Action in October

It's been a busy month.

Grandma and Grandpa Siemers, Auntie Tara, Uncle Hal and Cousin Abby all came out to visit from Minnesota. It was nice to have so much company at once, even if the house was nuttier than usual -- and that's saying something.

The kids went to the zoo. Grandpa and Hal did some handiwork around the house. And Daddy and Grandpa helped build a sandbox for the U.S.S. Fussy Britches. All it needs is a little fine-tuning and a coat of paint and the sandbox will be complete.

This was the first time our Minnesota family has seen the Lil' Skipper Keaton. Understandably, they fell in love with him. The little guy is getting bigger and smarter by the day.

In just the past week Keaton discovered how to use his hands. He seems to favor a toy dinosaur named Spike. The dinosaur is almost as big as him. He grapples it like he's on the losing end of a wrestling match. Finally, he just gives up and chews on its nose.

We got back into our normal routine this weekend.

Each Saturday we have some sort of family outing. Normally, it's just a trip to the farmer's market or out shopping. But this week we visited the Roloff Farm pumpkin patch. The Roloff's are our famous neighbors, the stars of "Little People, Big World" on the TLC network.

The film crews were busy Saturday following the Roloff family. Meanwhile, Quinn's hand was nearly eaten while trying to feed a baby cow. Unfortunately, the film crew didn't get that on camera. Once Quinn settled, we had a good time climbing a haystack pyramid, checking out the ponies and running through a maze of hay bales.

We picked out two pumpkins -- one Daddy carved, and a little one Quinn chose and painted with his finger paints.

They're outside the house and all lit up.

Hopefully, they'll manage to scare away any stray cats.