Gotcha Caleb {4 years}

It is hard to believe that four years since this moment, when one very confused toddler boy got up close and personal with his big sister for the very first time, have now passed.

i was getting all the details i could during this time as he didn't seem very keen on the tall woman in the room approaching him.

Of course a four year Forever Family Day needs to be celebrated.  And if you know anything about our family, we are all about traditions.

Tradition for the past two years (2011 & 2010) had us meeting the C family at a nearby pumpkin patch.  And so when we greeted Caleb with Happy Forever Family Day wishes Saturday morning, his face immediately beamed as he said, "Yay, we get to go to pumpkins with my China brother Henry!"

So our family...

met up with this family...

whom God just happened to have us travel to China with twice ~ AND they are local

to do the day justice.

This year we decided to "move up" a level in our pumpkin farm experience.  Our new choice had a bit more to entertain our "older kids" without being completely over the top.  Upon arrival at the farm there was a tiny country store to explore.  Then we boarded our hay ride that delivered us to the entrance to a corn maze.  

see, the mamas really were there!  and caleb?  you should be able to determine which path he decided to take at the fork in the maze...

Throughout the maze there were clue boards so you could fill in the crossword puzzle.  Some were more serious about completing the puzzle than others...

We made our way through the maze rather quickly, but when we got to the exit, there were three clue boards we hadn't found.  And so our little "let's finish what we started" girls influenced the entire party to ignore the "fun things" at the end of the maze and re-enter, this time determined to find unchartered territory so we could finish the puzzle.  We rather quickly found two, and in the end the dads volunteered to roam the maze one more time in search of the lost clue.  (still not sure if they actually found it or just made it up...)

Their sacrifice for their daughters gave the mamas and kids time to start checking out all that "fun land" had to offer.

It was a family friendly farm experience from climbin' hay bales...

...pedaling go karts...

...chasing go karts...

...rain barrel tractor rides...

...hula hoopin'...

...sand diggin'...

...and our favorite ~ horse racin'!

There may have even been a race of sorts between two slightly competitive people who love each other very much.  One of those folks *may* have tried to cheat slightly to ensure the win and *may* have had a not so tragic wipe out ensuring the other to clinch the victory that was already theirs.  

frighteningly enough the entire race was videoed by our dear friend stephen.  we're doing all we can to stay on his good side...

As the sun sank lower in the sky and provided us with a most amazing sunset, we caught the last tractor ride back to our vans and once again followed tradition.  The ten of us put one serious hurtin' on a nearby Chinese buffet...

It was the perfect way to celebrate our biggest superhero boy.

Caleb, you have wound your way into our hearts and lives in such an intricate way that it is now impossible to imagine life without you.  Thank you for the love, the laughter and the energy you bring to our family!