Berry Acres Pumpkin Patch and Corn Maze

For the past few years I have always been so envious of all the pumpkin patch photos that everyone posts on Facebook of their kids. This was mine last year.

Fred Meyer's produce section

This year we are out of Alaska, and in the awesome farming country of North Dakota! We went to a fun little pumpkin patch and corn maze at a farm called Berry Acres today.

We paid a small fee to get in and then were able to play for the day (or a few hours, like we did).

Our first stop were the hay bale slides. The slides were made of plastic culverts that had been cut in half and then were placed on stacked bales of hay. Tanner had a blast. Dillan was small and got tossed around a bit on the way down, but had fun none the less.

The nest stop were the pedal cars. Tanner couldn't quite reach the pedals so Brandon had to push the boys around and around and around the track. There were a few fits when the boys had to get off the cars and move on to the next activity. It was Tanner's favorite.

Next up was the corn maze. It was a lot of fun. We let Tanner tell us where to go for about 20minutes. We went left, left, left into a never ending circle. Brandon finally got us out of there after we'd been in for a total of 30 minutes or so.

Following our navigator, Tanner.

My favorite thing to watch the kids do was play in the corn kernel pit. They had so much fun shoveling the kernels into buckets, making angels in it, and making friends. I also got a kick out of listening to all the parents yell at their kids to spit them out or stop throwing.

Tanner took a small ride in a car pulled behind a tractor. He had a blast.

He's in the black one, hiding.

I, of course, tried to get lots of pictures posing the kids with pumpkins. My boys, who hate to be posed and photographed, were less than cooperative, but I'll take what I can get.

I like Tanner's smile in this one.

Brandon likes this one. He says they have the same facial expressions.

Our first experience to a pumpkin patch and corn maze, as a family, was so much fun. There are a few other big ones in the state that I can't wait to explore over the next few years.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Temporary Lodging

We have been living out of a "suitcase" since July 16th. From our base house,on Eielson AFB, we stayed with my sister-in-law Bridgett and her family until the 22nd of July. We camped our way through Canada and after making it to Montana, on July 26th, we stayed with my sister Autumn and her husband Jeff. We left there September 2nd and stayed two nights with Brandon's brother Jade. We arrived to Minot AFB late on the 4th and checked into TLF (Temporary Lodging Facility. 

TLF was great. There were 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, an office, a living room with a couch, a chair and a kitchen table. It had a full kitchen with all the kitchen amenities. We stayed here for 8 nights. 

Front

Back

Where Brandon and I slept. 

Where Tanner and Dillan slept. 

Kitchen

Living room

Hallway to the 3rd bedroom, office and 2nd bathroom. 

We are now in a hotel in Minot. Here we are able to have our dogs, which is great. They had been being boarded in a kennel north of base. We'll stay here until our house on base is ready for us to move into. It is your typical hotel room with a fridge, 2 burners and a microwave. I went to Walmart and bought a small crockpot to make cooking simple and effortless, and cleanup a breeze. 

Front of the hotel. 

Kitchen 

Living area 

The boys love all of us being in one room. So far it hasn't been too rough, though I do pray our home becomes available for us to move into soon... This momma is ready for a little bit of space to call my own. 

Oh Give Me a Home

The first week of being in North Dakota was spent searching for a home. Before we got here we were told we are number 4 on the waiting list to get a 3 bedroom home on base. The families ahead of us are in leases off base and so that puts us in the number one spot for a housing unit. The first day after arriving here we were informed that the wait for a home would be 2-3 weeks. The second day here the housing office called to tell us that they had a house for us and it'd be ready September 27. After obtaining the address we drove by it. It is one of the smallest on the block and older than a lot of other bases housing units. The fenced in back yard is tiny. Brandon and I were none too impressed, once we discovered this. We have been spoiled with Eielson AFB's housing units. Our last one there was a newly remodeled, 3-story, 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath, heated-double garage. We decided that while we wait for maintenance go do their work on the home, that is set to be ours, we'd look off base at houses to see if there would be something that we'd prefer to live in. 

Our future home. 

There is major growth happening here in the Minot area. There are so many new subdivisions cropping up everywhere. In them there are cookie cutter houses plopped practically on top of each other. It felt about like driving through base housing, when driving through one of the neighborhoods. The average cost of a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home with an unfinished basement (which is what most of the new homes are thar we looked at) on a small lot with no grass or fenced in yard is $300,000. We did find one in a little cul de sac that we were pretty smitten with. It was listed at $320,000. We got close to calling the bank and getting the ball rolling on it, but then we backed off. We aren't ready to buy something that expensive with no land that we aren't totally in love with. 

Today Brandon took a drive past the home-to-be on base and actually saw people inside painting it. He called housing maintenance and the projected finish date is now September 20th. 

When we took a walk past it I saw that no one was in the house, but the door was open. I ran inside to take a look. 

Hallway leading to a closet, bathroom and the garage. 

Main floor living room. 

Downstairs living room and also where the laundry room is located. 

Stairs leading upstairs to the 3 bedrooms. 

Dining room and kitchen. (Picture taken on the first day we discovered this would be our home)

I am feeling so much more at ease now that I have set foot into my future home. I have ideas for decor and know that I can make it feel warm and homey.

32

Each year, on my birthday, I make a list of things I love in this moment.  Previous years;  31  30   I made this years list and kept it saved on my phone until I had some time to put it into blog format. 

1. Staying with my sister and her husband.
2. Being around friends and family for an entire month.
3. Not feeling rushed.
4. My long hair.
5. Learning to can fresh produce.
6. Reading.
7. The friendship my boys have with one another.
8. Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Lip Balms
9. Instagram
10. Long road trips
11. Walks on the river trail.
12. Watching Brandon fly his R/C planes.
13. Hearing Brandon talk about flying the Cessna 150.
14. White Chocolate Americanos.
15. Grandma Doris' sauteed Zucchini with onions, tomatoes and cheese.
16. Homemade pickled beets.
17. Watching my boys with their cousins.
18. Big, messy hair buns.
19. My Chaco Sandals.
20. My mom's Huckleberry Heaven.
21. Having a DVD player in the Tahoe.
22. Reading books to my boys.
23. Not wearing sweatshirts or jackets in the summer.
24. Wild Flowers.
25. Huckleberry picking.
26. My Naked eyeshadow pallets.
27. Pedicures 
28. Coffee with Grandma Doris
29. Suntan lines.
30. Thrift shopping.
31. Dillan calling Tanner "Nanner".
32. Giving gifts.