Its The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown!

Ouch! My back is still in pain! At least when Charlie Brown and Linus went out to the pumpkin patch they didn't have to haul the thing around! Sometimes sitting around and waiting but never actually getting what you wish for has its benefits. Be grateful Linus!
I'll have to admit it was quite an eye opening (and back breaking) experience being exposed to the world of giant pumpkins and giant pumpkin growers. I'll have to remember to keep a pallet around and make friends with someone with a forklift if I attempt this again. But we still have kids stopping by our house asking if the pumpkin is real and where we got it. As you can see from the pictures, the largest one weighed in officially at 392.5 lbs. The one Jason adopted was also quite large and unique in shape and weighed 257.5 lbs.


The kids have really taken to the pumpkin as if it were another sibling. Its certainly a bit quieter than the other 3 kids. Just not quite as cute or as active. But quite a bit heavier! I think it might weigh more than the whole family combined!

Do you think we ought to use this as our family Christmas card this year? Maybe we should have made a giant santa hat for the pumpkin. If only I would have thought about it sooner. I guess its not too late.

One of the many times we had to transport the pumpkin. We were grateful to have helpful strong neighbors and several brothers on hand to help. This contraption was put together by my dad to get the pumpkin to the Thanksgiving Point weighoff. It consisted of 2 long poles with some netting and a blanket on top of it to make a stretcher of sorts to load it onto the truck. We all felt like we were pallbearers at some large persons funeral!

After we finally got it to Thanksgiving Point, there was plenty of time for pictures with the family and checking out all the other pumpkins that were there. Apparently, we Wardles aren't the only weird, redneck-like family around. There were plenty others there that helped us fit in. It was quite fun and exciting for the kids.

So part of the excitement comes when the officials come around to each pumpkin and take measurements to estimate the weight based on the formula that they came up with. Apparently, if you add the circumference, the over the top (in the center) length from ground to ground, and the over the top (end to end) length added together, it can help estimate the weight. Our largest was estimated at about 325 pounds based on those measurements. The final circumference was about 113 inches.

Ahh, the 2 siblings with the 2 siblings. Its hard to believe these 2 pumpkins came from the same seed. Jason's pumpkin ended up being 257 pounds. Much more than we had estimated. These two must be extra thick inside (no jokes needed). There were probably about 40 or so pumpkins there at the weighoff, and our largest came in 20th place overall. The largest this year was only 919 pounds. They said it was a down year because of the wet June we had and several growers lost their plants to disease. We couldn't tell. Looked like a pretty good year to us!
The next week after the Thanksgiving point weighoff, we got to move the pumpkin to the Herriman pumpkin festival! We have been going to this festival for several years. This year our two pumpkins got to be displayed on either corner of the stage. They were the focal points of the pumpkin festival for sure! They even arranged to have a "guess the weight" competition with the winner getting a toy tractor. We all wanted to guess just to get the great prize! Several of our friends and neighbors were disqualified because of insider info. The 2 people that were closest each guessed 387 pounds, so we had a guess-off to determine the winner. They had to guess the weight of Jasons pumpkin. The guy that guessed closest was only 1 pound off on that one, guessing 256 pounds.

There were lots of things for the kids to play on while we were there. Caleb loved jumping around in this thing. I'm surprised he let us keep his hood on, he usually hats to have anything on his head. What a cute little Pooh bear!

Jeffrey was so busy playing on all the stuff they had that he was rarely seen, except by his cousin Jesse that followed him around everywhere.

Hailey was our little butterfly. I guess its appropriate that she choose to be a butterfly this year, because she is such the social butterfly. She loved bouncing around playing everywhere.

So now we have to ask the question about next year. Will there be another great pumpkin? Will we have the patience, real estate, desire to try to grow another one? I'm sure Jason will talk us into doing it again. I heard the lady that grew the 1725 pound pumpkin this year is giving away seeds. Have to check into that one.

Our California Vacation

So we decided to take our little family on a vacation to Southern California this year while there were out of school. It actually worked out pretty nice since we switched to the charter school - they were off all that week anyway. We were planning on driving out on that Friday afternoon but Jeffrey decided to get sick again, so we waited until he was starting to feel better and his numbers were coming down and his food was staying down also.
The drive was definitely the most relaxing part of the vacation. Seriously, why would you ever want to fly to Southern California when you can drive there and see things like aliens along the way? Apart from our little 3 aliens, we met this fine family of them in Death Valley. Hailey and Jeffrey thought there were cool, but Caleb was very afraid. This picture with Hailey is at that surprisingly big Alien Jerky store in Baker. Fortunately, I think its really beef jerky not alien jerky, and it was very tasty! It was 103 degrees while we were there. What I wouldn't give for a few moments at 103 degrees now!
The ride was long but interesting, and took about 11-12 hours altogether. When we got there late Saturday night in San Diego, they didn't have our reservation at the hotel. Thanks a lot Getawaytoday! Fortunately the hotel was able to find us a room that night (not as nice) and get us into the Kids Suite room we requested the next night.


We have never been to Seaworld before, so this was a fun experience for us. The lines weren't that bad on Sunday and Monday especially, and they had more fun rides and things to see than we had anticipated. This "Journey to Atlantis" ride had to be the highlight as far as rides were concerned for Jeffrey and I (Scott). This picture was the one time I actually got Tammy to ride. Hailey had her height measured more this week than I think she ever has had her entire life. And in case you were wondering, she is exactly 42 inches! The staff at SeaWorld (and Disneyland) are sticklers when it comes to making sure your kids are tall enough for the rides. The 2nd time Hailey rode this, the ride operator measured her, wasn't too sure of himself, called over another guy to check; still wasn't quite sure; then called over the supervisor lady. She checked and double checked for a few minutes (after we had been waiting in line for a while) until they finally decided she was o.k. to go. Gotta make sure she is safe, right? Its all about the insurance liability, I know.


So why is it that getting wet from a ride is all fun and good, but having a huge killer whale get you wet is not fun? Jeffrey had to get far up in the stands to avoid the water. I don't know, something about it being salty? We got some good pictures and were amazed at the things "Shamu" had been trained to do. We all had fun, and Caleb didn't complain about being drenched at the show, even though he had been sleeping when he first got drenched. Amazing things to see.

This was just a great picture in front of one of the many aquariums they have at SeaWorld. Love the reflection in the glass.

Look how wet we were! If you stand here for more than a minute, you get drenched by the people coming down the ride into the pool of water below. Don't we look cold?

Ahh Tinkerbell! After we left San Diego on Tuesday, we headed over to Disneyland and Hailey had to see all the princesses and especially Tinkerbell. Standing in line to get pictures with and autographs from the princesses was by far the longest lines we had to wait in while we were there. They need fast passes for the princesses.

At California Adventures, we got to see all the cousins and (well at least Kristins family, Randys family and Jasons family) - and we also got to see all the characters from Disney's Pixar movies - including To-Mater!

Thursday was our beach day with everyone. The sand seemed to go on forever, and Caleb loved playing in it every minute. Good thing we bought some sand toys, or else it would have been all over everywhere.

Jeffrey loved being out in the water most of the time conquering the waves. Made me a little nervous when he would get out too far, but from this distance to shore was fine with me. There were some good surfers and some good surf there at the time, as evidence by the guy off in the distance catching a good wave.

Randy and Jason were able to get Kristin out on the body board for a while. I kept closer to shore making sure the kids didn't run off too far or out too deep in the water. I think I've become too much of a worry-wort like dad in my old age.

Hailey is always up for a good time in her swimsuit. She loved the sand like Caleb and loved the water also. They spent a lot of time playing and making things in the sand.

Hailey's little mouse ears princess hat was a favorite for more than just Hailey. Caleb just had to get his picture taken with her hat. Cheese!

Good thing he is only 2 or I would have some concerns.

We were all worn out after all the hours of fun every day at Disneyland. Too bad we didn't all have a stroller to cruise around in like Caleb had. Someone needs to push me around in one. Fun vacation all in all, but once we got home it was nice to be home. I need a vacation from the vacation!