Punkin' Pickin'

Dear Me in four months-  This post is in answer to the question that you are cursing under your frozen bitter breath...

This is why we live in Virginia:

A gorgeous fall day for picking fresh pumpkins...

...straight from the vine.

Corn fields, pumpkin patch and wagons, Oh MY!

  

...And hayrides.  Seriously- I love this stuff. 

Sophia's Apple-Pickin' Third Birthday

We certainly had an apple pickin' good time for Sophia's 3rd birthday!  

The day began chilly, crisp and abundantly sunny (thank you accuweather for that delightfully descriptive nugget!)- in other words PERFECT -for our day at the orchard.

 We arrived early to set up at the orchard's "top picnic spot" which overlooks both the orchard below and adjoining properties throughout the valley.  It was truly a breathtaking backdrop for our outdoor soiree!

  

We used material and bunting from birthdays past to make the spot our own!  

The tables were adorned with rustic breads, mini apple pies, grapes for snacking, a homemade attempt at maple-bacon kettle corn and caramel apples (all in keeping with our autumnal theme!)

  

We had a small station set up for the kids to decorate their own apple bags with paint apple prints and fabric markers

Then fun in the orchard apple picking before lunch was served.  A menu of chili, sausage & peppers and a harvest apple green salad was set off by iced tea and warm local cider.  mmmmmmm....

And for dessert- Birthday cake, of course!  The birthday girl's only request was for purple- she got that in the form of an apple spice cake with maple buttercream frosting covered in purple fondant with marzipan fruits.

Take away moments:  a gaggle of little ones "rock climbing" in the woods together 

And the show stopper present: Mr Penguin (gifted by uncle Lucas)

it was a lovely day to celebrate an amazing little girl (if I do say so myself!)

The card says it all- Happy Birthday, Baby!

Hometown Fall Festival

Horray! for Fall Festivals! on 95 degree days!  There's something about the return of the Pumpkin Spice Latte, the back to school fever, and the crisp mornings that just makes me want to get all snuggly inside my sweater and read a good book.  But since I live in the real world, I instead don a tank top, slap on some sunscreen and take the kids on the sweatest hayride of all time.  Don't get me wrong- the smell of ponies at high noon is something to behold- it was the retrieval of straw from places I will refrain from mentioning that left me feeling a bit lackluster.  But enough about me- the kids freekin' dug it!
I give you "Fall Festival- The Awesome!"

The first day

I have no words.

Except to say: "Wait! WHAT!!

 It seems like I've been waiting a long time for this day.  And still somehow I was unprepared for my tiny little baby to walk into a strange building full of stage people and disappear into a sea of strange children without so much as a goodbye.

Obligatory "Mamarattzi shot"

I cannot tell you who was more worried leaving Sophia alone; but my guess is that it was Carter.  He called for her hourly, "woh-woh?".

From what I can gather, The first day had something to do with a book about bunnies, a bumped chin on the playground, standing in line (YEA!) behind someone (BOO!), and PAINTING! OMG! and hand-washing. Oh, and gram crackers. She Rocked It! The End.

On Being Orientated...

Today was Sophia's Pre-school Orientation day.  Basically an abbreviated day to get acquainted with the teachers and the classroom and the office fish.  It was a lovely a morning.  Grams took little brother to the park so I could stay with Sof's while she explored her new school.  And, you guys, she loved it.  She found her name on a pink butterfly on the classroom door, found out that she would get to pick a job to help her new teacher (who is LOVELY!) and played a few percussion instruments with her music teacher.  Needless to say, Tuesday can't come soon enough- I'll save the sap for the then.

You Guys, ...I went Camping!

I mean WE went camping!  It was so much fun!  If I'd known, perhaps I would have found time for such an activity earlier in my nearly 31 years.  Pat pitched our tent, blew up the air mattress and set up the fire.  I watched.  With Glee.  The kids, well, they just did this:

For, like, an hour!

I was very surprised that the kids actually fell asleep, and even more surprised that Sophia stayed asleep all night!  I should admit, however, that while Carter did fall asleep (for the first time ever outside a crib or travel cot) and stay sleep for a number of solid hours, come 3am he was done with the whole camping thing so, it was off to bed for me and him.  How's that you ask?... What? Did I not mention we were camping in the back yard? ...Must have slipped my mind...

It's a Girl! Part Three!

Because she is a Girl and has super Girl-like tendencies, a little girl time was in order. So, in the sprit of "back to school" fever (or is it fervor?) a plan was concocted to take Sophia out for her first girls day.  There would be shopping and snacking and time completely devoid of any pesky little "bothers!"  We met Aunt Nisey at the biggest mall in all the land and shared a scone and chocolate milk before completely devouring the book store.  It was then onto the clothes shopping of it all, and let me tell you- the girl knows what she likes.*  We spent a bit of time in the playyard and then had a great lunch- It was a really lovely time and the girl is set for the season.  We should all have a wardrobe like my three year old!

*Tangent- Have I told you the one about the matching?  No, well...  Sof has a thing about "matching."  She will often tell her daddy when his yard clothes are not matching- for instance last weekend when he came down in his bright blue paint shorts and a deep red tee-shirt.  I happen to find this little habit of her's quite amusing, especially since I have yet to be the butt of her criticisim.  But I was ever so slightly (SUPER!) embarrassed the other day at the park when a young lad of about eight years galloped into the play yard dressed in blue and black.  You can imagine the hue of my face as Sofie shouts "Mama!, Why that boy's clothes don't match!?" Yikes!... a monster we have created.