The Pumpkin Patch at The Red Barn

Rowley's Red Barn is just outside of Santaquin, which is where Papa Dave lives. We were visiting him last Friday and decided to do the pumpkin patch wagon ride that they offer at The Red Barn this time of year.  It was a beautiful evening and Harper had a great time taking riding on the wagon and exploring the pumpkin patch. There were so many cool things to do there- giant slides, a mini maze, kid-sized tractors, and a real deal pumpkin patch made for a fun time.

I love this mini version of The Red Barn.

And Just Like That, She's Four

I don't really know where the last week went and I don't know how it has taken me so long to post about Harper's birthday. I'm going to blame it on a combination of sickness, party recovery, visitors from out of state, hunting season, work, and the fact that I've recently given up energy drinks.

Harper turned four on the 7th. We honored our birthday pancake tradition and gave Harper Claire and the Unicorn, Happy Ever After as her official birthday book. Writing in her book each year is always an emotional task for me. This year was no different.

I can't believe she's four. I know I've said that with each of her birthdays but this one is different. Four just seems so much older than three. Four is so grown up, especially on Harper, who is suddenly really emotional and really, really bossy. She recently moved from the toddler to the girls' section at Target, which nearly broke my heart. She also has an iPod and writes her name and talks about things like boyfriends, pink diamonds, "bad girl" songs (whatever those are), and what she's going to do when she grows up and becomes the "boss of herself."

Nothing ever made me think I want another baby more than Harper turning four.

It's not that I don't like Harper being four. I do. I like being able to talk to her about the world around her. I like watching slightly more grown up movies, like Annie and The Little Rascals, with her. I like that she is getting good at cleaning up after herself. I like painting with her. And I like the thought of starting piano lessons within the next few months.

It's just that four means no more chubby baby hands and feet. Four means that she is less dependent on me. Four means that she's learning to say her Ls and to use pronouns properly. Four means bigger clothes, bigger shoes, bigger words, and bigger emotions. Four means that she'll be five in 12 short months. Four means that, before I know it, she'll be off to Kindergarten.

Let's not go there. I'm not ready to talk school yet. I'm not ready to think about packing lunches and choosing school photo outfits.

I just want to enjoy four and to have as much fun as possible with Harper over the next year. Let's just hope that I can survive her mood swings and intense bouts of stubborn independence. Cross your fingers for me because we are only a week in and I'm already wringing my hands. I cried today because, for the first time, I felt like a complete dud at parenting. Don't worry too much- it wasn't anything that a good coloring party followed by a nice long snuggle didn't fix.

Anyway, on to the birthday fun...

We had a small family party last Sunday and then celebrated with Harper's friends on her birthday. We spent a couple of days enjoying a visit from my parents and then finished off the birthday fun last Friday by visiting Papa Dave (I don't know what to call my birth father- "dad" is reserved for my dad and "birth father" is far too formal so I'm going with "Papa Dave" from here on out because that's what Harper calls him and it just sounds right when she says it), who gave Harper a pair of pink boots that she is beyond obsessed with (don't you even think about calling them cowboy boots- they are cowGIRL boots).

So much has been going on lately that we kept the whole party thing pretty simple this year. Harper chose everything (most of it was Ariel, for the third year in a row) and had a great time, which is all that I could have hoped for. She was also spoiled rotten (maybe that explains why she has spent the last week acting more like a tween than a four year old?) and got to see all of the most important people in her life.

Harper chose to have doughnuts instead of cake. She also chose root beer, puffy Cheetos, Ariel plates, pony cups, princess napkins, and an Ariel balloon. We surprised her with some fun princess and pony decorations and stuffed a Pinkie Pie pony pinata about as full as we could with her favorite treats.

Harper was super excited to finally have her very own duster (both my mom and one of her great grandmas gave her one so now she has two!).

She got a new scooter from Colt's parents (a "big girl scooter") and wanted to try it out right away.

Harper was so excited to have Paityn at her party. No birthday is complete without your best friend. 

We had pizza and veggies for Harper's little friends. The kids played outside, ate doughnuts, and did their best to demolish the pinata. It was pretty chaotic so I didn't get as many photos as I'd planned. Believe me when I say that they had a good time.

We spent Friday evening in Santaquin with Papa Dave. Harper went on a little ride, opened her present, and had a great time at the pumpkin patch at Rowley's Red Barn (more about that in the next post).

She was pretty excited about her new boots... obviously.

 

Once again, I'm humbled and grateful for all of the people that are a part of Harper's life. She is one lucky girl to have so much love from so many wonderful people. If you were a part of her big day/week, thank you- thank you a million times. Thanks for being on Harper's team. Thanks for loving her and spoiling her and making her feel special. You guys are the best and you make life good.