the "Caleb holiday"

October 27 marked three years since I met my oldest son.   When we heard the familiar pitter patter of his feet coming to our room that morning, Ian and I greeted him with big hugs and asked if he knew what day it was.  He got a huge smile on his face and said, "It's my holiday!  (pause ~ even bigger smile) We're going to the hay ride!"  (our celebration locale from last year.  What can I say, my kids like tradition)

Luckily the C family seems to enjoy tradition too,

my boy and his local "China brother," the ones being celebrated

and while we didn't get to go on Thursday night ~ thanks to a triple combo of school, soccer and gymnastics, we headed out on Saturday afternoon to have some fun.

our kids with caleb's "china brother" and his sister (who happens to be one of ky's "china sisters")

The gourd farm we've visited for the past two years is a quirky little place with something for everyone in the family to enjoy.

There was time for tractor riding,

the boys show they are farm boys at heart

practice for the rodeo,

the dads ~ despite being city boys ~ were surprisingly good with a lasso

and of course the much anticipated hay ride.

six of the cutest kids this side of the pacific

Oh, and did I mention that the hay ride is "spooky?"  At first the girls forgot how "silly spooky" it was from last year and decided Daddy was a safe haven.

daddy and his girls

And then they started to remember that the spooky decorations were sorta silly.  Case in point, there are motion activated spiders, cute sheet ghosts, Big Bird hiding behind a tree, and my favorite, Mickey Mouse in tree house with his tail caught in a mouse trap.

daniel got a kick out of mickey

Then it became all fun and games again.  DQ started really using her clappers to help activate the decorations and the smiles came out.

And Ky moved over to catch up on the latest kindergarten happenings from her sweet friend's school.

super sweet buddies

Eventually, cold temps and growling bellies had us head off to a Chinese buffet for a feast of dumpling soup and spicy chicken.  But not before we paused for two quick family pictures.  Cause you know, family pictures are sometimes hard to come by.

we love us some c family!

 To say we've got some history with this sweet family is an understatement.  We met our first children together on February 5, 2007 and traveled together again to meet our boys on October 27, 2008.  How blessed we are to live in the same metro area!

Happy three years boys!  Thanks for giving us a reason to celebrate.

And hey, C family, what do you say about next year?  Same place, same time...