for his 4th birthday, finn received a gift certificate for butterflies!  let me explain...  you send for the caterpillars which come in a cup with all the nutrients needed.  from there, you follow the transformation into chrysalides (pupae) and that's when you transfer them to the pop up tent seen in the pictures below.  7 to 10 days after that, the butterflies emerge from their spun pupae!  we fed them orange slices and sugar water. after a few days, we let them loose.  max loved picking them up carefully and setting them free.  finn wanted to just watch. what a great experience!  thanks uffelmans for the great gift!

about to open up the net and let the butterflies loose!

max wanted to hold them but finn didn't

some photos of our boys from late summer..

Finn at a Spartans football game

Out for dinner, just Mom and Finn

Max at Sawyer's birthday party

halloween

i haven't blogged for so long now.  time to catch up.  

here are pictures from our visit to a pumpkin patch at arata farm near half moon bay from mid-october.  we have been there once before, a couple of years ago.  it is a fun place.  they have pony riding, a petting zoo, a haunted house, a hay maze and of course, tons of pumpkins!  finn rode a pony and went into the petting zoo area but didn't want anything to do with the haunted house.  max and brent went.  we left with several pumpkins of all shapes and colors.  a successful outing!

lunch in pescadero on the way to pumpkin patch

arriving at a rata farm

 for halloween, max and finn decided to both go as football players, 49ers players to be specific.  on halloween morning, max wore his costume to school for their annual halloween parade.  several of the boys in his class went as football players as they had planned.  in the evening, we went trick-or-treating with the uffelmans just as in prior years.  we met up early, fed the kids and headed out.  it rained for most of the day but stopped in time for us heading out.  we had the best time!

pumpkins in place

max (third from left) with his football player school buddies

our football players are ready

with the uffs

in late august, we rode the train up to san francisco to attend a giants baseball game.  the weather was amazing and we had a fun day!  the giants won!

finn on the train

at the slide within the at&t park

here are some photos from a trip down to carmel from sometime in september.  it is such a beautiful place.  we need to go more often.  the weather was gorgeous and after a late lunch, we spent hours on the beach.  the boys had their boogie board with them and had fun jumping and playing in the waves.