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We celebrated Blake's birthday with cake & a convertible! No, it's not his present. He just took the kiddos on a spin around the block in Aunt Pet's cool car.

Branson

We spent the weekend in Branson, and I have few pictures to share. But first I'll kick it off with a confession: I realized halfway through the drive up that I hadn't packed Harriet or Toggy. These are Micah's lovies who he sleeps with. He always has at least one of them at bedtime, and we had neither. I didn't mention this to him, and instead we went the Bass Pro Shop and let him pick out a new stuffed animal. He chose a cute huggable bobcat and named it Bobbie and never noticed that we forgot his other friends. Best $10 I ever spent. Gabi tried to talk me into dropping a few more bucks on this:

We spent the next two days at Silver Dollar City. I don't have any pics of Gabi on rides because we paired up and Micah was my buddy. Blake & Gabi hit the roller coasters, meanwhile Micah and I found the frogs more our speed. As a side note, Southern Gospel weekend is a great time to hit SDC if you like rides. You have to wade through the thicket of gray hairs and motorized wheelchairs between the shows, but the rides all have zero lines.

The Sheriff stopped Micah in the street and asked Micah if he would mind being a deputy.

Micah eagerly took the badge and wore it proudly and told everyone he met that he was Deputy Micah, and even threw his sister in jail.

They had fall decorations set up with places to pose with pumpkins for pictures. Gabi stopped and posed at every single one. Every. Single. One.

Micah spent a lot of time at Geyser Gulch, which Micah called the Ball Factory. It has lots of soft foam balls and mechanical ball-moving devices-- vacuums, chutes, ramps, conveyor belts, and best of all: air-powered guns! He could have stayed there all day.Ahhhh! ZOMBIES!!!

These are the kids' souvenirs- Gabi got a bonnet, and Micah got a cork pop rifle and a leather belt with his name stamped on it. They are playing "old-fashioned" right now.

Here is Micah (and Bobbie) all tuckered out before we even got out of Branson.

Lego Tire Shop

Micah got a bunch of Legos for Christmas-- the big kids kind. They've been getting a lot of play, but he got really into it today and wanted me to help him build a tire shop, where Clone Troopers go to get their tires fixed.

Pumpkin Patch!

One of Micah's friends invited us to the pumpkin patch to celebrate his 4th birthday and we had a blast! Gabi had visited the same farm the day before with her first grade class, and she really enjoyed being the know-it-all. We got a full tour of the farm, learned how pumpkins grow, met some animals, went on a hayride, and got to bring home a pumpkin!

Micah adored the big tractor:

Micah & 2 buddies learned about molasses:

Micah & best buddy, Benjamin:

The guide told them the turkey would think their fingers were worms and eat them, so see all their little hands behind their backs:

Gabi & Avie:

Gabi explained to daddy that pumpkins grew from flowers.

Micah, the Scooter Super Speeder

Micah really is speeding on his little scooter these days... I'm going to have to start being a little more assertive in my helmet rule enforcement with his newfound speed demon side.

Going for a Ride

Micah & Gabs went on a ride through the backyard on PaPa's ATV.

And Miriam went on a ride through Micah's room in a dump truck.

Scooter Racing Season has Begun

We promised Micah that when he was big enough to wear undies, we would get him a scooter. So, today we picked him up this really cool Radio Flyer scooter. The Razor vs. Radio Flyer races are ready to go! (Pretend they are wearing helmets. I'm usually much more safety-conscious than this.)

Gabi has the unfair advantage of being 3 years older and 6 weeks advance scooter experience. Look how great she's balancing, though.

He kept practicing while she was swinging. He really had that thing going!

And Gabi wanted you to see how high she swings.

Boys & Their Toys

Micah had a little buddy over to play and what do they do? Play with the many toys we have? Why, no, they dig a hole. In the dirt. For half an hour.

Well, actually they did also play t-ball.

And Micah demonstrated his ride-on mower. Why doesn't this thing work?!