E - I - E - O

We spent last weekend at the farm! We started off our trip with a flat tire in Ohio. Totally unexpected, and annoying, but we lucked out. We were only about 15 minutes from Scott's cousin at work, and he put us in touch with a tire store. From the time the tire blew, until we were back on the road, only about an hour went by, so it wasn't too bad.

Joshua has been very excited about going to a real farm, and once he realized that is where we were going, he wouldn't stop chattering about it. When we finally got there, he didn't know what to do first.

It was absolutely beautiful when we got there, and since the rest of the weekend was questionable, we decided to try and do as much as we could before it got dark. We headed over to the part of the farm that has the horses. Josh was so excited! We traipsed through the field - some of the grass was higher than Joshua's waist! They also had a few pigs, which have become Josh's new favorite animal.



From there we went over to the cow barn. There were plenty of tractors there to crawl on, mud to squish through, and hay to feed to the cows. There's a trampoline near by, and Josh learned how to "Jump High!" After we tore Josh away from there, we headed up to the pig barn. He ran up and down the aisles between the pens, and was super excited.



Saturday we went to Velvet Ice Cream Company. We took cheerios to feed the ducks, then went in for ice cream. Josh was more interested in playing than in ice cream, so afterwards, we played in the playground behind.



For supper, we had a cookout at the farmhouse. Most of the family came down, and we were able to catch up with everyone. The kids made use of the swingset and the trampoline, and even crawled on top of some hay bales. It was a really nice evening.

Sunday morning, we visited all of the animals one more time before we left. Joshua was very upset we had to leave.

Josh starting asking when we're going to go back. He understands that it's far away, and we won't go again until next year, but it doesn't stop him from asking! I've been taking him to the Game Perserve, and we have a trip to Round Hill Farm planned in a couple weeks. Hopefully that will be enough to hold him until Spring!

If you'd like to see the rest of the pictures, you can view them in the Farm Album.



In other news, Chelsea has her first 2 teeth! The first one broke through last Tuesday, and the 2nd on this past Wednesday. She has the cutest little grin! If you look close, you can see them.

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! We're only half way through the day, and the kids are sleeping, so I thought this would be a good time to update the blog.

We spent the morning at the National Aviary. We always enjoy ourselves there, and today was no different. We timed it perfectly, we saw 2 feedings, as well as the "Flights of the North Shore" presentation. I was actually able to help feed. It was pure luck Scott got this picture when he did, but I think it turned out great!




This was actually the 3rd time I've had the kids at the Aviary in the last couple months. We purchased a membership back in March, and we have been trying to go often, to take advantage of the savings. Joshua LOVES the birds, and is always excited to go. It only takes about an hour to walk through, and that includes one or two presentations. Afterwards, if the weather is nice, we'll walk through West Park, and look at the ducks in the pond, and have a picnic lunch. There is also a playground we'll play on before we head back to the car. It is a nice way to spend the morning, and it's perfect for the attention span of a toddler and an infant.

We have a lot of fun things planned for May and June already! We have memberships to the Zoo, Aviary, and Children's Museum, so we'll be spending plenty of time there, I'm sure. We've started our weekly walks in South Park with MoMo, and we are signed up for some fun playgroups and field trips, too.

Scott has relatives who own a farm in Ohio. We'll be making a trip to stay there for a few days, soon. His parents, and Aunt are going to join us, as well. They have cattle, pigs and horses... and most importantly: TRACTORS! Joshua is very excited about the trip. Every morning he asks me if today is the day to go see the tractors. I made a calendar, and every morning we mark off the day before, and count how many more days until we leave for the farm. I'm not sure he actually understands the meaning of time in days or weeks, but he likes to cross off the days.

I'll update again in a week or two - there will be lots to talk about!