Daddy Daughter Date

Several weeks ago I saw a post advertising a Daddy Daughter Date at Chik-Fil-A on Facebook.  (See?  FB is not a COMPLETE waste of time... :)  I immediately knew it looked like something that Lainey and Jed would love to do.  Admittedly, I think I was the most excited one out of all of us about the event, but only because of my sentimental nature.  I mean, c'mon.  Little girls, their sweet daddies, dressing up... does it get any cuter than that?!?

The afternoon before their big date, we spent some time primping and getting ready.  The little girls were encouraged to dress up as princesses so dress up we did!

We met Jed after work and I dropped Lainey off on her first real date.  Her handsome guy even had a flower for her.  What a gentleman! :)

I so, so, SO badly wanted to watch the whole evening unfold.  It had to be the absolute most precious thing on the face of the planet.  I told Jed about a thousand times to take lots of pictures.  He came home with a few :)

Two of Lainey's sweet friends got to go on dates with their daddies too!  

Charlotte, Lainey and Penelope

They even had REAL princesses there.  Lainey didn't know who this one was (Merida from Brave) but maybe we will rent the movie one of these days.  She was still pretty smitten with the real princess!

They are the cutest!

Lainey came home from her date BEAMING from ear to ear with a new crown in hand.  She had so much to say about the night, especially that the Chik-Fil-A chicken princess was kind of scary and she was pretty excited about the ice cream too.

She insisted on wearing her new crown to bed and a glittery princess skirt.  That girl!

Thankful that Lainey has a dad that LOVES her so genuinely and practically.  They had a fabulous time together.  And big props to Chik-Fil-A for supporting families and relationships to put on a free event like this for creating lasting memories.

Pumpkin Patch Part 2

We have really taken full advantage of all kinds of fall activities this year and loved every minute.  Saturday we headed out to the Winterset/St. Charles area and went to The Pumpkin Ranch!  (Thank you Groupon)  It was a bit on the chilly and windy side but we bundled up and made the best of it.

I loved this sign that said "How Tall This Fall?"  Will be fun to try and get back there next year to compare!

Wyatt's height is deceptive with that huge hat on his head.

I love this guy.  He was a trooper hanging out in the stroller most of the time we were there.

Lainey and Jed headed down the BIG slide!  

Jump jump!

It's funny how a toddler has such a small and short attention span.  She literally did each activity for a couple minutes then saw something else she wanted to go see or do.

Lainey and Jed stood in line to ride a horse so Wyatt and I did some exploring.

He could swing for hours!

Brr... I look cold.  Yeah, it was cold.

In the end, Lainey did not ride a horse.  She was so excited... She introduced herself to the lady helping, and even let her hold her but then when it came time to hop on, she got really scared.  I can't blame her... horses are large creatures!  She's still talking about the horsie named Domino though so I bet next time she'll definitely do it.

Wyatt... ready to go.  Lainey, too busy with her popcorn.

We took 4 pumpkins home - a big one, a medium sized one and 2 munchkin pumpkins for my munchkins.  We picked up some acrylic paints so the kids could paint their little punkins.

Listening intently to directions I'm sure....

This was as short lived as it looks... Wyatt cannot be trusted with crafts.

Lainey on the other hand loved it.  She took her time and took careful attention to each detail and stroke of the paint brush.

The Pumpkin Ranch is open one more weekend in October.  I'd definitely recommend it.  The drive out there is beautiful and they have lots to offer for the whole family.

Pumpkin patch #1

We headed to Ankeny to Williamson's Pumpkin Paradise with a few moms and kiddos this last week.  Even though it was prrretty chilly, it was the perfect hour spent enjoying some fall fun-tivities.

Had to bundle little mister up since he spent most of the time in the stroller.  Next year he'll be all over the place, I'm sure.

This little cow named Marshmallow kept trying to eat Wyatt's blanket.  Lainey thought he was so cute until he started moo-ing at her.

Brrr... they just look cold!

Wyatt was unimpressed.

I've been hearing about this corn pool ever since Wednesday.  She loooved it.

Wyatt and his buddy Ambrose were perplexed.

Queens of the hay bales!

Such a fun morning with some good friends!  We are loving all of the great fall activities ... this was our first pumpkin patch trip of the fall but we did another one this weekend too (another blog post coming soon!).  I love sharing these moments with my sweet kids!

Random, random, etc .

 We have been living in the dark ages here in the Johnson house without a working computer for the past several weeks.  Our new one finally arrived today!  Hooray!  So here are 3 new blog posts, bam, bam, bam!

 

The last time I posted was early September and here we are, with October halfway OVER!  So crazy how quickly this fall season is passing.  I LOVE fall..... makes me sad.  I know what's ahead....cold and SNOW! :(  Here is a completely random assortment of what we've been up to and what's been happening around here...!

This sweet girl is just that ... a girl. She loves all things pretty and sparkly and fancy and PRINCESS.  We do a lot of dressing up around here.

These two just simply ADORE each other!

We were excited to have my sister Emily and her kids, Claire and Will visit us in September.  Thankful that we were in our new house so the kids had room to play and we had extra room for them to stay.  We had a fabulous time!  Managing 4 kids is no easy task, even between my sister and I, day in and day out, but we had so much fun.  It was way too quiet when they left.

Here's that cheesy grin from Wyatt :)  Love it.

I managed to pull off a little surprise for Jed and found him a great bike trailer/jogging stroller on Craig'slist to go with his new hobby of biking.  He was excited but not as excited as Lainey.  She asks DAILY for a bike ride. 

I love my sweet pile of kids.  This was from the night of my 29th birthday. We went out to dinner as a family at a small family owned Italian place down here on the south side and it was so fun. I should have included a picture of the cake that Jed and Lainey baked for me... it was in a bundt cake pan and completely fell apart when they took it out of the pan.  It was hilarious and wonderfully sweet.  Lainey was so proud.  It tasted delicious all the same!

This little buddy has been taking some EPIC naps.  I have been needing to wake him up many nights in time for dinner!  Silly guy!

Here's Wyatt and Will watching their big sissy's play at the park!

   I could usually get the girls to pose and smile nice if I said, "Say cheese for PAPA!"  They LOVE their Papa!

We have started a new weekly event of going to the toddler story time at the downtown library on Friday mornings and then going to Starbucks for treats after :)  I'm not sure who likes it more... the little girls or Bo and I.... :)

Lainey keeps asking to hold Wyatt in her lap lately.  This is hilarious because it makes me realize how little she was when her little bro was born... she was obviously not as verbal and didn't really have a clue as to what was happening.  But now, she's very aware and very verbal and wants him to sit in her lap all of the time but he's nearly as big as she is, so that's the funny part.  I'm sure he will really catch up to her in size in the next year and will certainly surpass her some day!

 

Phew, if you're still with me, thanks for reading :)  Excited to share all of the lovely day to day happenings of our growing and sweet kids! :)