And We're Off!

On 10/22/2808 Chelsea stood up behind a push toy,
and realized she can use it for balance!
She hasn't mastered a solo mission yet,
but we're working on it!

Yay Chelsea!!!!

Hayrides, Animals & Apple Tossing!

This week has been full of fall fun! Last Friday evening we went to the MoMo Fall Festival & Hayride at Mingo Creek Park. We had a pumpkin hunt, made s'mores, and took a wonderful hayride! (And much more!) The kids all dressed up and we had a "Trunk or Treat". Everyone brought bowls of candy, and sat them in their trunks. It was perfect for toddlers with short attention spans.


Our Farmer and Cow



In addition to the playgroups, story times and other MoMo events we attended this week, we had a special treat! An exclusive tour of Heinz Field! It was a lot of fun to sit in the Press Box, the Luxury Boxes, and see the locker rooms where our favorite Steelers get ready for the games. We had a great time - although Josh was a little upset we couldn't run on the field. :)



This morning we took a trip to Vienna. Vienna, Ohio that is. Scott's aunt invited us to go to Wagon Trails Safari. It was so much fun! They have a great petting zoo to explore while you are waiting for your safari to start.



The safari truck is open air - and you have a great view from anywhere you sit. The animals walked right up to the truck so we could feed them. Some were a little more aggressive and actually stuck their noses under our seats to get to food dropped on the floor.




Afterward, we went to the "Apple Toss". They gave us each a bucket of apples, and we could chuck them over the fence to some of the animals. For those of us who can't throw well, they had big PVC pipes set up to roll the apples down to the animals through the fence, and a giant sling shot to fling them over the fence.



For more pictures, here are the albums from Wagon Trails:
Petting Zoo
Safari Ride
Apple Toss

Fall, Festivals & Fun

We have had a couple busy weeks here in the Rattay household. (Yeah, so what else is new?) Joshua is doing much better at school, now. He has been taking a small stuffed animal with him, (one of several, actually... he chooses one each school day) and that seems to have made a big difference in his attitude about the whole experience.

We went to Simmons Farm last week to pick apples! I wasn't sure how it was going to go, but we all had a really good time. The trees were a lot smaller than I expected, and Joshua was actually able to reach the branches, and pick them himself. He was so excited about the entire process. We only bought a peck, but we're still eating apples!



We will be going back to Simmons next week with Joshua's preschool, for a hayride and pumpkin picking.

Earlier this week we went back to Round Hill Farm again, for the sole purpose of taking fall pictures of the kids. Joshua was pleasantly surprised to find out there were 2 new baby cows on display this time. Amy and Gregg went with us, and I was able to take quite a few nice pictures of the kids.





Tomorrow night we are joining in on a hayride with MoMo at Mingo Creek State Park. I'm hoping to be able to attend one or two more apple / pumpkin / fall festivals in the next couple weeks... I'll keep everyone updated.