The Saratoga Children's Museum

Our two years of homeschooling we had "Fun Friday" and took every Friday off. In hindsight, one of the things we started right. A four day homeschool week is much more doable for the kids. Last year, knowing I was slacking a bit with the pregnancy and knowing things would be tricky with a new baby we decided to school five days a week. 

This year, I am hoping to get back on a modified four day week, with school in the early morning every day, but a field trip on Thursdays. 

This week we went to the Children's Museum. We haven't been in such a long time that LittleL.G. didn't remember and SlimJim hadn't ever been. It's quite cost prohibitive because adults are expected to pay too. Gotta love a Groupon!!

The kids had a great time, especially since we met up with friends. There was a robotics workshop which kept MiniM.E.'s interest a good part of the day and the other littles were happy just to run around and play. 

Bike Ride!

After a cool rainy morning and a loooooonnnng day of school we needed to get out and let off some steam. We decided to meet up with friends for a bike ride at the park.

A few years ago, even with my tiny orange car, it was no big deal to "load up the bikes" and head out for a bike ride. 

But with four kids, limited trunk space, and three bikes- one of which is almost the size of an adult bike, I had to break out... the bike rack.

It has been sitting in the corner of our garage for at least a year. To be honest, it seemed intimidating. 

Sometimes the most intimidating things are the easiest and fortunately this was one of them. Slid the rack on the trailer hitch, easily attached two bikes, threw the helmets in the car and was ready to go. Until I remembered I needed the stroller for Mr. T. 

This particular model of rack was intended to tilt down to allow access to the trunk. It was rusted in position and I couldn't even get the pin out! But I was determined not to take off and put on the whole rack again, (and we had to leave in less than five minutes!) so I shoved the stroller in the front seat and jammed helmets and tiny bikes in around the kids and we were off. 

A bike ride was just what we needed today. Beautiful weather, happy kids, and moms that had a chance to chat.

The loop we ride at the park is great. For the first section of the ride, the road is wide and blocked off to traffic. We let the kids ride up and back as we strolled as much as they wanted. The next section is narrower and windier, but still separated from the road by a grassy area, so we sent the kids on ahead and told them to stop at the pumpkins. 

It was a bit farther than we remembered, but the little guys were with us and the big girls were all together, so we meandered along, joking that someone was probably going to call the cops on us because there were a bunch of unsupervised small children hanging out alone at the entrance to the park.

We decided to ride back the way we came so the kids could ride more freely. Just as we turned back onto the road, a police car pulls up beside us. 

All the moms took a deep breath as he rolled down the window. 

"Excuse me?"

"Uh, hi," we were starting to feel a bit nervous.

"I'm here about the kids,"

Oh boy... here we go.. .

"I have tickets for free ice cream for them for bike safety- they are all wearing their helmets."

Giant sigh of relief. 

It definitely made the kids' day to have a police officer give them a ticket. What a fun idea! Next play date: ice cream!

Ellm's Family Farm

Upstate New York is the only place I have lived that has multiple farms that put on a slew of activities for families each fall. We have been visiting Ellm's Family Farm since MiniM.E. was little, but as our family grew and the season pass wasn't such a good option with all the other activities we have on fall weekends, we have been visiting less and less. Last year we didn't even make it.

Thanks to our awesome realtor, Christine Marchisiello having a client appreciation day, we were able to visit for FREE today!

Ellm's has really been working hard to improve their farm, layout and number of activities since we visited last. It was AMAZING. 

The kids definitely could have stayed all day. We went from activity to activity and they just kept asking for more. We had a break mid-day and thanks to the appreciation event had BBQ lunch while the kids painted pumpkins and ate cider donuts. 

Thankful we had an opportunity to play at Ellm's this fall. 

Natural Stone Bridge and Caves

A couple years ago we took a field trip, just a couple moms, me and the kids, to Natural Stone Bridge and Caves.  I've been wanting to take the kids back for a while, but with a baby and a two year old who makes it his mission to find dangerous things to do at places without cliff drop offs, moderately fenced wooden bridges, and sinkholes, I needed another pair of hands. 

We teamed up with one of the other families we went with and brought the husbands along for reinforcement. The big kids had a much more exciting time exploring this year, so even though the stamp scavenger hunt was no longer active, there was plenty to look for to keep this crew busy: mushrooms, sticks, bugs, and a tiny frog! My stuntman lasted only a few minutes on foot with his little legs and it being so close to naptime. It was a huge relief when Daddy wore him in the backpack so I didn't have to worry about him. It couldn't have been a more beautiful day for the short hike and we had such a great time we ended up staying most of the day! 

The boys must have felt left out since they were both backpack-bound most of the day, so they had their own excitement when we got home.

Our Second Week of School

School happened this week. No one was very excited, but we are getting in the groove and getting a lot done. 

MiniM.E. had her first dance class Wednesday. 

Poor LittleL.G. had a sick day Thursday/

But things started shaping up for the end of the week, and even though we weren't all 100%, we enjoyed spending some time outside with some walks, a "ball pit" a trip to the Dairy Haus and ending the week Sunday with an afternoon at Moreau Lake.

First Day of Dance

This week will be our second week of school but our first week of school with after school activities.

First up for Monday: LittleL.G.'s first day of dance at the Dance Lab.

She was nervous, but knowing one of her friends was dancing too made it much better!

Last year she was at the community center, perfect for her because it was low stress, low expectations, super cuddly and friendly, and lots of fun. Perfect for us because the other kids could play in the gym.

After seeing MiniM.E.'s recital last year, she was hooked on costumes and decided she wanted to dance at the dance lab too!

Day one was a huge success! No tears, no hesitation, and she said she loved it!

Nature Fest

It was a cool rainy morning, very Autumn-esqe. A perfect morning to visit NatureFest at Moreau Lake. We saw some owls, watched a fish fillet demonstration, made rope, and MiniM.E. was the most patient to get her face painted by a lovely yet inexperienced high schooler who worked so hard and took a very long time.

The best part was the horse drawn wagon ride. Three families got on before us and didn't realize ours was a family of six, seeing Daddy and the girls and not me with the boys, and offered us to hop on too so we wouldn't have to wait. That was one crowded wagon!

Also in today's news: back to school haircuts: