Day Out With Thomas!

And there it is! The elusive family photo with Thomas! Papa Greg tried to get one. Not good. Papa Frank tried to get one. NOT good. So, in the end, I paid $9.99 to the official photographer for a 4 by 6 print. It came last week and it was so worth it. The kids went a little crazy when they saw it hanging on the frig! Thanks, Thomas!

Pumpkin Picking 2011

Well, it's that time again! Time to pick our pumpkins! Yet again this year, we hit up Trax Farms for some gourds and fun! And we were lucky this year to go again with our friends Miss Laura and Mr. Kenny and their lovely kiddos, Ian, Julia, and (new this year) AJ!!!

First up, GIANT PUMPKIN PILES!






Twins times TWO! I always love seeing these four together!


Then the rides opened and Colin saw the train. So, Colin, Gillian, and Julia got tickets for the train. Ian passed on a ride this time.



All Aboard!




Gillian in her olive green shirt dress in this barrel thing makes me think she looks like a WWII female fighter pilot!


Our kids wanted to try the giant slide. They loved it! I was pretty impressed that they climbed and slid all by themselves!


Daddy took them into the petting zoo next since Colin wanted to pet the baby piggy. BUT Daddy made the critical mistake of actually buying food for the animals and they were literally mauled by goats. Very pushy goats. So, no piggy for Colin.

He was placated by the corn bin!



Oh yeah, and Mr. AJ...he showed off his photogenic side. Such a gorgeous baby! And so happy! (Only a little corn went in his mouth...)



And some snuggles with his Daddy! So sweet!


Gorgeous day. Good friends. Fun times. And three perfect pumpkins picked!

Leaf Walk...with no leaves.

For the past few weeks the kiddos and I have been taking walks in the park for the purpose of "finding leaves." We usually make a loop around the designated "Fitness Walk" paths. The kids like to read the numbers off the fitness signs and climb up, over, and around the benches meant for vaulting, sit ups, and whatnot. It's a nice walk, lots of trees, just about the right length, and plenty of dogs to admire and pet (Colin actually pet THREE dogs last week. That's a breakthrough.)

So, off we go! Notice the bags SPECIFICALLY brought to carry pretty, pretty leaves.


See, the leaves are just starting to get nice and pretty!


Lots of running!


We jumped off the rock sculpture, as usual.




We found some HUGE fungi to check out too. Lots of rain last week.


Gillian decided to climb up on a post and tell a story. She never got much beyond "Once Upon a Time" but it was quite cute anyway!



Lots of fun right? Yes, it was. But what was in the bags when we got back in the car? Each bag held one very battered and bruised walnut. That's it. No pretty leaves. AT ALL. Next time, I'm taking a bag for ME.

Science Center Sunday

It's hard to believe sitting here on this lovely 80 degree day, but last Sunday it was 45 degrees and raining buckets on us. We really wanted to go to the zoo last weekend, but an indoor activity was a much wiser choice! So, we settled on the Carnegie Science Center as our alternative! Aunt Cedes and Uncle D decided to join us, so even more fun! I wasn't too sure how much of the museum would be appropriate for nearly-3-year-olds, but they enjoyed it a lot. I can see them enjoying it MORE in 3 or 4 more years, but it there was certainly enough fun stuff to keep them entertained.

We started our visit in the "air" exhibit where you could make parachutes, fly rockets, bang air cannons, and other fun stuff. Uncle D was explaining a few things to Colin. I love how Colin looks like he's intently thinking about things, but really, I think he was picking his chapped lips!



Off to fly some rockets! This was really a favorite with both kids; they came back two or three times to fly them.


Next up was the robot exhibit. It ended up being Daddy's favorite exhibit, but I think the kids will like it more in a few years. They did check out these guys:



They have a little digital planetarium inside the Science Center and we were just in time for a 15 minute show about the stars in Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood! Sadly, the kids have no idea who Mr. Rogers is; our PBS channel only airs his show maybe once a week. But, they liked the trolley and the characters and the MOON! Waiting for the show to start:

They did well sitting and watching, but I think we'll wait a while before we attempt a feature length film in the theater!

Next up was the Ocean and fish exhibit; basically it was a few big aquariums and a pretend submarine to explore! That was fun. Although, there wasn't a Nemo fish, so that was disappointing. We did find Dori though.






The next floor up was the "exploration" zone. It was a bunch of hands-on exhibits where the kids could build houses and "earthquake" them or pretend to be a weatherman or there was lots of water play! In the "Junior Explorer" section they had a bunch of machines set up to transport balls to the top of a shed thing and then pour them back down on the kids. That was a lot of fun! We spent a lot of time doing that! (Oh, and G liked the water play, which necessitated a wardrobe change!)

The Earthquake table!


Ball Machine!



After lunch, we headed over the "SportsWorks" portion of the museum. It has a health, fitness, and activity focus, but most of it was too old for our kids. Gillian had other ideas though. She wanted to do it ALL. Like the Human Yoyo!


Up she goes! She really did a nice job with this. She loves to hang on stuff, like monkeybars and chin up bars.


Ok, Mommy had to take a turn too.

So fun. But I admit, I was sore for 3 days afterwards. So old. So out of shape.

Then, Gillian spied the trampoline. And not just a plain ol' trampoline. A trampoline with a harness so you can do FLIPS. She had to do it. I warned her the line was very long, but she didn't mind. And, that girl, she sat in line without making a peep for at least 30 minutes. (Colin was done by this point and went back to look at the robots with Uncle D and Aunt Cedes). When Gillian decided she wants something, she is going to DO IT. And nothing will get in her way. Someday that will come in handy. (Right?) Anyway, when it was FINALLY her turn, she did great!!!


She didn't attempt any flips. But that's ok. Daddy and I were so proud of her patience and her bravery!

We caught back up with Cedes, D, and Colin at the submarine and went through the "Junior Explorer" stuff again. Gillian wanted to play "Operation":


Oh, and to climb all over Uncle D.


All in all a fun way to spend a rainy Sunday. I'm sure we'll be back! Gillian wants to trampoline again!!!

Boy vs. Girl

The craziness at our house today just illustrates the basic difference between BOY 3 year old and GIRL 3 year old. (Well, almost 3 year olds)

I've been encouraging Colin to be more independent with putting his clothes on. So, after nap, he took his diaper off and got on the potty and did his thing. I left the bathroom for a minute and told him to get his undies and pants back on and wash his hands. I came back a minute later and HOORAY he was all dressed! Well, that went better than I thought it would! He looked correctly assembled, so I left it and we moved on. I come downstairs a few minutes later, look at him, and HEY WAIT! Your underwear are coming out the bottom of your pants! It's ZOOLANDER! Apparently he had just gotten the pants on correctly and forgot the undies. Sigh.

Even better....he got the undies put on, but the pants put on backwards TWICE. I got that straightened out. We ran some errands, played on the playground, and made dinner. In the middle of dinner Colin had to go to the potty, so I get up to make sure the seat is set up for him. And LOW AND BEHOLD, the kid has had his underwear on BACKWARDS since naptime. I give up. I just had to laugh.

Now, Gillian? In this same time period, she has gotten her diaper off, her undies on, her princess dress on, accessorized with wand, purse, bracelet, and HIGH HEELED SHOES. Changed in to her real clothes to run errands, INCLUDING SOCKS AND SHOES, all on her own. Only thing I did was button the back of her shirt.

Sigh.

September Funnies

I've been trying to keep track of some of the funny stuff the kiddos say and I thought I'd write down a few before the end of the month! (seriously, how is it the end of September already?)

We checked the book "Olivia" out of the library a few weeks ago. I think it spoke to Gillian. Olivia and G have quite a bit in common. Anyway, we were playing out in the yard one morning and I was sitting in the sun in a chair and G looked at me and said, "Are you basking in the sun, Mommy?" Umm, yes Olivia I AM!


September brought us a lot of "back to school" commercials, especially the Mini Wheat commercials where the Wheats tell us that they "Keep Kids Full and Focused!" We eat Mini Wheats pretty often (well G and I do) and after watching those commercials for a few weeks, I'd hear the kids at breakfast saying "KEEPS 'EM FOCUSED!!!" Over and over. If only I could get the kids to FOCUS when it's time to leave the house!

Daddy recorded "A Bug's Life" a while ago for the kiddos. I wasn't there the first time they watched it, either that or I was busy around the house. But soon after watching it, the kids came up with this game where they piled all the living room pillows between the couch and the coffee table and jumped off into the pillows while shouting. It took about 20 repetitions of "OOOSEY DOOOSING, COLIN!" and "OOOSEY DOOOSING, GILLIAN!" for me to realize they were saying "Introducing, Colin/Gillian!" I think the circus bugs at the beginning of the movie say something like that while they are performing. Anyway, the OOOSEY DOOOSINGs stuck around for quite a while. Made me laugh every time!


Colin has become quite the negotiator. He thinks. If I tell him 3 more minutes or only 2 M&Ms or 2 more turns, he offers me an alternative that HE wants. However, his quantity skills aren't quite up to snuff yet. So if I say, "3 more minutes, Buddy." He says, "NO, TWO MORE!" Umm, ok. Or if I offer him four M&M, he'll yell, "NO THREE!" Sure thing, Mister. Not sure how long it will take for his skills to improve, but I'm enjoying it while it lasts!