The Pumpkin Patch in December

Joy found the shortest possible line to get pictures with Santa Claus and she is still tickled to death that she accomplished this with the added bonus of getting all the kids on ice skates for the first time in their lives. We didn't have any major accidents or injuries (unlike the unfortunate father who broke his leg just before we arrived). The boys took turns skating with us and with large Lowes buckets by themselves. Garrett lasted the longest on the ice. He came to almost enjoy falling down on the ice, which allowed him to ditch the buckets by the end and skate with Brett around the rink covering half of it with a few "crashes into the wall" so he could experience a hockey check...or something like that.

We were all smiles before venturing out on the ice.

We weren't sure we should trust Daddy to help us stay on our skates, but he surprised Mommy.

Sure is nice to have this bucket to hold on to, as long as I don't split my chin open on it while falling forward...don't worry I didn't.

Check it out, I'm skating by myself, ok, with a little help from the bucket.

I'm not sure how long I should be doing this by myself, but so far so good.

Mommy showed us true grace on the ice, at least we have one good teacher.

Even when your pants are wet from falling a few times, this really can be fun, and I don't have quite as far to fall when I go down.

Daddy wanted in on this one, so we let him.