Last night North Way Oakland organized a fun event for families and college students at Reilly's Summer Seat Farm. The weather was looking iffy during naptime, but fortunately the rain subsided and the sun came out late in the afternoon, which made for a nice, not too terribly cold evening. (We were all pretty bundled up, though, just in case.) Our clan arrived a bit after the 5:30 start time, and there was already a large group of people gathered at our designated site. Kiddos were doing crafts, and some of the students were playing games. Not long after we got there, Brett and the boys headed out with Doug, Koen, and Tavin on a brief "hike".
Look who they found -- the Hosmers are here!
The first of two scheduled hayrides was set to depart at 6:00, so we quickly scarfed down a bit of food (everyone had been asked to bring a side dish or dessert) since it was the boys' normal dinner time and they needed something to tide them over.
Waiting for the tractor to pick us up.
All five of us climbed into the hay-filled wagon with the other parents and children. We were packed in there pretty tight, but it wasn't uncomfortable. Of course, the position in which I was sitting, combined with the fact that I was wearing our baby girl, made it difficult to take too many pictures on the ride. I managed to snap the first one with my camera; big thanks to Kacia for the other two!
Daddy and sons, ready to roll!
My studmuffins.
Can you spy Maloney Baloney?
The hayride took us on quite a lengthy tour of the farm property. I'm not sure exactly how long we were out there, but after a while it started to get dark, and Kaiser was asking when we would get back. (He was really concerned about getting a hot dog for dinner.) Meanwhile, Porter was getting antsy, too. Toward the end of the ride, Brett informed me that our boy had stuck his foot through the side of the wagon, and his shoe had fallen off. Fantastic. A minute later, I realized that he had yanked his sock off of his foot and thrown that onto the ground, as well. Even better.
Needless to say, by the time the tractor finally returned us to our site, I was feeling just a tad stressed. First and foremost, I wanted that shoe! I know it may sound silly, but Porter was wearing one of the few pairs of shoes that fit him well, and I didn't want to have to go out to buy another pair. Though we knew where it had come off, the problem was it was pitch black, and it was way too far away for us to just walk there. Fortunately, Brett was able to get the driver of the tractor to call another employee of Reilly's, who was kind enough to come pick him up in a gator and drive him back up the trail to retrieve it.
So this left me with three kids, all of whom were very hungry (two for hot dogs, and one for milk). Oh, and don't forget, Porter now has one completely bare foot, so he can't walk around in the mud and rocks. I carried him to the van and locked him inside, then walked back up the hill to search for Kaiser, who had immediately headed toward the bonfires that had been started while we were on the hayride. I found him by the food table (shocker), and he asked me if I could get him his hot dog. Easy enough, right? Wrong. Little did I know, we were responsible for cooking our own hot dogs over the fire. Yeah, I wasn't about to pick up three sticks and venture near a huge fire with a 3 1/2 year-old at my side and a 1 month-old strapped to my chest. So I scrambled in the dark to grab a couple of cookies for us to munch on, instructed Kaiser to follow me down the hill to our van, and got us all inside to wait for Daddy. (I didn't know how long it would take him, but at that point I was okay with leaving and picking up pizza on the way home.)
I was so relieved when there was finally a knock on my window, and Brett opened the door and announced that their trip was a complete success! He then offered to go cook some hot dogs for the boys and himself; since we were already somewhat settled in the van (and Malone was happily nursing at that point), there was no reason to get back out and try to find a spot to eat in the crowd of people. It only took him a few minutes to return, and then everyone was happy. The Hosmers stopped by to chat for a bit on their way to their car, and soon after we got everyone buckled into carseats and hit the road for home. We were back not long after 8:00, and then it was a race to get the little ones ready for bed. Definitely a few hiccups during our night at the farm, but we had a nice time with our North Way friends, nonetheless!
I don't have much to report about the rest of our weekend. After we went to church this morning, most of our time was spent cleaning. Brett enlisted Kaiser and Porter to help him clean out both of the cars, and then they took the van to the car wash, as well. Meanwhile, I crossed vacuuming the upstairs and sweeping and steam-mopping the kitchen and living room floors off my to-do list. Then tonight before dinner, Brett got the boys to accompany him out to the garage, where they did some more organizing and swept the floor.
This is a lame pic, but it shows just how much work our garage needs!
You may be wondering where Malone was amidst all of this Sunday excitement. Lil Miss was sittin' pretty, probably wondering when in the world we'd get around to cleaning her! (She did some major spitting up today and could really use a thorough bath.)
No matter how stinky she gets, she's my doll baby.
Hope Y'all had a wonderful fall weekend!
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