Flavor Feast, and Ellms (Take 3)

What an Indian Summer.  The past few days we didn't even want to play inside during LittleL.G.'s naps, it was so nice out!  We had great activities to keep us busy while we enjoyed the sunny, warm weather.

Saturday we went downtown for the Second Annual Flavor Feast.  Tasty food & family activities outside all day?  Yes please!

While Daddy and I enjoyed lots of food samples from many of the local restaurants, MiniM.E. did some art projects and ran around and LittleL.G. enjoyed people watching.  There was a free trolley ride which MiniM.E. loved.  

And of course we rode the carousel.  LittleL.G. is still not a fan.

Yesterday we decided to go to Ellm's since it was a day off from school and it was supposed to be beautiful weather and the dads were at work.  In the three years we have been coming to Ellm's I have never seen it as busy as it was yesterday.  We had to wait in line to get in, and people were still waiting in line when we left.  Thankfully our girls were all very patient in line, and once we got inside there was enough to keep everyone busy that nothing was too crowded to do (except get cider donuts, which I have promised to MiniM.E. on a future date).

It was a nice mommy-daughters outing.  And even though we didn't stay for more than a few hours yesterday, we'll be back Wednesday for birthday party.

Bike Ride and a New Playground

Wednesday after work we met Daddy at the Zim Smith trail for a bike ride.  Now that MiniM.E. is two-wheeler proficient, we thought she might enjoy a bike ride.  Which she did, for about 7.5 minutes.  Good thing we brought the kid seat for the bike and the bike trailer.

LittleL.G. wasn't really a fan of the bike ride, but both girls had a great time at the playground we ride to (and the playground when we got back to the parking lot).

Today we visited a brand new playground. It is an all inclusive playground designed to be used by children of all abilities and it is RIGHT by our old house.  Which makes me a little sad that we don't still live there.  BUT it is definitely worth the drive.

baby swing and real swing together? genius!

And a visit to anywhere near the old house warrants a visit to the "old Hannaford" which MiniM.E. loves.

Sunnyside Gardens

Yesterday was our annual trip to Sunnyside Gardens.  

If you remember, we HAVE to go at least once each fall for the wagon photo.

2012

2013

2014

2015

pretty soon we'll need a bigger wagon!

The best part of the visit was definitely the hayride:

The train ride was fun too, but too short lived and everyone wanted a second ride but it was too expensive!  The girls were adorable, they insisted on sitting all together:

It is a really cute place to visit each fall.  Everyone was having so much fun it was hard to drag them away to go home for dinner!

Ahh, THIS is Fall

After the cold snap, it is nice to have normal fall weather and now that everyone is healthy (fingers crossed) it is nice to be able to play outside.  MiniM.E. has been biking a lot and both girls love playing in the yard.

A Chilly Trip to Ellms

Over the weekend we took our second trip of the season to Ellms.  If I was complaining too much about summer hanging on because I've been longing for the crisp cool days of fall, we've had them lately!  It was freezing this trip- a huge change from our last visit, but we came prepared with hats and gloves.  The weather definitely put a slow down on our Ellms fun (and picture taking), but even in the cold we had a great time.  Its nice to have the season pass so if we don't stay that long or don't have a great trip we don't feel like we are wasting money.

not quite big enough to jump yet...

"look at THESE pumpkins!!"

Happy October!

It is Thursday.  It is also the first day of October.  Where did September go??

MiniM.E. was sick since the beginning of the week with strep and a post nasal infection so the days until today are kind of a tired, needy blur.

But she seems much better and we needed to do something fun for MiniM.E. and the fresh air seemed like a good idea, so we headed down to Bowman Orchards for some playtime on their fantastic wooden playground and a picnic lunch.

I remember how much MiniM.E. loved the playground there starting when she was about LittleL.G.'s age (see this post), so I was hoping LittleL.G. would love it too, and MiniM.E. would find enough to keep her entertained.

Maybe because she still wasn't feeling 100% or maybe because playgrounds aren't as fun when you can't walk, or most likely because it was just over 50°, LittleL.G. really wasn't feeling the playground.  She did love the animals and was insistent on getting an alpaca to come over for her to pet.  Fortunately the goats loved her too, but the alpacas were ?growling? at us? so we stayed away.

chickens!!

Even though LittleL.G. wasn't into slides and swings, MiniM.E. had a blast and didn't want to leave:

By the end of our visit, LittleL.G. ventured out and did some climbing and crawling around:

It was nice to get out (in the freezing cold) but it was probably our only Bowman Orchards trip this year.  Maybe next year it will be a favorite destination again.

Lunar Eclipse

We were driving home from NH when the lunar eclipse started, and even though I was a little disappointed that we weren't home to sit outside and watch it, we probably actually saw more of it driving in the car than we would have at home.

We made it home just as the moon was entering the full eclipse and I managed to get a reasonable photo from our back deck before we went to bed.

It was pretty exciting to see something that hasn't happened before in my entire lifetime!