Liberty Ridge Farm

Daddy took today off so we had Field Trip Friday to Liberty Ridge Farm this week.

It was their first week of the fall, and being so close to the beginning of school (no field trips) and a Friday (no families), there was hardly anyone there. Having full run of the place without having to wait in line or navigate school groups was amazing. Especially after last year. And the weather couldn't have been better.

We did miss out on the racing pigs and the animals weren't there this year, but with the girls being a year older, I think they appreciated the activities more.

Great day at Liberty Ridge!

Serious Science

MiniM.E.'s request for a science unit this fall was space, so we have been conducting a lot of "out of this world" experiments.

My favorite so far has been the human sun dial. Since it hasn't rained in forever, we can still go out and estimate the time!

We explored why Mercury is so covered in craters:

Melted some chocolate "rocks" on our "hot as Venus" fire pit (it has been awfully hot!)

Marbled some shaving cream for Jupiter mono-prints:

And explored why Saturn (and the other outer planets) have rings:

In between experiments the girls are just trying to stay cool!

Good-bye West Side Rec

This afternoon we went to West Side Rec one last time before they tear out all the old playground equipment and replace it with a new playground. The girls and I really love West Side Rec because of their old playground...

Where else can you find a merry-go-round like this one?

Or big metal slides like these?

We will miss you, Old West Side Rec...

A Triple Baptism

We definitely dropped the ball on this one. We meant to have a baptism for MiniM.E. five years ago, but we had a hard time finding a church we liked. Then there was LittleL.G. and she couldn't sit through a service. Finally, we found a church we feel like we belong to. By the time we felt comfortable enough that we would baptise the girls, we knew about BabySlimJim.

So here were are, finally baptizing all the kids!

It was a really nice ceremony. Thanks Gram and Grumpy for coming to sponsor the kids on such short notice and thanks to Pastor Drew and Pastor Heather and the SSUMC community.

Happy First Day of School

This year we are going to (mostly) follow the public school schedule to make things easier for reporting, so we went back to school yesterday with everyone else.

The girls were excited about their back to school outfits and all the fun activities we had for our first day, including "First Day Donuts". I was also hoping for "First Day Playground" but it was too rainy. Maybe next year!

Our Last Days of Summer

It kind of snuck up on me, with our busy end of August, but the start of school is just around the corner... We are trying hard to enjoy the last days until school and all the extra curricular activities start up again.

The past two weeks really wore all of us (especially this little one) out!

After a quality nap on Friday, we headed downtown for a walk, duck watching, and the carousel.

We still felt like this on Saturday:

But here were are, (mostly) recuperated, the day before school starts!

Last Day with Auntie Jen

Today was Auntie Jen's last day in NY before she and Gram had to drive back to NH and Auntie Jen had to fly back to VA.

We had an epic breakfast at the Iron Roost and then headed to the new playground in Milton.

BabySlimJim tried out the swings for the first time and loved it.

doesn't get much cuter than these three!

We played for the afternoon and said our goodbyes and there was lots of crying about missing Auntie Jen already (even before the car pulled out of the driveway!). Thanks for spending the week with us Auntie Jen! We miss you ALREADY!