Grayson Turns Six, Pumpkin Patch, and The Headless Horseman

What an exciting and fun month we have had. Yes, Grayson has turned six and what a great party he had! He had Phineas and Ferb cupcakes that I made from scratch, boy were they yummy. For those of you that are wondering, "What is Phineas and Ferb?" Well, let me say it is Grayson's favorite show on The Disney channel. He even got tickets to the live show next weekend at Conseco for his birthday!! Grayson requested that I make enchiladas for his birthday so that was the dish I prepared for everyone along with spinach salad and yummy fruit salad! Grayson loved his decorations that were yes of course, Phineas and Ferb. Grayson also got some Lego's (his favorite). He has become so inventive with his Lego building! He also got the Phineas and Ferb movie and a hand carved wooden box from Gatlinburg with his name on it from Grandpa and Grandma. He got so many nice things, lucky boy.

This past week, we headed over to Stoney Creek Farms to pick out a pumpkin in their pumpkin patch and take a hay ride. It was such a beautiful day when we went. We also went with our friends, Krista and her son, Seth and daughter, Abby. Seth is Grayson's number one bud these days! There was so much to see and do. The boys went through a blow up haunted house and laughed all the way through it. They loved it so much, they went through 4x's. They also played on the huge play ground and ran through the straw maze and through the painted big tractor tires and got to feed some animals. The ride up to the pumpkin patch was great. It was on top of a high hill covered with Christmas trees! We are excited to return for Christmas to pick out a tree they cut down for you and Santa drives the wagon! Wow! We found some great pumpkins throughout the evergreen trees. The boys all loved running up and down the dirt road on the hill.

Thursday, Grayson and Rogan had a small Halloween Party with a few friends. They decorated the homemade sugar cookies the boys and I made the night before. While decorating, they listened to spooky, kooky Halloween music and had to show off their dance moves. The boys all had so much fun. After the party, Grayson and Rogan gave out yummy Halloween goody bags and cups to match. We had so much fun celebrating Halloween with our friends. Let me say the boys all enjoyed some old fashioned wrestling fun!

Friday, we went to Conner Prairie for The Headless Horseman! It was so much fun! Our hayride was right before dusk which was great so Rogan wasn't afraid. We wanted him to have a good experience. The entire event is very family oriented but with it being dark riding through the woods, we thought Rogan might be a bit frightened. We had s'mores by the camp fire, along with hot coco. Later we got the boys some cotton candy and I had to have some roasted pecans! Lots of sugar for this family in one night but we loved it and it was such great family time for all of us!

We are counting down the days until trick or treating is here. Grayson is a Ninja Turtle and Rogan will be a Dragon! We have been soaking up every last minute of the sun filled days and making the most of them. Before we know it, snowflakes will be falling and we will be making snow angles and throwing snow balls at one another! My boys have been enjoying collecting leaves, along with raking them and jumping in them. Well, I made it through Grayson's big day without tears or sorrow! Yea for Mommy! I am just so proud of him. His first parent teacher conference was this past week and he scored well above where he should be in every area! We couldn't be more proud of our big boy. He is even writing sentences by himself. Look at him grow!

Our Smoky Mountain Vacation

We have safely returned from our yearly trip to The Smoky Mountains! Let me say, those mountains are just breathtaking, makes one realize how small we all are and how amazing nature is and how great God is. How wonderful it is to visit such an amazing place! We did not spot any bears this time but took many hikes in the mountains and had wonderful picnics along the way! The ride down wasn't too bad until we reached our exit and found the road into town was under construction!! We were so excited to finally reach our destination. The boys were so excited, they didn't go to sleep until almost 11:00pm and woke up at 5:00am!!! That was a bit rough on all of us!! The excitement of sleeping in the same bed was just too much for those Mathias brothers.

The weather was perfect while we were there. Some days were jacket weather and some were in the 80's by afternoon. We had a great time playing in the amazing water park located within our resort. Our first night there, we took the boys down to the main entrance so they could see all the lights, it looked like Christmas the way the resort has it decorated at night. We spent the first few days playing at the water park and hiking, recovering from the long drive. Our boys were on autopilot this entire vacation which made for much less sleep than this family is used to getting. Going from the boys sleeping 12 hours every night to about 6 hours some nights, I was reminiscing of those first few months of having a new baby in the house...you know, sleep deprivation!!!

Our Rogan sees his big brother doing so many things for himself, he has no idea that he is three. Therefore, he feels he should be doing every thing for himself whether he can accomplish the task or not! He is at a joyous yet challenging age. He certainly puts up a protest like none other if things are not going according to his plan and he's not in control of what he's doing...hmm, not sure where he would get that. We had to make our yearly stop in the mountains at 'The Pancake Pantry'. The pancakes just melt in your mouth and the service is top notch!! The 'Pancake Pantry' is always on the top of our list of things to do. We also ate at another wonderful restaurant called 'No Way Jose'. It's a Mexican restaurant located on the water in Gatlinburg. We love their food! The boys loved the queso as much as their food. Afterwards, we watched the ducks outside where Grayson insisted I take many pictures of them and then we headed over to 'The Donut Friar', yummy yum!!! The aroma from there can be found all throughout the middle of Gatlinburg! We even found a few ducks eating a pumpkin.

We spent so much time outside getting close to nature and soaking up all the amazing gifts it has to offer. The boys enjoyed visiting the old church and old houses that were hand made from the ground up in the mountains. We also saw wild turkeys crossing the road often along our mountain adventures and beautiful Blue Birds. We found some silly squirrels along the way of one of our hikes hanging upside down in the trees greeting us. We ate outside on our balcony a few times nestled up in the mountains. We had many fun times playing on the play ground at the resort also where we met some other families with all boys also.

We enjoyed yet another family vacation but we were happy to return to our home, like the saying goes, "There's no place like home". The boys missed their rooms and their beds and swing set so they told me when they went running in the house when we got home. Let me say, the ride home was an adventure all in itself. One we will never forget from stopping for a break and getting milk shakes at Dairy Queen...big mistake and Rogan dumping it all over and poor Grayson getting car sick! I looked at Marc and didn't know whether to laugh or cry now I can laugh but in the heat of the moment all we could do was just hang in there. My Jeep is three years old and still smelt like new car until the projectile puking but with lots of TLC and a good carpet cleaning, finally the new car smell has returned! Weeks later, we get a nice laugh out of the crazy trip home one I am sure we will laugh about with our boys years to come! Marc and I were happy to have our boys back on their regular sleeping routine because we needed a vacation from their vacation!

Now the countdown begins for our next vacation in May to Disney and staying at another amazing Disney resort. Grandpa and Grandma will not be joining us this time to Disney which we are sad to report! Our Grayson turns six on Monday and Marc and I can't even grasp that our baby is now six. We are celebrating his party this weekend. We also took Grayson bowling, out for pizza and then to 'Handles Ice cream' last weekend and brought along his best bud, Seth. Monday, on Grayson's actual birthday, I am sure I will be emotional as I always am every year when he gets just a little bit older. Sunday we are taking the boys to The Children's Museum, one for the Lights On Haunted House and also to celebrate yet again, Grayson's Birthday. It is a tradition that we do for the boys every year on their birthdays and since the museum isn't open on Monday, Grayson's actual birthday, we are making a trip there tomorrow. Marc and I just love that museum as much as our boys do! We sure are enjoying fall and all the wonderful festivities that go along with it! We still have the Headless Horseman this week at Conner Prairie and the pumpkin patch on Grayson's birthday!! The fun never ends when your a Mathias!