On Being Busy, Having An Autumnal Blast, and Totally NOT Blogging About It

A dear friend* let me know this weekend, in not so many words, that I am not so good at keeping up with this here blog.  Well, I guess it was exactly that many words.  So, fiiiiiiiiine... that may be true, but as I said to her and I will repeat here- Um..Hello!?!?  TWO!!!! As in, 2 years old- and also- SERIOUSLY- Twooooooooo... and then you multiply that by a mobile BOY, carry the 8, add potty training, divide by the square root of squirming diaper changes and you get...Gaaaaahhhh! I need a drink.

So here it is- as I promised the lame photo montage brilliantly crafted update to recap the last...eh, I dunno, 3 months or so.  You're welcome.

I like to call the above: "Family portrait by an old-ass-rusty tractor" OR "How we Demers like to pick us some apples"

This one is entitled: "A beautiful family celebration of the day my little angel turned from sugar sweet to time-sucking, needy yet somehow simultaneously totally independent, OMG.It's.MIIIINNNNEEEEEEE... ahem, Two."

Simply: "Punkinz- at the patch, natch."

Title: "Babies need mittens on freezing days in the mountains"
-I guess this is more a note to self than a title, but it turns out that this is an important little detail to remember when packing for a fall weekend getaway. To the mountains. When it's freezing. Who knew.

Titled in song: "Old McCourtney Has a Farm, E-I-E-I-O.  And on this Farm She has the most ridiculously adorable tiny widdle animals like piggies and moo-cows and then we went to 'Boo at the Zoo' the end."

And Finally Ladies and Gentleman, I give you..."The Eight Times Multiplier"

* This one's for you, Kel. Thanks for kicking my booty- MUAH!  

A Thousand Words Thursday...."I Suck at Blogging" Edition

I don't exactly know what my problem is... maybe I find it impossible to carve out time to write a decent post these days becasuse I am:

A. Off traveling the world- exploring the far off reaches with out access to the internets (Far off reaches=OTHER neighborhood playgrounds).

B. Busy drawing up plans for world-peace (in crayon) and feeding starving children (not so much starving, as constantly hungary).

C. Wrangling Raising a Tasmanian Devil two-year-old and 9 month-old; all the while trying to maintain some semblance of sanity (not.working.)

D. Apple picking.

Yeah- We'll blame it on the apple picking...

The Pumpkin Patch

I LOVE AUTUMN! We had the perfect fall day for a visit to the pumpkin patch- so that's just where Grams, Sofie and I headed! Sophia got to experience her very first hay-ride (which was a bit more of a tractor ride, as there was no hay to be found) as well as a number of pumpkins far larger than she. We had a lovely picnic-style lunch and enjoyed the various attractions, but mostly it was just a great day out with Grams!

Finger-Lickin' Apple-Pickin'

Using numerous techniques (including bribery, blackmail and a little bit of pregnant lady whining) I was able to successfully talk Patton into taking the family apple picking this weekend. We drove down RT66 to Markham, VA to an adorable family run establishment called Stribling Orchard. It was not only a beautiful place; nestled in the foothills of the Blueridge and complete with generations-old stone farmhouse, but also a gorgeous day- blue skies, crisp air and autumnal colors everywhere!

Sofie had a blast! Pat wore her in the backpack for the majority of the outing so she could see over his shoulders and watch him use the apple-picker to get only the best apples from the tree. Toward the end of our visit, we found a perfect little spot (overlooking the orchard, valley and some precious little barns and buildings) to take Sophia out and have a mini-apple-picnic. Mostly for the purpose of taking a cute picture, we gave Sof's an apple to hold and she immediately (and with intention- I might add) bit straight into it. We didn't dare wrestle it away from her, and about 20 minutes later- it was almost gone!! She was seriously cracking us up! She LOVED the thing, and was so proud to eat it all by herself!

Needless to say, we all had a great time. I informed Patton on the ride home that we had, in fact, just started an annual family tradition.... and he may even be on board :)