Miller Farms

 Miller Farms near us is a wonderful place to visit for the fall harvest.  They have an eclectic variety of stuff that is great fun for the kids to play on, everything from rows of old tractors to a bit bouncy inflatable dome to pedal carts that you can race around a track.

Xander practicing driving the tractor.

After letting the kids play, we hopped on the back of a tractor and headed off to dig in the dirt and pick vegetables.

 

Digging for potatoes is fun, but is even better when you can share with a friend!

After a long day of picking vegetables, Maya was ready to take our haul home, but only after getting a chance to pull the wagon herself.

Maya Rides a Bike

Maya rides a bike, kind of.  Maya actually loves to ride sitting on the top tube of my BMX bike.  It generally doesn't last very long, since it can't be very comfortable for her, but she really loves the idea.  She still isn't all that keen on the strider bike yet.  We break it out every month or so and she gamely hops on and pushes it a few steps, but she hasn't decided that it is fun yet.  I think she will really take off on it next summer.

Xander meanwhile is unstoppable on his bike.  See that intense look as he plows into a pile of leaves!

Story Time

Erin and I are a couple of book worms, in fact as I type this Erin is curled up next to me reading a book.  So, of course, we love to read to the kids and we love that the kids really like books too.  Story time is great family time when we all get to sit together and enjoy a good book.

Life is Good

Says it all.

Shreddin' the Bike Park

Xander just loves the valmont bike park.  The pump track is his favorite.  Aiden joined us at the bike park today and Mike took us on a tour of some of the other fun trails out there.  We had a great time exploring some new terrain and Xander had a blast.  There will definitely be some new things for us to work on next time we are there.  And of course everything is more fun if you get to wear a superhero mask!

A Little Jeep Trip

The Jeep hasn't had a chance to have much fun this year.  With all the focused training for the ironman we didn't get out in the Jeep at all.  I'm most disappointed that we didn't do any camping this year.  Maya is going on 2 years old and hasn't been on a camping trip yet, not good at all.  We are going to have to fix that this spring.  Anyway, I wanted to try to cram in a quick half day Jeep trip and was able to talk a few friends into joining me.  Alex wanted to come and Karyn and a few more friends joined us to head up Storm mountain.  The leaves were pretty and although the trip was short it was a great way to spend a morning.  The kids had a great time, they thought that it was a fantastic adventure and giggled much of the way (or maybe that was Karyn...).  Thanks to Karyn for some great photos and even a cool video of the Jeep splashing through the mud.

See the video and more pics from Karyn's blog post here:
http://tuckerandkaryn.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-couple-of-weekends-at-home.html

Maya Riding Her Strider

Maya hasn't really taken to the Strider bike yet, but when Xander is out riding she sometimes wants to venture on to see what all this bike riding is about.  I'm guessing next spring she will really start to get into it, but for now, I love that she is willing to give it a try.

Book Party

Our kids love to read.  No great surprise since Erin and I love books too and we both love to read to the kids.  So, when friends come over, what do Xander and Maya want to do, how about read books together.  Too fun!

A Little Mountain Biking

With two kids, an MBA and my ironman training, our mountain bikes have been feeling very very lonely lately.  So, when we received an invitation from the Spuhler's to join them and more friends up at Betasso for a kid friendly mountain biking opportunity, we jumped at it.  The kids get to hang out and ride the bikes and have a picnic at the pavilion and the parents get to take turns riding the mountain bike loop.  Erin and I were both thrilled to be on our mountain bikes again and the kids had a pretty good time too.

A big day of mountain biking wears everyone out.

Maya 18 Month Photos

Our little girl is growing up so fast.  Maya at 18 months is an exuberant and determined little girl.  Here are some photos of Maya just being Maya.  We love you sweetie.

A big day in front of the camera is exhausting for everyone.