and my mom loves all things floral and gardening and outdoors, yet she had never been there!  Unfortunately, her first time was spent speed-walking after the boys so she didn't get to stop and smell the flowers.  Maybe a membership will be in her Christmas stocking this year (hint, hint, Dad).

The gardens were beautiful and it felt like we were the only ones there, even though the sun came out and the weather turned out to be just fine.  Botanica has an amazing children's garden with herbs and vegetables to water, a treehouse to climb, a sandbox for digging, and a cave to paint (with water).  Dan and Ben loved all the secret paths and bridges and rocks and ledges.  We had a great morning and I can't wait to go back at Christmas to see how it's decorated then!

KC RenFest

The fun did not end with apple picking on Saturday.  That night, Dan and I went on a date to see Ice Age: Continental Drift on base.  Movies are so cheap in the base theater!  Kids 5 and under are free and adults are only $5.  They show two movies a weekend, usually about two months after the movies are in the real theater.  When I told Dan that it was just me and him and we were going on a date, he said, "Just like Holly and Mater go on a date!"  As long as I'm Holly....

On Sunday, we drove the 20 minutes or so to the Kansas City Renaissance Festival.  It's held every weekend from Labor Day to Columbus Day and it's pretty cool!  Tons of booths with food, games, stuff to buy, magicians, feats of strength, animals, etc.  They even had a few rides for the kids.  I think Dan and Ben were a little confused about all the people in costume but they didn't seem to be scared, which is weird considering how much Ben hates guys with beards.  Another fun weekend in the books!

And here's a video of our little daredevil:

More Apple Pickin'

Whew!  What a fun-filled weekend!  On Friday evening, we headed onto base (I just can't make myself call it "post" like the Army folks do) to check out Oktoberfest.  They had the normal beer tent/schnitzel dinner but they also had bouncy houses, horse rides and a climbing wall for the kids.  Dan was all about it but Ben was terrified of the giant inflatable bouncy house man.  He hated him almost as much as he hated the bearded guy at the pumpkin patch.  So we didn't stay too long.  Instead, we headed over to the bowling alley to roll a few frames and have some pizza.  The night was a success!

On Saturday morning, we got up early and went to the farmer's market.  After that, it was time to hit the apple orchard again.  Zach and Dan missed out on the first trip so we had to remedy that situation.  The trees are still very full of apples (to the point where the branches drag the ground!) so we picked until we couldn't pick anymore.  The boys loved the hayride and roasting marshmallows afterward.  And I love that I can take a ton of apples with me when we go to Wichita at the end of the week so my mom can help me make my first pie!

Lamborn Farms

On Saturday, we took the kids to Science City at Union Station.  I had my boys, Danielle had Connor, and Melanie had Noah.  Since I knew I would have my hands full wrangling the brochachos, I didn't even bother taking my camera.  But we had a great time and all the kids took awesome naps!

I did, however, bring my camera to the pumpkin patch on Sunday!  We went to Lamborn Farms, which is only about 10 minutes from Leavenworth.  They had a track with pedal carts, a big haystack to climb, a giant sandbox with digging tools, a wagon ride to a pumpkin patch, baby pigs, rabbits, bees, and a hay maze.  (Can you guess where my boys wanted to hang out the whole time?  That's right--the sandbox.)

Ben wanted no part of the barrel train ride or the wagon ride because he was terrified of the guy driving the tractors.  And I mean, TERRIFIED.  He would burst into sobs whenever he saw him and would cling to me pathetically, saying, "I don't want to see that guy with the beard, Mommy!"  So we walked out to see the pumpkins but we didn't end up getting any because I don't think they'd last from now until Halloween.  And since Ben really doesn't like the guy that works there, we'll probably find another pumpkin patch next time!  Other than that, we had a really good time.  (:

Guess it's time to search for Ben's missing shoes.

This kid never met a fence he wouldn't climb.