The Giesekes

We've been doing a lot of what I call "doorbusting" lately. The kids (and therefore the adult too) are up at 6am regardless of what we do, so instead of lingering around the house all morning, we're doing all activities when they open in the morning. I am not a morning person, but it has been kind of cool to be ready and out early and to see things before anyone else arrives. We did this a lot on our San Diego vacation (a post will be forthcoming) and now I'm hooked.

This Saturday was heavenly. We wanted to visit the pumpkin patch in Half Moon Bay and avoid the massive crowds and traffic that plague the area in October. So we got ourselves going first thing and pulled into the lot at 9am, hardly seeing another visitor for the first hour.

This made a huge difference for Jackson's enjoyment. He usually clams up and shuts down when we arrive at an activity. Crowds and things that are supposed to be "fun" overwhelm him. We've experienced a lot of let-downs with taking him places and he just wants to go home the whole time or doesn't seem to engage what we're there for. This was totally different.

He was excited and happy to adventure around and see new things. Here we are in our secret hide out in a corn hut.

And trudging through the tall corn. He ended up a little lost and confused, but we rescued him.

Jack's starting to worry about an escape plan. Me and Cosette are having fun.

Can't get out!

Mommy's hand.

Honestly a lot of the "family fun" we attempt sounds great in concept, but it ends up being a big pile of logistical nightmares, bad communication between Dan and me, non-ideal timing, hunger, thirst, tiredness and on and on. It's difficult to actually find refreshment. We end up being relieved when we get home and deciding that staying home is easier. For some reason this day was different. Maybe God knew we needed it, but it was just so honestly fun and lighthearted that I walked away feeling so thankful for these 3 people in my daily life.

Climbing through.

Goofy dude.

I'm finding more and more that the planning and preparation I do goes a long way in making sure everyone has their sweater, has their snack, and their milk AND water (Jack has blended the two beverages into the term "milk-n'-water" since he must have both), and all the other contingencies in case something goes wrong. However, it doesn't guarantee us a certain ideal experience that I'm always searching for. It's a lot more about the attitude we as the adults bring to the day than the contents of the diaper bag or the clothes on our children or the price of the admission ticket.

These pumpkins had the Costco affect - they didn't seem that big in the warehouse (or field) but felt way huge when we got them home.

It was fun taking pictures with no one else popping into the background. After we picked our pumpkins we decided that the corn maze that looked cool was too expensive ($26 for the 4 of us to wander around lost! No thanks!) so we did the kids' area instead.

Ponies of course. Kids these days are going to think pony rides are something everyone does weekly. Seriously, my sister and I would have killed for so many pony encounters.

Jack cruised around the play train yelling "choo choo" and "tickets please" for quite some time. Dan wants one of these decommissioned trains for our yard.

Once others started showing up, we got to witness many of the typical parenting antics, of which we are often guilty too. There's always The Do-It-All's, that couple who is keenly aware of what the outing is costing them and wants their child to do everything, to make it worth every cent. That particular child inevitably wants to sit in the ball pit for 2 hours. The parents keep calling out inspiring things like "Come on Madison, don't you want to see the pumpkins? Let's go in the corn maze! Don't you want to see the train?!?" No, Madison just wants to sit in the ball pit and will definitely cry as they drag her to the next "fun" thing.

Next are The Enrichers who have brought poor Aiden out on the weekend to learn, be enriched, experience the world. They also have to yell out amazing things like, "Come smell this flower! Don't you want blow the whistle? Climb to the top!" Aiden will experience every sensory sensation the farm has to offer if it's the last thing they do.

If you watch closely you will surely see The Portraiteer, the mom who dressed the kids in their coordinating best, hoping for the perfect family portrait. To spot her, look for clothing that's completely inappropriate for the setting: high-heeled boots, designer jeans, perfect hair. She will be the one shooting her kids "get-dirty-and-you'll-be-sorry" looks as they literally run through dirt fields in matching white dresses. Not kidding here.

Her close relative is The Photographer, the parent that knows they are going to need 2,597 pictures of their child trying to climb the bail of hay. This parent will get into any position, laying down on the gravel, perched on top of a fence post, to get the angle, to capture the light just right. The Photographer usually has only one small child.

My personal favorite are The Fighters, the couple who got into the most massive fight of their married lives on the car ride over and are now enduring the "family fun" with palpable tension. Usually they are taking it out on the kids by expecting them to be reasonable, which kids never are.

There are so many. The Spenders are buying weird stuff for their child that they would never buy in a sane moment. The Groupies are parents all there together, adoring their mass of wild kids, who are doing nothing extraordinary, like they are the first kids that have ever thrown a ball or spit at their sister. The Reactionaries are buying the kid whatever will shut him up. The Just-Kill-Me-Now dads. The I've-Given-Up moms. Basically when you observe from the sidelines, it doesn't look like people are having that much fun.

I think it all comes down to what you're expecting - what you want to get out of an experience as well as what you're bringing to it. I see more clearly all of the time that the more specific your expectations, the more the reality of the experience will throw you off. It will not ever go as planned, ever! (If you really want some amazing material, hang out in the Home Depot parking lot in December and watch the families try to pick trees. That kind of experience could send anyone into therapy)

He picked this modest size pumpkin, then decided that it was too big because he was having trouble carrying it. He ended up with a $1 mini pumpkin.

In the hay tunnel. If I haven't mentioned this before, he's obsessed with tunnels. In his favorite show, Dinosaur Train, they go through "time tunnels" to visit every time period in the Mesozoic Era, the Jurassic, Triassic, and Cretaceous time periods! He really loves tunnels.

Snapping cute shots of the baby right after she wakes up. She's a little blurry eyed with face creases, but I don't mind.

Once again, are we hugging or strangling? It's a fine line.

Sweet kisses.

After a few hours things were going shockingly well with the kids, so we decided to get lunch in Half Moon Bay. We shared a delicious Santa Fe Pizza (it even had avocados and salsa on it) and loved the sunny day. I couldn't believe it was so hot in an area that always seems fogged in. We just had to stop by the beach before going home.

The Ritz Carlton in the background.

We didn't really have beach gear, so Jackson played in his undies. We planned to say a 1/2 hour and stayed much longer. The surf was beautiful and the sand was warm. Basically a wonderful day. I kept telling Dan that I felt like we were on vacation. I know all future outing won't be quite so picturesque, but I am thankful to have a God who shows His love for me in these calm special days. Today I feel refreshed.

"Far too often we forget exactly what we're after
And far to soon we skip the book to read the final chapter
But I will savor in each moment I can capture
Of a life profound" ~ Mica Lee Williams

Cosette wiggled on her belly, scooted backwards, pivoted, rolled, and tumbled from 6 months and each day I wondered if that was the day she would finally get going forward. She waited until she was 8 months old, then took off like a shot. She finally got some forward propulsion on a Sunday night, pushing forward on her toes. By Monday morning she was crawling a few strides on her knees. By Tuesday she was all the way up and shooting down the hallway. I guess when you practice for 2 months you can do it all at once.

She is fast and happy in her crawling. She follows Jackson all around the house and he spurs her on with shouts of "come here Baby!!" and he crawls beside her, or in front, or sometimes on top of her.

This might be the best picture ever taken in the whole world.

Her favorite spot in the house is the corner with the fake tree where she can take all of the fake potting soil out and spread it all over the ground while eating it. That same corner provides an excellent opportunity to rip and eat magazines that I keep in a basket.