The Best Day Ever

For as long as I can remember, Saturdays are reserved for Hubs to spend at the garage.  After a full week of full-on parenting, I pull deep down into the reserves and try to do fun things to fill the day.  This is probably more for my sanity than for Little Miss.  Yesterday was one of those rare, super-full days where we had an amazing time and enjoyed everything the entire day.  Little Miss and I began with a drive out to the country for a huge craft fair.  Here she is looking way too cute, but not wanting me to take a picture.

It was our first time there and we didn't anticipate the crowds.  The country road was backed up over a mile with cars trying to get in and find parking.  Once we got there and parked, I had Little Miss on my back for most of it, which she didn't seem to mind and made me incredibly grateful for not having a stroller.  The highlight for her was getting her face painted for the first time.  She chose a ladybug.

We were there for several hours and had lunch- the sure recipe for a car nap.  After picking up a few things we headed back to town.  Sure enough, it was only a few minutes before Little Miss was out.  There happened to be another festival near our house that same day.  Since some hot rods next to us woke up Little Miss with their loud cars, we headed straight to the festival.  We'd never been before, but it was absolutely perfect.  It was full of sunshine, 60 degrees, and had so many things for her to do, that it was hard to get it all in!  

First, she got to feed some chickens.

She began by feeding them in cups, but by the end she let them eat from her hand.  There were also several animals in a pen that she could pet.  Unfortunately, there was also a turkey that terrified her.

The absolute highlight of the experience was a pony ride.

They were free, and she liked them so much that she had no problem waiting in line several times to get more turns.

After she was ready to try something else, we found a farmer area.  You could do things like play with corn:

Or weigh produce on a scale.

Another highlight was a huge sandbox filled with dried corn instead of sand.  I couldn't believe how many kids were in there and there was absolutely no fighting.

We then headed over to watch some live music.  Now this is how you enjoy a concert!

Right next to the concert was a musical petting zoo where you could try different instruments.  She got to play a banjo, mandolin, dulcimer and violin.

We then went back for more pony rides and since the guy at that point knew her by name, he brought out a chicken for her to hold.

That girl is fearless!  There was one more pony ride and then we had to go.  We were there for 3 hours, which in toddler time is like 4 years.  She was still going strong and we didn't even explore all of the kids' area, much less the rest of the festival.  

We picked up Daddy and then went to a friend's house to have dinner.  We didn't leave until 9:00 and how she was still awake was a mystery to me.  She did fall asleep on the ride home, but we had an incredibly full day full of activity with no drama.  Chalk that up on the record books!

Saturday Morning Shopping

Things are finally moving with the garage.  Since there are so many more meetings and we need to be there so much more now, Little Miss is accompanying us.  A lot.  Sometimes I worry about how to entertain a toddler in a construction site, but sometimes the workers do it for me.  Here are some HVAC guys climbing into the loft.  Little Miss was mesmerized and just started at them go up the ladder for the longest.  Of course she turned her head as soon as I got out the camera.

Last week was the neighborhood fall festival and rather than attend, we took the rare weekend as a family and spent it....shopping :(  The pressure was on to get a door and we were, of course, looking to do it on the cheap.  That took us to a several second hand stores.  Little Miss loved measuring the doors for us.

 While she was at it, why not measure a stray box?

She simply stared at a large fan and insisted we send a picture to her cousin, who's loved fans for years.  He was envious, of course.

We stopped at several stores and wound up finally ordering some doors at- Home Depot of all places. Which was a good thing because as we headed into our last store Little Miss was all tuckered out.

Shopping is tiring, you know.

Helping Mama Stretch

I have a series of stretches I have to do each day as part of my physical therapy for my back.  Usually I do them during nap time or after bedtime, but one night I decided to do them once Daddy got home.  Little Miss happily hopped on the floor and did them with me.

I think she likes to 'exercise' too.

My Little Big Girl

I know that I've said this before, but my baby is growing up too fast!  Certain outfits and hairstyles really accentuate just how big she's getting.  This week Little Miss chose a dress that her Aunt gave at her baby shower.  It seemed so big at the time and now it fits perfectly.  She even let me put her hair up in pigtails, a rare occurrence around here.  She looked so darn cute, I could've exploded.

You know how they say that it's a good thing that babies are so cute because otherwise you'd kill them?  Well, I'm going to have her wear this dress the next time she's driving me crazy.  I promise you that you just can't be mad at someone wearing this dress in pigtails.

Fall Adventures

Fall hasn't been all rain and coldness.  We've gotten outside for fun adventures.  One day we walked to our nearby secret greenway.  She needed her sunglasses and were out the door.

 Little Miss has been on a real barefoot kick lately.  It's really good for foot development, so unless we're somewhere where she could get hurt or where it's not allowed, I just roll with it.  Shoes had to come off before she hopped out.

 And once she was out, she was off!  We had a great walk.

It hasn't all be outdoor adventures.  We've also been busy in the kitchen.  One day, to satisfy Mama's sweet tooth, we made brownies.  I let Little Miss lick the spatula and the bowl.  She was in heaven and even insisted on cleaning herself up.

More baking and cleaning a few days later:

And then back outside.  We hit up our favorite local park last week.  It's now chilly in the mornings and really warm in the afternoons.  Dressing can be difficult, but leggings help.  A lot.  We looked at all the leaves floating on the water and had a big talk about all the changes that would be happening now that it's Fall.

I'm liking being able to be outdoors without fearing the sun beating down on me, but I will miss the ease of just being able to throw on shoes and going soon.  We'll enjoy this time of year as long as we can- both inside and out.

A Rainy Fall Day

A few weeks ago we got our real taste of Fall.  It was rainy and the temperatures had dropped, but that was not going to keep a particular toddler indoors.  There was a Cultural Heritage Festival going on, so we decided to check it out after nap.  Most of what we saw were different food tents and we weren't there at the right time to want to try the samples ;(

There was some music playing and another exhibit somewhere else, but sitting on wet bleachers in the cold rain didn't really appeal to any of us, so we left.  I felt sorry for the festival, because it could've been really cool, but the weather was so uncooperative, I'm sure the organizers were disappointed in the turnout. 

We then headed to the Farmer's Market.  It's covered and Little Miss finds it fascinating.  She had fun playing with this sliding barn door (which she probably wasn't supposed to).

She then became interested with this hay bale with the squash and pumpkins, but wouldn't really pose for a picture.

You want to know what this girl will smile for?  Daddy.  Especially when she gets to climb on his lap.

We ended the excursion at dinner at one of our favorite pizza places.  Now that we're hitting a season with more rain, we're going to have to refresh ourselves on indoor activities again.  

My Sweet Nature Girl

A few weeks ago it was picture day at school.  I dressed Little Miss up in hopes of looking adorable in the photos.  Each day her teacher takes pictures from the day and posts them to a secret Facebook page for us to enjoy.  This picture was posted that same day.

It is just so precious.  I can't get over it.  With a teacher who gets photos like these, who needs the professional ones?  She always looks adorable to us, but this photo really speaks to me.  I can't wait to see what other gems were captured that day.

A Fall Walk in the Woods

Florida was upper 80's all week and the water was the perfect temperature.  Summer was extended.  Once we got back home, reality struck hard.  We had one more day before hubs had to go back to work and he decided to spend it catching up on work at the garage.  Little Miss and I were on our own and we decided to head out for a hike.  The temperatures were cool, the humidity was low and fall was definitely in the air.  Normally during our hikes I wear her for most of it and then let her down at the end.  Sometimes she gets to walk a bit more if we go with our friend who also has a toddler.  Today since it was just the two of us, I let her down pretty early on.  I was so impressed with how far and fast she was able to go!

At one point she was running so fast that I had to run to keep up with her!  She did the first trail so well that when we hit a connector to another trail I asked her if she wanted to take that one as well.  She was up for it and we had a great walk.  At one point she did want to hang out at a particular bench for quite a while.

We looked at the leaves, talked about Fall coming, watched people walking on the trail down below and just chilled for a while before resuming the hike.  All in all we were out for 2 amazing hours.  I'm happy to wear her on hikes, but if she's going to do it herself at a reasonable pace, then I'm also happy for a hiking buddy.  I'm glad that I'm raising a child that loves to be outdoors and appreciates nature.

Destin!

The last time hubs and I had a real vacation was our honeymoon in 2012.  Add the pressures of parenthood, several moves, starting a major construction project, weekends spent going in separate directions, and it was becoming critical that we get away for an extended period of time.  We've been talking for almost as long as we've been married about doing an annual extended family vacation at the beach and this year seemed as good as any to start.  Between my mom, his parents, his sister and her family, we were a large group ready for some fun!

We missed a week of school and she heard me tell her teachers that we were going to to beach and they all exclaimed about how much fun that would be.  We talked for a week about where we were going and what it was going to be like.  I think that even though it was Little Miss' first time to a beach, she was primed to enjoy it.  As it happened, we arrived at the house before anyone else.  We had an uneventful road trip down and stopped at a yacht club for dinner.  After dinner we sat on a dock and caught this killer sunset.

The next morning we got our stuff together and headed to the beach.  As soon as we rounded the corner to the public access point, Little Miss got really excited and happy.  We stopped to set up camp for the day and she just pondered the excitement that was about to come.

There was only one word to describe her first time in the water- glee.

She also enjoyed playing in the sand and making sandcastles with Daddy.

When we were done at the beach we walked back to the house and enjoyed the private pool.

One night we were able to feed some baby alligators!

It only got better once everyone else arrived.  The weather/surf was never quite as perfect as that first day, but it was fun playing with everyone.  The adults could hang out in the beach chairs and catch up and one or two could take shifts hanging out with the kids in the water.

The older kids could play in the pool while the younger kids napped.  At night, we all got flashlights and went crab hunting.  That was a lot of fun, but Little Miss just liked walking with a flashlight.

We all played things like play dough together and my mom and I taught the older kids to play cards at night after the little ones were asleep.

We caught a sunset dolphin watching cruise.  Little Miss was the most animated and bubbly for the camera that she's ever been.  Sad that it took place in the parking lot.  We were able to get some cute shots though.

We got a cute sibling/Mom shot:

And the photos on the cruise weren't too shabby, either.

Of course we couldn't go a whole week without hitting up a playground.  We found a quaint little town that also had lots of fun restaurants.

With all these adults around, we'd be fools to not take advantage and sneak out for a date.  Hubs and I had a lot of fun going putt-putt and playing at the arcade.

The vacation ended all too quickly- the week absolutely flew by!  Before we knew it we were on our way back North.  We headed back a different way and stumbled across an Air Force Museum with lots of old planes on display.  That was fun, but could only see so many before the toddler was over it.

It was a great vacation and I think we both realized that we need to do that more often.  We're optimistic that after all the renovations and the sale of the suburban house we'll have a lot more freedom to take these trips.  I've shown you a lot of pictures from the vacation, but no pictures of the entire family.  We did get one, and I'll leave you with that.  Enjoy the chuckle.