Farm Trip

Last Friday, Matt, Avery and I accompanied Will and his classmates on a field trip to Vollmer Farms.  It was a cold, “raw” day to quote the local weather guy and poor me, I left my gloves home.

The kids had a lot of fun though. The playground was a big hit. It always kills me when the children want to play on a playground when there is other FUN stuff to do. We have a playground at home!!!!

In addition to the playground, we went on a tractor ride around the farm, played on the big slide, learned how to make butter and had a “classroom” lesson on cows. Guess who got to dress up like the cow!?!?!

Shaking his tail feathers

Demonstrating how a cow runs. Pretty sure this is the first time a demonstration included this.

Two of Will's classmates have little sisters in Avery's class so she was beyond thrilled to have them with her. I only snapped a pic of one of them, but they were all very excited to see each other!

My poor toes were numb by the time we left. Avery fell asleep before we were even 100 yards down the road.  But everyone was a trooper while we were there. Well, everyone but maybe me. In addition to fairs, maybe we should add “cold farms” to the list of things I don’t do!!!

Twins

For Avery's first birthday (I think!!!!!), the McLamb's gave Avery an American Girl Bitty Baby. Somehow this doll ended up with the name Sunshine and for the past year or so, Avery has been inseparable from it. She and Sunshine sleep nose to nose nights on "their" pillow, with the blanket pulled up to their chins. It is so sweet.

I was at a children's consignment sale a month or so ago and was flipping through the racks, a little frustrated with what I was finding, or more precisely not finding. All of a sudden, I saw a familiar fabric. It took me a split second to place it, but I quickly realized it was the toddler sized version of Sunshine's pajamas.  Well, Sunshine's only outfit actually! And oh my goodness, they were in Avery's size. And even a bigger on my goodness, they were only $6!!!!!!  What a deal, so of course I bought them on the spot.

The weather got cooler this past week so it was time to break out the long sleeved pjs.....Avery's reaction when she put them on: "These are SO cool!" 

I had to snap this picture of "my" 2 little girls when they woke up the next morning.....

A Pumpkin Party!!

Last weekend, after our fun morning at the fair, we headed to Gray and Greta's house for a pumpkin carving party. What a great idea! Not only is it a lot of fun to get together with everyone, but all the decorations and fun party food for a Halloween party is awesome!

Greta and Gray did a fab job with the food and decor. The outside was so festive and the food table was a fancy feast!

Ham Skull

Avery and Will, as usual, have a blast in G&G's backyard. Between the chickens and the walk ways and all the beautiful vegetation, it is like a magical, non-kid-proofed play land for my kids!

Always a favorite of the children is the koi pond. The children enjoy feeding the fish. This year Avery misunderstood the party invite. Evidently she thought it said "pool party"....poor little thing fell in! Ha! But now Will is jealous and I am VERY afraid that next time we are over for a visit, he is going to jump in.

G&G are a fun, cool, and hip aunt and uncle! Unless you are knocked down (accidentally of course) by a pumpkin carving knife wielding Uncle Gray!

Mean Uncle Gray

They kissed and made up

Happy Halloween Everyone!!

When Pigs Fly

It is official. H*ll has frozen over. And pigs can fly. And there is waterfront property in Arizona. I went to the fair. Shocking, I know.  I am not a fair-going type of person. I think it is dirty. And I think it is even dirtier now that I have small children who live with their hands in their mouths. But we went, kinda sorta spur of the moment.  Maybe even more so in my mind because although I had some warning we were going, I obviously was still mentally against it  as I forgot lots of important things. Like wipes.

On our way in!

We ventured out just after the rides opened on Sunday morning and were met with a ginormous crowd. I was shocked at how busy it was just 15 minutes after the rides opened.  We patiently waited in line for our tickets and we were off. The children had absolutely no idea what to expect. Later Will told us his point of reference for the fair was the “Curious George Makes Pancakes” book. I hope he wasn’t too disappointed there were no pancakes (there probably were somewhere) and no speech from the mayor!

He talked the poor man's ear off

Little Einstein Avery

You know this ride is going to be a fave

If there was one good thing about the crowds, it was that it was so busy and crowded that the children were overwhelmed nor could they physically see everything. So there wasn’t a lot of disappointment over what we did and didn’t do.  They rode maybe 6 or so rides…always together, which made me feel better. Except Avery was only about 0.25 inches over the height requirement and I could barely see her once the ride was moving! 

Yes, Avery is in there

We looked hard for the prize winning produce area, but never could find it. Everyone in the fam was a little disappointed.  We didn’t do a ton of “fair food” either, which in hindsight was probably good. A quick lunch while sitting on a bale of hay of burgers for the girls, a huge corndog for Will and polish sausage for Matt.

Chocolate milk at lunch

I don't like the fair

 Believe it or not, we escaped without playing any games. Again, I think Will was too overwhelmed to maybe fully understand what he was missing.

I'm glad she didn't get her head stuck

The last ride they did was a little roller coaster. There had been a big moment of disappointment earlier when Will wasn’t tall enough to ride the big roller coaster he had been eyeing while we were waiting in line for tickets.  But the worm coaster helped redeem the situation.  Avery’s face looked frozen with fear the entire time….I actually felt really bad for her. But when she got off, she remarked in this very excited little voice that it was “the best ride she had ever seen.”  Sweetness.  And of course Will loved it and is already practicing for the bigger roller coasters by having his hands up in the air!!

On the worm

And then we made a bad judgment call. We let them get candy apples. Not that buying them was bad…letting them eat them in their nice(-ish) clothes on the way to the car was a mistake. And throwing away the plastic wrapper was also a mistake when it came to driving home time. And bad that I had no wipes.  But we managed and the children finished up their apples when we got home.  

All in all, the children had a blast. And if we ever do this in the future (which I’m sure we will), we will try and make it during the week. Not on the picture perfect fair day weather weekend day like this year!!

So I did crack a smile....took a grape slushy to make me do it!!

Date Knight

Recently I was lucky to enough to spend a special evening with my boy at one our favorite places. Chick-fil-a had a special event.....Mother & Son "Date Knight".  We had to make reservations and everything! Will and I had such a fun time. It was neat to go to an ordinary place but yet have it be special.  We checked in at the hostess station and were escorted to our table.

At the table they had a shield for us to decorate with our family crest. Of course we were also seated next to the playground so our family crest decor was the abbreviated version!

We ordered our food and it was delivered to our table. We had a fun time just chatting. No dogs begging us for food or Avery needing attention. Will and I don't really get a ton of alone time so when we do, I am really happy when we can do something special.

Doing the Statue of Liberty pose with his ice cream

Hill Ridge Farms

The past few years, we have dutifully made the trek to Hill Ridge Farms.....sort of our fall time family tradition. This year was a little different in that we went for a birthday party and not just as a family outing. Nevertheless, it was still loads of fun!

There is lots of fun things for the kids to do....ride the train, feed the animals, go down the giant slide, play in the hay, etc.....One of my favorite parts, other than the slide, is the hay ride and trip to the pumpkin patch.

a little straw in the hair never hurt anyone

hay ride!

Avery is a little unsure of all the tractor noise

Finding the perfect pumpkin

Slide!

I love anything that lets me scream like a kid again!

Maze winner!

The birthday girl, Gabrielle, is the daughter of a dear friend of mine from high school. Tiffany really outdid herself, especially with the cake!!

The Birthday Girl!

Cinderella cake

And of course, no trip anywhere is complete without Avery having to use the potty. This girl HEARTS a public restroom.....