On Saturday I ran another 5K (WHO am I??) this one in Cedar Rapids with a friend from work. It was kind of a goofy affair with a Halloween theme and a few kids activities, so the boys wore their costumes and hung out with John while I ran. It was a cross country course, so a little different than what I've been used to. But a beautiful day and a lovely run through the park and Usher's Ferry Historic Village.

Since we were going to be in the area, we planned a trip to Bloomsbury Farm in nearby Atkins. I'd heard lots of friends talking about it as a great fall family activity. I knew it was an all-day adventure though and in past years we really haven't been "all day" people. Since naps have mostly fallen by the wayside (shedding a tear for those bygone days) we thought this would be a great way to spend the afternoon. Grandma and Grandpa even joined in the fun.

It's hard to describe, but basically, it's a family's working farm where they've carved out a section for a whole host of kiddie entertainment including a big slide made from some sort of agricultural tubing (tiling?), hayrack rides, pumpkin patch, pig races, animal feeding/petting, a big barn of hay for jumping, pedal carts, a corn maze, a haunted house, a fun house (more goofy than scary) and the piece de resistance, a HUGE jumping pillow. Holly was looking up the directions on Google maps and this pillow is big enough that it can be seen in the satellite image.

After a lot of jumping and falling, Daniel discovered that it's even more fun to let others do the work. His giggling was so infectious, you can hear the adults joining in.


Of course, our kids wouldn't be our kids if they didn't eschew a whole new realm of fun activities in favor of playing on the most mundane, everyday item in the area,

but we were able to persuade them to take in the rest of the fun.

We even ran into some friends (it's a popular weekend activity for Iowa Citians) so the boys had friends to play with in addition to each other. Edward has been begging us to take him to a haunted house ever since he missed an opportunity at the county fair when the "ride" operator wouldn't let me send them through without me, and I was unwilling to use all of our tickets for all three of us to go through. I promised him then that I'd take him to a "real" haunted house, and he has not let me forget for a second. The impulse may now be quashed however, as he did not like the loud noises or the uncertainty of finding our way in the dark. And this was a very tame haunted house with no monsters jumping out and with daylight peeking through the cracks in the walls.

If the boys and I have our way, we'll be back next year for another photo: