A Blogging Hiatus

Wow.  Should I even begin to make excuses about why I haven't posted in weeks?  Probably not.

But I will anyway.

First off, we had house guests.  C & H came to visit for a week during C's spring break.  It was awesome to see them, as always.

And... well, we've been busy.  Enjoying being outside in the warm, sunny weather.  That's it.  Who can sit in front of the computer when it's gorgeous out?  I will do my best to post over the summer, but with my outdoors-crazy toddler and short naps, I can't promise anything.

So let's go back a while...

MiniM.E. turned a year-and-a-half last time I posted.

The weekend before our visitors, we spent a lot of time outside.

Sniffing the flowers and searching for acorns

 At Kelley Park with Baby E.:

swinging!

a contemplative ride on the tire swing

 And at Gavin Park with S.:

And we visited the Saratoga Winery to see Rich Ortiz play.  It was a great place for the grown-ups to sit outside and drink wine, and it was pretty kid-friendly too!  (No playground yet... we should propose one!)

dancing queen!

must have: baby adirondack chair

We will definitely be back to the winery!! 

Apple Picking

Sunday morning we went to an apple orchard with my parents and C. & H.

Remember H.?

isn't he a cutie? no wonder MiniM.E. has a crush on him

We went to Meadow Ledge Farm, and this time, we actually picked apples.

But first, we picked through some pumpkins

Then we got on the haytractor ride to the orchard

Ate some apples

Picked some apples (or at least looked like we were)

Rode the tractor back (while the babies ate more apples)

And played a while...

Before heading home.

The babies had a blast eating apples, picking flowers and riding the tractors.

And might I add that they have THE BEST apple cider donuts?  Seriously... any cider donut you've ever had can not compare to these ones.  They make them hot right in front of you on one of those old-fashioned donut machines and they're hot and greasy and super tasty.  mmmm... donuts....

Is it sad that the thing I write the most about is donuts??  But really... they are sooo good.

Enjoying Fall

I've mentioned a few times (okay, maybe many times) that I love fall and have been looking forward to it since... oh, about the end of June.  Not that summer isn't great (and what's cuter than a baby in a bathing suit?) but fall has always been my favorite season.

Maybe it's the changing leaves.  The pumpkin flavored everything? The pumpkins themselves? Leaves on the ground?  The crisp morning (and sometimes afternoon) air?  APPLES! Apple picking? Hay rides? Cooler weather means you can wear sweatshirts and sweaters and no one notices the 5 pounds you put on from eating pumpkin flavored everything?  

Probably all of the above.  And more things I haven't thought of in my minute-long ponder over the wonders of my favorite season.

So far we've been enjoying the season.

We played at the Spa Park on an unusually warm day (which was awesome, because there were summer clothes we got as hand-me-downs that MiniM.E. never even wore!).

We went to Congress Park to feed the ducks,

and play with the flowers.

We visited Bowman Orchards.  We played in their awesome wooden playground,

pet their animals,

tested out their fence and Adirondack chairs

sat in some pumpkins

and bought some cider and donuts.

We didn't actually go apple picking... but we bought some apples, so that counts, right?

We took a walk in downtown Ballston Spa.  It wasn't exceptionally "fall-y" but MiniM.E. was wearing a halloween outfit, and it was pretty darn cute.  And we were enjoying the cooler weather.  So I'm going to count it as a fall activity.

 

on the run

Do people send Halloween cards like Christmas cards? Because if they do, that last picture is definitely my Halloween card...