Some Chills, Some Thrills, and a Whole Lotta Sponge Bob ...

We started off the weekend with a surprise visit from my sister, Tracy. We were all so very happy to see her = ) We were also excited that she got to go to the pumpkin patch with us this year ... too bad she brought the freezing Colorado temperatures with her! Our trip to the patch was much shorter this year as the chilly temp and extra cool breeze took a little of the fun out of the adventure. But, we all trucked along on our mission and found some prized pumpkins nonetheless. A little bit of cold can't keep us down!

Here's Riley hopping along ... not too long before he slipped and slid into the slippery mud. Yuck! Thankfully, it all cleaned up fairly easily. Too bad we couldn't catch his desperate attempts to stay upright, though. It would've been an America's Funniest Home Video winner for sure = )

Gage with his "daddy pumpkin"

Riley being a strong man and one-handing a decent sized pumpkin!

After the pumpkin hunting we headed into this sheltered picnic area for some hot apple cider and vanilla popcorn ... yum! In the meantime, Gage had fun taunting this big ol' witch saying, "Nana nana, boo boo, you can't get me." Such a tough guy with the inflatables = )~

Later that evening we headed to Kokoro Japanese Steakhouse to celebrate our dear old dad's upcoming 60th birthday. That's right, 60th! This was his -- and the kiddos -- first trip to such a restaurant. Everyone loved the show at the hot grill. I wish some of the pictures would have come out better of Riley watching the chef. He was in awe to say the least. His eyes and jaw were wide open most of the evening just taking it all in! Also, thanks to my sis, my parents, Corey and I were treated to our first Sake Bombs. Interesting to say the least = )

Fire!

The other big excitement of the weekend was the much anticipated arrival of Gage's big boy bed. Grandma and Papa brought this bed to Gage courtesy of an extra that was being stored at Great Grandma Galyardt's house. He has been waiting for this for several weeks. Every day up to this point he would say, "Grandma and Papa are bringing my big boy bed today?" To which I would need to explain to him how many weeks/days it would be until this event actually happened. Well, he was not let down and is soooo in love with his bed! He is also in love with his matching Sponge Bob jammies courtesy of Grandma and Papa. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Could this get any cuter?

And, of course, Riley couldn't be left out of getting something new, too. Sooooo, we rearranged his bedroom -- so he, too, now has a new room = )

What a wonderful weekend. As always, it was way too short, but we're already looking forward to the next one. Can't wait to see the fun it will bring!