Toddler Decorated Pumpkins

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We enjoyed a very full and fun family weekend starting off Saturday morning with this trip to Sever's Corn Maze. While we didn't actually do the corn maze, there were so many amazing activities at this spot - I can't believe it was a first time for all of us! Growing up in our hometown, my husband and I have gone to many local pumpkin patches and apple orchards, but not this nearby gem. We cannot wait to go back next year! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the morning. 

 

Vintage tractors were all over at the corn maze, and Skyler had to drive each one at least once!

A vintage fire truck was open for children to explore as well! We made a few stops and Skyler loved standing inside and looking up the ladder. Even though we didn't do the corn maze, we did try out the much smaller hay maze which was perfect for a toddler! 

The little wooden train was one of Skyler's favorite parts of our trip. There were several tunnels to crawl through, windows for peek-a-boo, and a great bell to ring.

My favorite was the corn pit. It was surprisingly hard to move around in the deep corn (especially at 30+ weeks pregnant!) and the corn was really cold. We had so much fun running it through our fingers, listening to the corn rain down, and walking as fast as we could before falling down. Of course there were several round of leg burying with the corn, which I found so much more enjoyable than being covered with sand!

The animals (kangaroos, lemurs, capybaras, and ostriches among the most interesting) and a ton of wooden signs with face cut-outs were other favorites for this little guy!

The purpose of our trip was to pick out some pumpkins to decorate, so we couldn't forget to stop at the pumpkin patch on our way out. After the longest nap ever (Thank you, Sever's!) we spent the afternoon decorating Skyler's three pumpkins. Skyler had a blast decorating his pumpkins almost entirely on his own! We started off by opening up one of the pumpkins to have a little sensory play.

I knew I wanted to have Skyler try the cookie cutter and rubber mallet method, so I went in search of cookie cutters that he would love and ended up with an assortment of vehicles. He was so excited to get started with this pumpkin!

This was so much fun to do and Skyler loved it! I thought we would be able to fit more cutouts, but we ended up with one of each before Skyler started to lose interest.

Up next we did a simple painted pumpkin which was Skyler's favorite to do! Last year for his pumpkin we did finger paints (with a tape resist S) that he covered with stickers once dry. Whether it was the age difference, or using the brush instead of his fingers, he had so much more fun decorating with these methods this year! He sat and carefully painted his pumpkin until every side was filled, politely asking for more paint whenever he ran out.

Similar to last year, we did a simple sticker pumpkin for the third and final decoration. These were actually the leftover stickers from last year. Again, this was a completely independent pumpkin for Skyler to decorate since he can easily remove the foam stickers from the backing. He did this pumpkin very quickly.

Skyler's foam sticker decorated pumpkin turned out so fun and glittery. I was kind of surprised all of his stickers stayed on one side!

The cut out pumpkin turned out pretty cute, but I am excited to see it lit up when it gets dark out! We haven't had a chance to try it out the past two nights, but Skyler will be so excited to see the glowing vehicles tomorrow night!

Skyler's beautifully painted pumpkin is my favorite one. He worked so hard on it and I think it turned out so cute! We have an owl shaped pumpkin holder that I am excited to put out on our front step to hold this pumpkin.

These three simple decorating techniques were great for a very independent toddler! Each one was a lot of fun on its own, and you definitely do not need three pumpkins to do all of these. Last year we had fun painting and (once dry) placing stickers on one pumpkin. Painting and cookie cutouts would be another easy one to combine on one pumpkin.

Little Pumpkin Craft

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This fun craft was one of the ways Skyler and I dealt with Joe being away for the past week and a half. I posted on Instagram the last paper "chain" of our most recent daddy countdown. I had fun making the candy corn countdown and Skyler loved taking off a candy for every night daddy was gone! We have since taken off the last candy and can't wait to see him tomorrow!

A few weeks ago we went to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum (one of our favorite places - where Joe and I got married and the location of more than one family photo shoot!) While we were there, Skyler found this "pumpkin house" and loved playing inside of it. The idea for this craft we made for daddy came from this picture as well as the most common nickname I use for Skyler. I call him "pumpkin" all the time (or some variation of it!)

My little pumpkin with some little pumpkins!

After an accidental similar picture was taken two years in a row, we had to get a third! (9/28/12, 9/21/13, 9/29/14)

To make this little pumpkin craft for daddy, I cut two pieces of contact paper, one for Skyler to decorate with tissue paper and one to cover his craft and a picture to be framed! I cut two orange pumpkin shapes and made one into a frame by just trimming near the edges. We added a green stem and leaf using green paper, white paper, and green paint. 

Skyler loves using contact paper in any way. For his little pumpkin frame, I gave him two shades of orange tissue paper and he carefully filled all of the sticky contact paper!

Once he was done, I placed the picture of him in the middle. 

I put the other piece of contact paper down over both the tissue and picture. This step isn't really necessary, but I liked how it held the tissue paper down. You could just glue the picture on top. 

I glued the pumpkin shaped "frame" on top of the contact paper and cut it out.

At this point, add the stem (and leaf which we made later) and it would make a really cute suncatcher! I actually preferred it as a suncatcher, but wanted it to be more durable for Joe, so I added the other pumpkin shape to the back. 

We made the leaf with one sweet green hand print. Skyler made enough hand prints to make a little pumpkin for our entire family, the boy loves to make hand prints! I wrote on the back, and we are ready to give it to daddy when he gets home!

This little pumpkin craft was a lot of fun for both of us to make, and it could be used for a home decoration/keepsake or given to another family member or teacher!

Splash Pads and my Quiet Observer

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We loved playing at this splash pad with friends last year, and finally made it back with one of Skyler's little buddies this morning. Last summer Skyler wasn't walking yet, and spent his time at the small bubbling water features, splashing around with a bucket he filled up. Not interested in playing at the bigger fountains, but watching everything going on around him. Skyler would sit and fill, dump, fill and splash in his bucket the entire time we spent at the splash pad, and he would be completely content just hanging out the hour plus that we would stay!

Skyler and his bucket at our favorite splash pad, Summer 2013

I was excited to see how this summer would differ from one-year-old to two-year-old, especially now that he is on the move. I was fully prepared to chase my little dude around, but also brought his buckets and shovels along, knowing that he might not be ready to run through all the spraying water features, and remembering how he enjoyed having is last year.

Skyler started following his buddy, happily carrying his blue bucket, and stopped on the side when his friend started playing in the water. It took my quiet observer several minutes before he was ready to play in the water. He left the bigger fountains, and walked to the small bubbling spouts that he enjoyed last summer. I was somewhat surprised how little he wanted to touch the water. He would stand away from the spray and try to fill his shovel to dump into the bucket.

Sweet boy was happiest standing with the mamas in the shade. He just stood with us for a long time, and when asked if he wanted to go play in the water he quietly said "no." His buddy was so sweet, filling his bucket up and then dumping it into Skyler's bucket. Skyler loved it and splashed with the water, and then his little friend would bring more for him. It was adorable. 

Eventually, he went back out to the small fountains, and actually got pretty wet in the end. These two are so sweet and absolutely love playing together. It was perfect in this very exciting and closed off park how close they would play next to each other, so I got to talk to my beautiful mama friend and stare at her sweet babe the entire time. Score!

When I would ask Skyler if he was having fun playing in the water, he would enthusiastically say "Yep!" Even when he is just standing to the side and watching kids play, watching the water shoot up around him, and just observing everything in general, he has such a good time. This mellow little observer of mine is such a joy. That serious concentration face of Skyler's stuck around most of the time, but when he would get wet I always got a big smile!

In the end, his play wasn't much different than last summer, but I think it was great that he was able to walk around to where he wanted to be, even if that meant he was standing on the side and not actually getting wet. It is interesting having a sensitive observer and realizing that he may not want to just jump in and play in every situation. I like being able to take these moments to really understand what Skyler is comfortable doing and watch him have fun in his own way.

We are excited to go back as much as possible before the amazing Minnesota summer ends! 

Two Year Photos and a Special Addition

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It's been pretty quiet around here lately on Minne-Mama. While the wonderful warm summer weather and all the fun activities away from home that go along with it have been a lot of the reason, there have been some other exciting things keeping us busy!

Our Skyler turned two in June, so last week we went to one of our favorite places, the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, to get some two year photos taken. As you will see from some of my favorites pictures, we had a special guest along for the photo shoot as well! 

Oh hey, baby!

We are so excited that we will be adding another little boy to our family this holiday season! Skyler is thrilled about being a big brother (That sweet shirt he is wearing is from the Etsy shop 4BlessingsCreations. We also used it back in April to tell our parents about the new baby - how fast this pregnancy has gone!) In the beginning, I was completely exhausted and constantly nauseous. Luckily, I have been feeling better in my second trimester, but my motivation to create has been pretty much wiped. I am hoping to have more activities on the blog again soon (and more activities aimed towards babies in the near future I am sure), but right now I am loving spending this summer with my THREE favorite guys! 

All photos (with the exception of the final canvas shot) were taken by MJ Fotography, Inc.