Trip: Day 1 (Scranton, PA)

We're back...earlier than expected due to the ever changing Navy. Just one day after arriving in Maine, we found out Michael's meeting was cancelled...we cut our trip short and headed home so Michael could jump on a plane and be down to Jacksonville, FL for a friend's retirement and we could trick-or-treat here in VA. We got to see and do so much in our short (but very long) trip up to Maine. The boys were wonderful little travelers and fairly good sleepers. Zachary only had one bad night and that was the very last day of our trip on the way home. My advice to anyone traveling long distance with small children....get a DVD player. That ingenious device allowed us to push on a little bit further each day without a lot of screaming or crying since my children aren't placated by food. Another idea, that I stole from a magazine, was to buy a postcard at each place we visited and write a brief overview of the experience on the back (I asked Mikie what his favorite parts were and then recorded what he said). Then get a hole punch and 2 binding rings and make it into a flip book.

When we left Virginia on Thursday, it was still 80 degrees. On the first day of our trip we made it all the way to Scranton, PA. In the morning, we found a local pumpkin patch and enjoyed our first day of fall (with the temperature barely reaching 50 degrees).

The goat food came in ice cream cones! The boys giggled and giggled at the silly goats eating their treat...cone and all.

Time to meander through the corn maze. This one was a smaller one cut out as Wilbur and the larger one (which we didn't enter) was Charlotte and her web.

Has anyone seen my boys? All I can find are the farm animals....

Mikie took this picture....
Have you ever heard of a pumpkin pillow bounce? It was fun for the kids,

but hurt my knees and lower back.

Besides this fun slide, there was a tunnel through square hay bales that Mikie actually navigated through several times. I was impressed that he even wanted to go at all since it was dark and parents wouldn't fit.

After eating hot dogs and watching the pig races, we took a hay ride back to our mini-van and headed north while the boys slept. The fall colors in the mountains were absolutely breathtaking.

The evening of day 1 continues in the next post (check back tomorrow....hopefully I'll get it done)

Sneeds Farm

Now we are 6 days into my crazy week (see previous blog posts):

Saturday- Harvest Festival & Sunday School Party
Sunday- Church and VA state fair

Monday- Gymnastics, Fantasy Playground, Our Anniversary

Tuesday-Bible Study & Zachary's 15 month Dr. appointment

Wednesday- MOMS club Halloween party & Awanas

Thursday-Sneeds Pumpkin Patch:

This was an absolutely wonderful day with my two boys! (except for the 80 degree weather...I thought this was October???) We met several MOPS moms and their children at the farm. We arrived 1/2 hour late...but just in time to catch the hay wagon ride. As soon as we got on, Zachary started pointing at the llamas and saying "Baa, Baa". I didn't correct him because #1 it was so cute and #2 what does a llama say anyway? Then he discovered that a sheep dog was following the wagon and proceeded to spend the next 20 minutes pointing and panting (his sign for dog) at it. When it would disappear on the other side of the wagon, he would wiggle in my arms until he saw it again and then start panting and pointing. Mikie enjoyed the ride as well, but was eager to get off and pick his pumpkin. At the end of the hay ride, we walked past the horses. I captured a video of our experience (again...it's sideways...one of these days I'll remember not to tip the camera):

Besides the llamas and horses, there were also a few calves at which Zachary would say "moo" and Mikie tried to feed as well.

Cow Kisses make me laugh!

Zachary's favorite animal was the dog and Mikie's favorite was the cat. He was so insistant that I take his picture with this mangy old cat. It was the friendliest thing and it had the squarest face I'd ever seen. And of course, what's a farm without chickens? You can see that Mikie was feeling adventurous and wanted to climb into the chicken coop. However, there were two very noisy roosters that I was a little afraid of so we kept our distance and just watched them "cock-a-doodle-doo."
In the barn, there were goats, lots of hay of course, and these really fun rope swings. Mikie wouldn't try it, but Zachary didn't want to get off.

In the pumpkin patch, Zachary tried to pick up the little pumpkins first (he probably thought they were balls that he could throw) and then noticed the bigger one next to. He obviously didn't inherit my poor decision making skills because he kept trying to pick up that one pumpkin and wasn't interested in looking at any others.
With the price of the hay ride, we were allowed to take 2 medium ordinary orange pumpkins. But, when my son saw that they had warty, bumpy, PINK pumpkins we just couldn't leave the farm without purchasing one of those for a whopping 10 bucks! It was worth it though...just look at how happy he is!
After all that fun, we ate our picnic lunch in the shade and then headed home. It was so nice to have a laid back afternoon without all the crowds of people and escape to the country. If only it would have been cooler so they could have worn their fall sweaters.

The next day....Friday....I left the kids with Michael for the evening and got a 1 & 1/2 hour massage....just so I could be ready for Saturday's trip to Front Royal's Leaf Festival (future post). As a result of being extremely exhausted from my busy week, I came down with a severe head cold and felt like I was walking in a fog on Saturday. The past 3 days we've been back to our normal routine and have been preparing for our long trip to Maine. We leave on Thursday 10/16 and don't return until 11/3. We'll be visiting Michael's parents in Easton, ME while Michael attends a Navy conference 5 hours away in Bangor, ME. They won't have Internet so I'll be out of the loop for the next 3 weeks. Have a great Halloween everyone!

MOMS club Halloween Party

In the middle of our very busy week, we had a Halloween party with the MOMS club. As craft coordinator, I was in charge of the activities which included: Ghost bowling, Pin nose on the pumpkin, Spider Web Toss. And two crafts: 5 Pumpkins on a gate thumbprints and Hand print Spiders.

Horton Hatches An Egg

I'm Lazy Mazey, Mikie is Horton, Zachary is the Elephant Bird that hatches from the egg.

Zachary didn't want to leave his 'head' on but it actually looks really cute like this with the bird wings.

I made: Witches Hats with 'puppy chow' surprise inside. Dairy and egg free for Zach.

Mini-carmel apple bites

Turkey and soy cheese filled crescent roll spiders.

Zachary loved playing pin the nose on the pumpkin.
Mikie didn't stop here. Just as soon as I took his picture he added numbers to his paper. He made it all the way to 15 before I told him to stop drawing all over his 5 little pumpkin craft. Of course, stopping at 15 was not sitting well with him so he took 2 more papers and filled them with numbers as well. When we got home I displayed Zachary's and 1 of Mikie's pumpkin papers. He was quick to ask, "Where are the other numbers? Can you hang them up too?" He is destined to be a mathematician.
I put this spider on Zach's head and thought he would pull it off and cry, but he loved it and wanted to keep doing it.

7 years and 2 kids later...

Monday was our 7 year anniversary. It was fall when we got married in Iowa, but it still feels like summer here in Va. Michael went to work while I took the boys to gymnastics at 9:00 and then drove up to Fantasy Playground at 11:00 and let the boys slide & play. We ate lunch in the park and then they napped in the car while I drove up to D.C. to pick up Michael. I worked on my Bible study in the parking lot while the boys slept and Michael finished working. Then, we headed to Michael's sister's house because she graciously agreed to watch the boys while we went out to dinner. They had a great time with their cousins and their dog, Boo. And we had a fabulous dinner at the restaurant 1789 in Georgetown.

Zachary, Mikie, and Boo.

Virginia State Fair

After teaching Sunday School and attending church on Sunday, we ate at Red Robin and then headed south to Richmond for the Virginia State Fair. Both boys took a short nap in the car and were in a pretty good mood when we arrived at 3:00 (thankfully after the major heat of the day...it's still 80 degrees here...where is fall???). There is just no comparing this fair to the Iowa State Fair. I was sadly disappointed at the lack of activities and exhibits; the entire fairgrounds could fit in about 1/3 of the Iowa State Fair. However, we did have a really nice time and the boys got to do what they each loved: Mikie rode the rides and Zachary saw all the animals.

Instead of a sandbox, they had a corn box. The boys dug, scooped, and poured until we had to drag them out kicking and screaming (well...just Zachary...Mikie was easily bribed with seeing large pumpkins).

They had a fishing exhibit that Michael and Mikie took part in and caught a trout. Mikie was so excited about his "long skinny fish" and wasn't at all sad about having to let it go.

The first barn we encountered housed the sheep and goats. I thought it was going to be a big hit with Zachary since he loves to say "Baa, Baa" whenever he sees a picture of a sheep. But, as you can tell from the video, seeing a real live sheep was a bit overwhelming for him. As soon as I stopped recording, a sheep reached out it's head and started nibbling on Zachary's shoes. He was so scared he started screaming. Then whenever a sheep would 'Baa' he would stick out his lower lip and pout. It was so pitiful! (Sorry about it being sideways...I still can't figure out how to rotate my videos)

"Bock, Bock" says the chicken and Zachary too!

This pretty red rabbit was so soft. While I was taking the picture, the little bunny sniffed Mikie's hand. I don't think he realized just how close it was because he pulled his hand away quickly.

Mikie wanted to rush through all the animals so he could go on the rides. He refused to go on anything by himself which left us with about 3 rides he and Daddy could ride together. After standing in a long line for the roller coaster, it was declared broken when we reached the front and was shut down. The flying "Dumbo" was a big hit since elephants are his favorite animal.

We ended the night with hot dogs on a stick for the boys and turkey legs for us. Mikie wanted ice cream for a treat and I had an elephant ear. I knew Zachary would want both but couldn't have either, so Michael got a frozen banana and ate all the chocolate off so Zachary could have it. He loved it! He must have thought it was ice cream because it was so cold. Overall it was a fun day, but it doesn't even come close to the excitement in Iowa.

Harvest Festival

This event was the start of our VERY BUSY WEEK! Saturday morning I had brunch to attend, then we took the boys to a harvest festival at a church in our neighborhood; and then that afternoon, we had a Sunday school social to attend. Here's Mikie on the bouncy slide at the Harvest Festival:

Going Up...

Going Over...

Sliding down...

Zachary loved his first pony ride. Mikie didn't want to try it, but Zachary couldn't wait to get on.

Zachary is 15 months old

Today Zachary is 15 months old. We had another ENT appointment and found out his ears are crystal clear and his hearing is perfectly normal....so no tubes...as of now. Hopefully, now that we know he is allergic to eggs and milk we can prevent future ear infections. He is a fearless little boy who is always climbing, throwing a ball, pushing a truck or train, dancing to music, and copying his big brother. He can say: duck, ball, fish, please, cheese (when smiling for the camera), moo, baa baa, makes pig snorting noises, bock-bock (chicken), roars like a dinosaur, pants like a dog, screeches when he sees a cat, can sign "more," "eat," "all done," and shakes his head yes when asked if he wants something. He is able to follow simple directions "pick up the block and bring it to mommy" "throw this in the garbage" etc.



While Mikie is in gymnastics, Zachary and Mommy have mini-tot tumble time. He loves to throw the blocks into the foam pit, run on the trampoline, and climb through, up, and over all the obstacles. He can tuck his head and do a somersault with help.
He has finally reached 20 pounds and is now enjoying the view from his car seat facing forwards. He has started really hating being in the car and is only pacified by snacks, which I delve out readily so that he isn't screaming. He looks so teeny, tiny next to Mikie whenever I look back at them.

One of the cutest things our little guy does is play duck, duck, goose. He'll walk around bopping you on the head saying duck, duck, and "oose" and then run away. He loves to be chased and dances to Mikie's THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS CD. He gives high fives and kisses and loves to play on Mikie's bed with his blankie. We love you, Zachary Frederick!