Family Bonfire 2014

The family bonfire is a beloved and longstanding family tradition.  We have been having the bonfire and hayride for as long as I can remember.  It is around harvest time and includes a hayride around the farm, lots of yummy food, and a bonfire for roasting hotdogs and marshmallows.  I had long thought about what it would be like to bring our children to the family bonfire.  Last year I was pregnant and this year Dakota was finally here to enjoy it.  Yet it is sometimes funny how the idea of having your child enjoy one of your favorite things is different than the reality of it.  The reality was that Dakota was super squirmy on the hay-rack-ride, face planted into the hay bales giving her a little rash on her face, was a little fussy at the bonfire demanding to be fed, had to go in early for her bath and to go to bed.  It was fun getting to see her experience this grand event for the first time; yet I had to come to grips with the fact that my bonfire experience had changed.  No more relaxing hay-rack-ride followed by overindulging in food while peacefully staring into the fire into the late night hours. :)  

We enjoyed our time with family, and it was such a great treat to get to meet little Andersyn Joy for the first time.  We love her so much!!  Dakota traveled well again which we were so thankful for.  We look forward to next year already when we will have a little walker that we will have to chase around the farm. :)

Pumpkin Patch

It seemed appropriate to take our 'Pumpkin' (as I like to call her) to the pumpkin patch this fall.  Unfortunately Patrick was in Texas at an Arkansas game for his birthday, so he wasn't able to come.  (I don't know why he chose Arkansas football over the pumpkin patch. :) Dakota and I went with some good friends, Mike and Lexee, Kelsey and Jordan, and Kristina and Anthony plus their children.  We drove to Canon City which was about an hour away.  It was a cute little patch with a water race, slide, hay-rack-ride, corn maze, pumpkin patch, animals, corn play area, and food.  It was a beautiful day and we had a great time.  Dakota did great, but I look forward to next year when she can really enjoy it.

Nebraska Stay-cation

We decided this year to have our family vacation at home in Nebraska.  We went to Kansas City two summers ago and then Colorado last year, and Nebraska seemed like a good fit for this year.  We were excited to make the farm into a vacation.  We all love coming home so we knew this wouldn't be difficult.  We decided to plan a lot of different things so that it felt like a vacation.  Our days were pretty busy: Husker Stadium tour, day at the lake, picnic, pedicures/golfing, farmers market, Japanese steak house, spike ball, antique shop, Omaha Zoo, fishing, eating, eating, and more eating.  :)  After all was said and done, our favorite thing was when we just hung out at the farm.  I guess being at the farm is vacation enough.  We had a great time all being together.  Things have definitely changed around the Eberspacher house with the addition of babies as they are our main focus and source of entertainment.  Those grand babies sure do get spoiled, and we can't wait for grand baby number three to arrive in September.  It was a wonderful trip and again Dakota did a great job on the drive there and back.