Week 40 in Photos

Fall is in full swing here in Western Pennsylvania.  The air is crisp.  The trees are gorgeous with their hues of golds, oranges, and reds.  And my craving for all things pumpkin is in full swing.  :)  Hoping to do something about that this week.  

Last week found me trying to get my inspiration back.  I set out to find my mojo and think I just may have.  (Let's just hope it sticks around!)  I took LOADS of photos that I now need to sort through.  Here's just a very small sampling ...

{Sunday}

We bought Keira a Kindle Fire for her birthday; she was thrilled.  However it has caused some squabbling among the kids because the boys want to play games on it and Keira's not quite ready to share it with them yet.  Plus she gets upset because Doug and I place limits on the amount of time she's allowed to spend on it (unless she's actually reading a book).  Never a dull moment around here.

{Monday}

Found this lone daisy growing in my flower bed.  Apparently it is a bit confused.  
(Used Kim Klassen's Love texture)

{Tuesday}

My dahlias keep blooming!  I just need to figure out a way to keep them standing.  They are so heavy that they fall over all the time.  :(

{Wednesday}

The leaves are so pretty right now!

{Thursday}

Got a few photos of Alex while the trees are so colorful in the background.  This one really shows his personality.

{Friday}

Nick, the photobomber, made an appearance this afternoon during Keira's photoshoot, if only for a moment.  :)  We did get plenty of shots of her without her little brother running through.  This one just made me smile.

{Saturday}

The whole family went on the annual farm tour this morning.  It was cold and wet to start but ended up being a decent day.  I managed to find all these colors in this rooster's comb and wattle.

Hope you have a great week!

     

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Farm Tour 2011 - Part 2

Every fall our county hosts a Farm Tour.  You drive from farm to farm checking out what it is they do there.  This year's tour consisted of four farms.  I already showed you some photos of our fun from the first two farms (if you missed that post, click here) ... now I will finish out our fun day.  The last two farms we visited were right next to each other.  At the third farm ...

we got to see some beautiful horses ...

and pet a cow or two ...

(The kids remember that these are my favorite cows.  I just love the coloring and their big brown eyes.  :) )

we observed a few cows that were too afraid to come to us ...

and took a break on a few bales of straw.

And we got interviewed by a reporter from our local paper!

Here's what he wrote ...

At the farm, where more than 900 acres is used to raise grain, milk cows and horses, the Vensel family took a break to enjoy -- what else? -- some cartons of milk and other snacks.

Kimberly Vensel brought her three children: Keira, 13, Nick, 8, and Alex, 5.

"This is our tenth or 11th year.  The kids love it and we always have fun," she said.

In years past, the family has enjoyed hayrides and seeing different animals.  In 2011, Nick Vensel said, the biggest thrills were "petting the animals and buying pumpkins. The only pet we really have is a dog."

Now before I move on to more pictures, I need to explain the quote by Nick.  Ed, the reporter, promised Nick that he'd feature him because Nick has never been in the newspaper while Keira and Alex both have.  Keira had her picture appear in the newspaper on the very first farm tour we went on.  She was 3 at the time.  And Alex had his picture in the paper in April 2010  when his preschool hosted the Canine Ambassadors.

Nick didn't believe that Ed was a real reporter because he didn't have a camera.  (Hmmm, wonder where he gets his ideas from.)  Ed explained that he wrote the stories while another man, the photographer, took the pictures.  I still don't think Nick believed him until his name was actually in the paper.  :)

Okay, moving on to the next farm, which was right next door, we saw lots of chickens ...

we had a melt down in the corn maze ...

we also had some fun in the corn maze ...

I love the way Alex is swinging his arms in this picture.  It cracks me up!


we saw pretty grass ...

and, of course, lots of pumpkins ...

We saw honey production in an observation bee hive (no pictures though) ...


and we finished out our day by trying to catch a praying mantis.

The kids decided it would be better to just photograph it since it didn't want to be caught.  :)

So that was our fun!  We're already looking forward to next year's farm tour!

     
                                Hosted by Cecily and Lolli

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Farm Tour 2011 - Part 1

Every year for the past 10 years or so, we go on a local Farm Tour.  Three or four farms open themselves up to the public so we can see what it is that they do there.  It is usually the first Saturday in October, but this year the farms needed the date changed, so it was last weekend.  The weather was gorgeous and we had a great time.  Even if Daddy had to work and wasn't able to join us.


I took so many fun photos on our annual Farm Tour this year that I decided to break the tour into 2 separate posts.  I don't want to overload you!  :)

On our first farm we saw ...


a miniature farm display

It was huge and incredible.  The creator of it has to take it almost all apart when he travels from place to place.  He said only the buildings and the cows are stationery.  And it takes about 3 hours to set up each time.  That's dedication!  This is only a small section of it.


Lots of corn fields

And lots of corn

Many, many tractors

and some baby cows.

I attempted several times to get a good photo of all 3 kids together.  This is probably the best one.  They don't always like to cooperate.  :)

The second stop on the tour was a greenhouse.  


They had lots of cool vegetable displays

if you mouse over the pepper photo, you'll see a cool new technique I just learned to do this week called twirling.  Fun!


We got to taste some jams and jellies

We brought home a jar of apple butter and a jar of pumpkin butter.  Yum!


And, of course, there were so many beautiful mums.

Photos from the other two farms will have to wait for another day, so stay tuned.  :)


    
Hosted by Cecily and Lolli                                           

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Week 38 Summary

Another crazy, busy week!  Here's what it looked like in pictures ...

18 - Went to Living Treasures Animal Park during our weekend getaway

19 - Also visited Falling Water - very cool!

20 - Fire bokeh

21 - Keira turns 13!

22 - Yummy pumpkin cookies

23 - Black-eyed Susans

24 - Keira, Nick, and Alex during the Farm Tour


As always, click on the links to see the original posts.

     
Have a fabulous weekend!

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Photo of the Day: September 24

ISO 400, f/8, 1/125s, 18-105mm lens on Nikon D40

This morning we ventured out for the 14th annual Butler County Farm Tour.  The tour has been a tradition for our family since Keira was 3 (she's now 13).  (I think in those 10 years, we've only missed one due to the weather.  And I missed last year because I was sick, but Doug was able to take the kids.)

This year's tour included 4 different farms.  It is a driving tour that you go on at your leisure. And you don't have to visit the farms in any particular order.

I managed to get all the kids together on this tractor tire at the first farm we stopped at.  And I even managed to get 2 of them to smile for me.  :)

I took lots more photos during our visits to each farm.  Hoping to get them posted soon!

Happy Saturday!

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