Someone we know is learning to ice skate.  Daddy bought him a pair of hockey skates.  We have since learned that it would be easier if he learned to skate while wearing figure skates because they have the toe pick for stabilization, stopping, and pushing off.  Either way, he's still doing very well.  Below is a portion of a clip that Dear Husband filmed when he and Bro recently went ice skating.    

Note:  I hope this video loads correctly.  If it does not, I will try again and repost later.

One of Bro's classmates (now age 4) had an ice skate birthday party.  It has been my experience, after 13 years of being a parent, that ice skate parties are not successful because there are typically several kids who can't skate and just aren't going to get it.  The party is a real bummer for these kids.  However, in the most recent case, the skating portion of the party was a lesson from the rink instructor.  FABULOUS idea!!!  Bro and his classmates did sooooo well with the instructor.  After seeing how well Bro did with the instructor, Dear Husband decided that maybe Bro would learn better in a class setting. 

We hope to have more ice skating info for you in the months to come.  Bro is eager to learn so that he can be on a hockey team.  Hockey??? Really???

Pumpkin Patch

hmmm...

Our annual family trek to the pumpkin patch had its highs and lows this year.

I like the annual visit to the pumpkin patch because:
1.  this is where I get some of my most favorite pictures of the kids;
2. everyone (little ones, teen, and parents) is guaranteed to have a great time;
3.  it's cheap inexpensive (the only cost is the pumpkins); and
4. it is one of our last opportunities to have fun outside before it really starts to get cold.

Let's recap our 2011 visit.

Goal 1.  Get a great family picture.  FAIL.  See evidence below.

Goal 2.  Pretend to live in a pumpkin house.  FAIL.

Goal 2 has now been changed to:
Plank in the pumpkin house windows.  SUCCESS.

Goal 3.  Pick the perfect pumpkin.  SUCCESS!

Goal 4.  Have fun pushing wagon.  SUCCESS!

 
OK... so they weren't into taking pictures this year.  That's cool too.  Maybe next year.

Fall Activities

Interesting story about my life.  Everyone in the family has decided what they want to be for Halloween.  Most of the costumes are ready.

Lulu = Taylor Swift (complete with blonde wig and guitar)
Bro = Spiderman (Remember:  you must refer to him as Spiderman - not Bro - when he is in costume)
Bri  = a bumble bee

Dear Husband has suggested costumes for us as well.  It goes something like this:

Dear Husband = party... covered with balloons and holding a fun drink
Me = all brown.  Thus, he is the "party" and I am the "party pooper." 

Are you laughing?  I fail to see the humor in this. {{smirk}}

Speaking of Fall, we have been outside enjoying the wonderful weather.

Someone has decided that she can climb up the ladder to the slide all by herself. 

We also utilized Fairy Grandmother's apple slicer.  Bro thoroughly enjoyed using his big boy dull kid knife to cut the apples. 

He even shared some slices with his sister which I just thought was precious.

We are going to a pumpkin patch this weekend. 

How 'bout you?

Pumpkin Martini

More notes from the Pumpkin Pantry!

You KNOW I have a pumpkin passion.  Yum!  Over the weekend, Dear Husband and I took a few days to celebrate our anniversary.  During that time, we went to a great dinner overlooking some very quiet views...

and a little bit of a sunset over the clouds.

When the waitress took our drink order, she mentioned their signature Pumpkin Martini!

WAKE UP!

Did she say Pumpkin Martini???

She did!  It was great! 

Here is their recipe:

     Equal portions of:

     Fulton's Harvest pumpkin liqueur

     Vanilla Vodka

     Bailey's Irish Creme

Tip:  The bartender recommended putting in a splash less vodka and a splash more of the pumpkin liqueur than the recipe calls for.

Are you enjoying

pumpkin recipes this fall?

Fall Festival

I'm a bit of a lover of Fall, but I think I don't like Fall as well.  I don't know what's wrong with me.  You know, I think I like everything about Fall except for the cold weather.  Yes - that's it!  Fall = awesome.  Cold weather = yuck!  mkay?

This past Saturday... and at the very last minute... we found out that Brody's swim lesson was cancelled.  We sprang into full-fledged Operation-Fall-Festival action.  We were out of the house within moments and headed to a Fall Festival at Greenstreet Gardens, a place that we had never visited before.

Yay for being spontaneous!!!!! {{clap, clap, clap}}

At the start of the visit we took a somewhat spooky hayride to the festivities.  This is my only complaint of the whole day and I hate to start of with a complaint but here goes.  To be honest, the staff disclosed that the hayride was spooky, but it also seemed that the hayride was the ONLY way to get to the fall festival from the main parking location.  Without going into all of the logistics about what I saw and didn't see, the conversation with the staff went something like this:

Me:  (holding toddler and standing next to preschooler) I see that your sign says the hayride is spooky.  How spooky is it?

Older-ish Man:  Somewhat.  Aliens and monsters and stuff.

Me:  (willing to skip the hayride)  OK.  Where is the corn maze and moon bounce and stuff that are advertised on the brochure?

Older-ish Man:  Over that hill back there.

Me:  Cool.  How do we get over the hill?

Older-ish Man:  Take the hayride.

I did not want to take the spooky hayride but could not see of any other way to get to the festival nor was the guy offering up an alternative.  So we climbed aboard. In short - the ride was spooky and on the verge of being too scary but we made it through just fine.  Everyone at the festival was either under age 7 or over age 35 (that is, parents and small kids).  The spooky hayride was unecessary and you could tell that the parents on the hayride were not pleased.  A simple well-placed sign like this, would be sufficient and make everyone happy, since they offer a hayride back to the parking lot and it is nonspooky!

Parents - This hayride is spooky.  However, you can walk over the hill to the festival and take a nonspooky hayride back at the end of your visit. Thus, your kids don't have to go through the spooky barn but they still get to enjoy a nice hayride.

There was tons of fun at the festival and it totally delivered.  They had a hay maze for the little ones and Bri totally made it out all on her own, which made me laugh out loud!

Bro's favorite part BY FAR was the corn kernel sandbox.  He would have played in this corn kernel box all day long if I let him.  This was a genius idea and all of the kids just loved, loved, loved it!  I am tempted to fill his Brielle's sand box with corn kernels next summer.  It was that fun. 

Lulu found the perfect mini-pumpkin in the patch...

... and she was such a great mother's helper too.  Let us be real clear here, I would not have gone if I didn't have her with me!   

All in all, it was a great day.  I highly recommend the Greenstreet Garden Fall Festival for small children.  Many fall festivals have games and stuff, but they require waiting in line to get into the action.  Greenstreet Gardens was great because there was plenty for the little kids to run and play and do!  To be honest, it might be my favorite fall festival location for families with young children. 

Be honest, should I put corn kernels in the sand box next year?