Birthday Extravaganza, Part 1

Another year has come around, and it's time to celebrate the time of year we like to call Baer Birthday Extravaganza! This year, instead of throwing a party at our house, we decided to venture out to one of our favorite places- The Pumpkin Patch!
As you would imagine, our first stop was the train. (I know amazing, huh?)

We loaded up the wagon with the boys' birthday gifts from Mommy and Daddy. We put them to work hauling their presents to their own party! Ha.. how's that for irony? This cake was made by the boys' babysitter... and it had lots of things that the pumpkin patch had... like tractors, hay bales, and animals... and a TRAIN. (I know, surprising, huh?)

Zach's big gift this year was his Nintento DS... but one of his favorite gifts was a picture our friend made for him of the Union Pacific 844.

And, there was another one of Kyle's favorite- the Sante Fe diesel! They were in bewilderment, and so was their friend! lol...


Grandma and Grandpap Mark were lucky enough to go to the Train Depot sale that morning, and Kyle was sporting a new hat from their treasure hunt.

Kyle got some new dump trucks, but his favorite thing was a new pair of boots. He had asked me for a pair a couple of months back, but when I checked the price of them, I almost fainted. However, once I thought about the fact that he has hand-me-down pants, shirts, coats, shoes and even underwear- and if he finally asked for something new- I would deliver!

He put them on, and hasn't hardly taken them off this week. I got him a pair of boots, and the tops have John Deere green on them. He shows them to anyone that will look... and it couldn't be more tickled that he's so proud of something he loves.

Zach got a couple of new games for his Nintendo DS, and he couldn't have been happier.

Along with being at the pumpkin patch, we got to do many things that go along with a day on the farm. Petting and feeding the goats were one of them... and Grandpap Eric was the only 'kid' tall enough to reach this 'kidd'.

We had so much fun, and there was so much for the kids to do, I'm not sure they knew where to go first. They were such troopers, and Zach and Mom only had one little meltdown. He was tired of being pulled around, and I was tired... period. We used our new technique from the parenting class... and pushed our 'rewind' button.

It's so nice to be able to use reasoning skills with a person... and not have to sit through a temper tantrum. I am thankful Zach is so smart... and I don't have to throw a tantrum. ;P

Kyle is always happy to be awake in the morning... and nothing could go wrong in his new boots!

We had so many people make the journey to share our day with us. It always warms my heart to know that people take time out of their busy lives to help us celebrate.

This is my second cousin, Kelsey. She's getting to be such a big girl... and I was tickled that she almost cracked a smile!

This is our friend Logan... he and his Mommy helped us with daycare this summer. This little cutie is always smiling!

And this is Maddie... and quite possibly my future daughter in law. Her family came all the way from Nevada to share our day with us... and we were lucky enough to spend the whole weekend with them. Every time we visit with her... the kids are thick as thieves.

After we played a bit, we headed over to the pig races. The kids got such a crack up watching the show... and it didn't hurt that the crowd sang Happy Birthday to them.

Once we left the races, it was time to enjoy lunch and birthday cake. The pumpkin patch party staff dropped the ball when it came to supplies. They literally ran out of everything... and lucky for us everyone was such good sports. (Not to mention Jena and the box of spoons in her car!)

The cake was delicious... most people mentioned it tasted like a 'ho-ho'... and that's a good thing around here! I can tell you there wasn't much left... and that 'dirt' was mmm mmm good!

(And I will get the rest of the pictures posted as soon as I can... )