Fall Fun - Pumpkin Patch!

One of the neat things we did when the in-laws were in town visiting several weeks ago was to visit our local pumpkin patch! We went with a really great group of friends (there were about 16 of us!) and we enjoyed a perfect Sunday afternoon. The weather was perfect (convincingly Fall-ish with a bright blue sky).

Pumpkin patches are really novel things - and something I only recently discovered as an adult. I don't recall our family ever frequenting them when my brother & I were little and, even when I lived on my own, I dismissed pumpkin patches as a place that only families with small children would enjoy. It all seemed to me like a really long drive to a very crowed place only to purchase an overpriced pumpkin.

Well.

Let me tell you.

I am now a fan! :)

Kansas does the pumpkin patch exceptionally well (most likely because it is a "harvest" state?) and, if you ever get a chance to visit one of the 2 major ones in the Fort Riley area here's what you're likely to find:

Obviously, you can purchase a great pumpkin

You can watch your husband try to coax a small pig out from under a trailer at the petting zoo

The kiddos can go wild on the bales of hay

Fallish cutouts can be fun photo opportunities

I need 2 more sunflower people!

You can pick your own pumpkin in the patch!

Have you ever picked a pumpkin at the source?

Giant slide for the kids (yes, that is me up topside) :)

More pumpkin picking!

Corn mazes - 2 options: easy & difficult :)

Fall-scapes for picture-taking!

The in-laws try out the cutouts.

Feeding the barnyard animals

We look JUST LIKE the painting, no? ;)

Hayride around the farm!!

Apple Day {Part 2}

Last month's Post about Apple Days was a little bit of a downer...and our fundraiser really would be considered a success, but it was a lot of work.

So let me tell you about the WONDERFUL and the FUN and the COOL things we saw at Apple Day 2012!

The day was absolutely perfect - the kind of cool in the morning time that meant you'd need sleeves and a warm beverage. As the morning hours gave way to the afternoon hours, the sunshine provided that the right amount of warmth that meant you could ditch the jackets.

An old war-time jeep!

The entire Artillery Parade field was taken over by vendors, static displays, obstacle courses, and a good-sized stage with live music (acts rotated every hour or so).

Soldiers playing "show-&-tell" with some of the stuff they work with on a daily basis.

This event was PERFECT for kids of all ages - the amount of things that people could see, do & touch was so impressive. So cool.

Climbing wall for the kiddos.

Bounce houses on hand for the kiddos.

 Much of the "cast of characters" wore period attire - there were moments that really did feel like a scene from back in time!

Photo courtesy of PAO: Honest Abe in front of the Commanding General's home

Photo courtesy of PAO: horse exhibit

Photo courtesy of PAO: Lincoln in front of an old Howitzer

After clean-up was all done, a few of us stuck around to see the dismantling of the displays...there was, perhaps, no cooler experience than watching the Artillery Parade Field being cleared of the helicopters! Below, I leave you with 2 wonderful videos (every young boy's dream) showing a Kiowa take-off (it got within about 70 yards of where we were standing!) and a Blackhawk take-off. This left me smiling the rest of the day!

A great day to be an American...and ARMY!

Armor-all!

Did you know...

That, according to the online dream dictionary, "To see an armadillo in your dream represents your need to establish certain boundaries. You may be putting up walls between you and those who want to know you better. You need to be more assertive and not let others step all over you."

Am I the only person who dreams about a mess of armadillos hiding in the home?

At present, I'm bumping shoulders with some pretty aggressive individuals...so maybe I'm feeling the need to retreat beneath the safety of some serious armor?

Or, perhaps, it's simply a reminder of my fondness and affection towards The Lonestar State :)

  

LOVE

The in-laws have been in town visiting since Friday and it's been great having them visit. I'll try to re-cap their visit sometime in the next day or so but it's been action-packed and very "seasonal" (the weather has been very Fall-ish this weekend!).

Fall always makes me reflective and introspective so this is what's on my mind today:

1 year ago, on a bright, beautiful, cloudless Fall day at the Outdoor Chapel on Fort Riley, I was the recipient of a heartfelt question and became engaged to the most wonderful man.

Pretty happy kids that day!

6 months ago, I had just moved from Memphis, Tenn and was just getting settled in my new home and new life here in Kansas.

When I think about these events, I'm reminded of the saying, "I had cast my lot with a Soldier and where he was was home to me" ~ Martha Summerhayes

And what a wild, unexpected and fulfilling journey it's been since!

Oh yawn!

Morning, hi, hey:)

It's 2:30am on Saturday morning and we're back at the Barracks on Post. Barracks are like college dormitories for the single (non-married) Soldiers. They can be loud and rowdy sometimes which is really awful for the "good Soldiers" - can you imagine what it would be like if you were a serious professional-minded Soldier & you had to contend with all manner of juvenile ridiculousness on the weekends? Would you think twice about your chosen profession? Would you question why you were in the Army to begin with? Would you consider getting out?

That's why we're here.

There's always a Soldier "on duty" (like a dorm monitor) at a desk on the first floor but, let's be honest: s/he can't be everywhere at once. Sometimes it really takes someone else roaming the hallways (in uniform) to remind the residents that they're being watched. This is not a full on raid of the Barracks (that's an entirely different experience), but just a walk-through to show that someone cares and is watching.

It's a 4-day weekend, so it seems pretty quiet (I'd assume most folks are traveling or out of town). We went to bed around 9:45pm and got up around 1am so we could be here by 2am. I'm already looking forward to burrowing back underneath the covers when we get back home (it's chilly in the upper 30s here....brrrrrr!). We'll get to sleep in a bit in the morning, so that's nice.

G'nite!!!!:)

Visit from our Group Commander

Tuesday was an amazing day. We learned last week that our new-ish Group Commander would be visiting us....exciting!

If you'll recall, we attended the Change of Command Ceremony at Fort Carson in July when he took command....and we also attended the formal Dining Out/Formal Ball where he and his family were the guests of honor.

You can imagine the excitement level as both the Soldiers and the Family members busily prepared for his very first visit to the 84th EOD Battalion.

We had a special time set aside and our Battalion FRSA ("FRSA" is best explained here) and I conducted a briefing on the state, strengths and challenges of each of our Family Readiness Groups ("FRG" best described here). Since we have 7 FRGs across 3 different states, (4 at Fort Riley, 2 at Bliss, and 1 at Fort Leonard Wood) we have some very unique/special challenges. Our presentation was scheduled to last 30 minutes....nearly one hour later we were ready for lunch! Our Commander was very interested in the work we're doing...and he took lots of notes. We were pleased as punch when he confessed that he could offer no suggestions on improvement but asked if he could take some of our ideas back to the Group for implementation!! Wow! (If anyone is interested in seeing our presentation, it can be found online here - after clicking the link, you'll use the navigation buttons in the bottom right hand corner of the presentation screen!)

We then had a "working lunch" and each of the on-site FRG Leaders were invited - we filled the conference room with vivacious chatter and laughter. What a great time.

Our amazing group

He took the time to honor one of our most outstanding volunteers - he presented her with a special award in recognition of her outstanding efforts for the most recent quarter. She's pretty much amazing and we were all proud for her!

Congrats Pam!!

Debbie receives special recognition from our Group Commander!!

Later that night we hosted him for a cozy dinner. After dinner, all the FRG Leaders and their spouses came over to enjoy some dessert and coffee and social time. WHAT AN AMAZING NIGHT. We stayed up late (on a school night, oh my!) telling stories and laughing like old friends. The atmosphere and ambiance was simply the best. We even managed to snap a group photo with the FRG Leaders & our Commander (we're all laughing b/c our spouses were snapping photos with a million camera phones!). Life does not get any better than Tuesday night. We rolled into bed, very late, very satisfied and still giggling about certain parts of the night's conversation. So wonderful. Sigh. :)   

Love the faces in this photo! We've worked so hard side-by-side over the past months!

Gen. Dempsey visits Fort Riley

Monday was a pretty exciting day here on Fort Riley; we received a very special visit from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff! Five days ago, I'm embarrassed to admit, I didn't even know who this man was!

Do you know who he is? According to Wikipedia, "As the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dempsey is currently the highest-ranking military officer in all of the United States Armed Forces." Wowzers, right?!

Let me pause for a moment to think about how a girl growing up in a small-ish town in Arkansas would ever get a chance to someday meet the "highest ranking military man in all the land." Commence to freak out.

On Monday, there was a private forum held - by invitation only - to spend an hour with General Dempsey. The attendance was about 90% Soldier and about 10% civilian (mostly DOD employees who work on Post) - I saw only a small handful of other civilian spouses. It was amazing to actually SEE him and, yes, I confess to being very starstruck. When it came time for Q&A (it was a Town Hall style forum) I quickly raised my hand. :) Many folks in the room asked some good, touch questions (since the "buck" stops with him, in every way, operationally). Questions about the future of family programs, questions about our own "red line" with a nuclear Iran, questions about "Green on Blue" also known as "Insider Attacks," questions about the massive looming military budget cuts...all great questions. I'm still processing my own thoughts about his talk, remarks and answers to the tough questions, but I'm just so proud to have had a front-row-seat to "history in the making." The military lifestyle isn't for everyone...but I am so grateful for some of the wonderful opportunities to see and participate and interact with our culture (past, present and future) some of our finest national heroes, and things/people who are shaping our world today. Completely overwhelming for me to think about right now.

If you look very closely, you can see me in the photo below. ;)