Heritage Farms

The weather for our NH Saturday didn't look great... but we still wanted to try to enjoy the fall as much as possible.

With some savvy web-searching, we found a cute farm with a petting zoo about a half-hour from my parents house.  It was the perfect Saturday activity.  Especially because they also had a restaurant specializing in pancake breakfasts.  Animals and pancakes?  What more could MiniM.E. (or me) possibly want?

MiniM.E. riding the calf.  (before we saw the sign that said not to)

The calf.  I want one.

on the crazy exer-swing

chickens

were fascinating

goat 

and more goats

collecting leaves

practicing swinging

sliding

bouncing

playing in the sand

not sure about that truck...

visiting the ponies

I loved Heritage Farms and can't wait to go back next year.  The animals were awesome- they just roamed around the farm and even played on the playground.  MiniM.E. loved it.  AND the pancakes were fantastic.  Get the pumpkin ones.

Mt. Kearsarge

Friday of our NH vacation the weather was nice and my sister had the day off from work and we climbed Mt. Kearsarge.

When we took on our first ever mountain-with-baby in NY, I was expecting a Mt. Kearsarge-type hike.  I was sorely disappointed.  Fortunately, the hike this time was just as I remembered it and we made it up and down the mountain only singing for a few minutes.

ready to go

on the trail

 We had beautiful, foliage-filled views

And plenty of room to play at the top

our little hiking troupe on the summit

my little climber

why do I always look weird in family portraits?  what's with my leg??

moms and daughters

with Gram

An Autumn Visit to NH

Two weeks ago Bob took a long weekend and we drove to NH to do some leaf peeping and enjoy autumn-like activities.  The leaf peeping went really well on the drive over and we got to see some really nice foliage.  We planned some great activities, and fortunately the weather held out a little bit because for the most part it was pretty rainy.

I'm just a tad late in posting about it because my baby girl turned one yesterday and it was a pretty big deal.  Two weeks of bawling preparing for my baby to become a toddler... but more about that later.

I really want to share all the cute photos of MiniM.E., but it takes a lot of time and effort to be witty, funny and informative in my posts, so for the sake of time, this and the next few posts will be light on text, heavy on photos.  Thanks for understanding!

My favorite part of going home is just relaxing... seeing my family and having an extra pair or two of hands to help out with MiniM.E.

We really enjoyed playing outside this trip...

Playing in the leaves

Calling the Kitty

Running through the leaves

Helping rake

NOT liking being in the leaves

Being rescued

Swinging with Mommy

All by herself!

In the treehouse with Daddy

Down the slide!

Wheelbarrow ride with Mommy (who broke it)

 And seeing MiniM.E.'s boyfriend, H.

And with H. (after it got fixed!)

More Orchard Fun

I've noticed that having a baby toddler means finding something your child likes to do and repeating it multiple times.  Not that I don't love feeding the ducks at the pond, riding the carousel, and going for wagon rides.  I do those things are awesome to do with MiniM.E.  Things I don't love quite as much include standing in the spider-infested-shed pointing at and naming things, reading my least favorite children's books hundreds of times, continuously making my cell phone "play music", and climbing up and down the stairs searching for invisible pieces of dirt.

In the case of things fall-related, I'm in repetitive-toddler-activity-heaven.  Never would have I convinced myself it was necessary to visit an apple orchard (the same apple orchard) twice in less than a week just because it's a cool place and happens to have apple cider and donuts.

But NOW, I have an excuse.  MiniM.E. really likes the playground and the animals and the pumpkin patch.  (And really, without a toddler, it might be just a bit strange for me to be hanging out feeding the goats.)

Yesterday we went back to Bowman Orchards with one of our playgroup friends T. and her daughter, H. and our other friend, M.  They hadn't been yet... so what a great excuse for us to go again- we had to show them how awesome it was!

We decided against apple picking (because when there's a playground and animals, who has time for that?) and headed straight for the playground.

MiniM.E. loved it just as much the second time.  In fact, I think this time was even better because unlike last week when the playground was full of school groups on field trips, we were the ONLY ones there.

We had the playground all to ourselves.

And since there were no kids lining up to feed them, the animals were extra friendly (and extra hungry!).

We spent some time playing in the pumpkins.

And I may have given in to my love of obsession with all-things-fall-flavored obsession with some cider and donuts.

A Cold, Rainy Day

I used to like cold, rainy days.  I love to grab a good book, a cup of hot chocolate and some cookies and just curl up on the couch for hours.

I am not so much a fan of rainy days anymore.

MiniM.E. likes to read... but only for a few minutes.  She can't drink hot chocolate... yet, and as much as she likes cookies, I don't think I could bribe her to sit with me on the couch for hours with all the cookies in the world.

So, so much for my hours on the couch for a few many years.

MiniM.E. loves to be outside (as you may have noticed in previous posts).  She now knows that she needs shoes on to go outside so she will sit and try to put on her shoes by the door.  She'll stand up and bang at the door and cry if she gets really frustrated.  I suppose spending time outside is good for both of us, so usually I help her put on her shoes and out we go.

But not in the rain...

A plus to a rainy day is that if it's darker, MiniM.E. takes longer naps.  But once she wakes up and realizes we can't go out,

there's only so much I can do to distract her from walking over to the door and holding out her shoes...

Fortunately, we found the play area at the Wilton Mall.  Rainy day life-saver!

MiniM.E. loves it.  She goes off on her own and I can just sit on their benches.  She even plays with the other kids!

Extra bonus?  There is a teeny tiny carousel that MiniM.E. was so excited about the first time she saw it, she almost jumped right out of the stroller.  For a meer $.75 she can ride for a fun-filled 60 seconds.  (The first time she rode it I was afraid she would let go and fall off so I walked around in circles beside her and held her on.  Note: BAD IDEA.  Nothing like feeling like you've just been on 20 carnival rides when you have to entertain a baby.  Note #2: boy, I'm getting old...)

Did I say $.75? I should have said $3... because that's how much money it took until she finally would let go.