Sunday, October 13, 2013

More Fall Adventures

When we left the house today, I told the kids we were going on an adventure. Kate loves surprises and adventures, so I told her that she'd have to guess.

Kate: Target?
Me: Nope, too close.
Kate: Brynn's house.
Me:  That would be fun, but no.
Kate: Chicago!!
Me: Um, no.
This was an odd guess, but not out of the blue because a) her teacher is from Chicago and is a huge Bears fan and b) Don is flying to Chicago to buy a car on Friday - more on that later.
Mason: Mickey Mouse!!
Me: No, but that was a good guess, sweetie.

So off we went!  Kate immediately complained of being car sick. She would be car sick on the way to school every day if she got sick that quickly. At any rate, I gave her some Dramamine, which put her to sleep before she could even enjoy her chicken (parts) nuggets. She proved me wrong once before, and I felt pretty bad for her.

First up? The carousel. And she's riding a horse (with a pink mane). It only took close to 5 years for her to prefer a horse over the bench.


Mason's assessment of the first ride? This is fun!



Of course there were the pukey dragons.  Don rode this one, because all that spinning is too much for me.


And in case you were worried that Mason was too cautious to be up for rides this year, have no fear that the boy had no fear. Here he is giggling on the dragons. He wanted to ride everything. Even a roller coaster. I thought it was kinda scary for a kiddie ride, but he loved it. "Let's do it again!"


It's not the fair without the bumble bees.


There were corn dogs. Mmmmm... 


Swings? Yes please. Kate rode this ride three times, Mason 2.






And there were prizes. Our game is the 50 cents color game. You know, the one where you put your 50 cents on a color and then someone throws a ball in the little pit and whatever color it lands on is a winner. It usually takes about $10 to win. Guess what color Kate picked? That's right, pink. And Mason? Like a good little Tiger, he chose orange.  That's one of the 4 colors he knows (orange, blue, pink, and white). All other colors are blue. Once in a while he gets yellow.  We played for quite a while and Kate kept asking me if I would throw the ball in and get her a prize. Of course the odds of this are slim, so I told her I would try. I got the ball, threw it in, and voila! Pink. I know it. I'm an awesome Mom.

She chose this dog. He is full of those styrofoam balls. We used to let Foster destroy styrofoam ball fair animals. I'm guessing that wouldn't go over well now.

Mason played pickup ducks/frogs/boats. He won (because everyone does) and got the spotted blue monkey you see below. He named him? Yellow. 


What a great day we had! We stopped by my parents' house on the way out. Mom washed all of the Fair cooties off of the kids in about 10 minutes, and then we put them in pajamas and were on our way. (Thanks Nan!) Even Pop was home from hunting. The kids loved that treat. And Kate filled him in on her favorite ride: "Pop, there were these swings that you get in and no one has to push you, they just go!"



Tuesday, October 01, 2013

Best Friends and Apple Picking

It's finally starting to feel like fall outside, and that means it's apple season in the upstate.  A couple of weeks ago we were invited to meet Kate's very best buddy, Brynn, at an apple orchard close to the house, and of course we jumped at the chance.


If you haven't been following us at all, Brynn is Kate's bestie from Lexington United Methodist Preschool.  These girls just LOVE each other. As evidenced by them holding hands throughout the day.  When they finally let go of each others hands a while into our visit, their hands were sweaty!


We went on a hay ride. There was no hay, so it was really just a trailer ride, but fun all the same.



At the end of the no-hay ride, they dropped us off in the orchard. I've never been apple picking before. I guess it was exactly what I expected. There were trees and apples.  We picked a bag full. We still have a LOT of apples. I promised Kate we'd make apple fritters. She's beyond excited.

The apples were all up high, so the kids needed help.



Mason was the bag holder.  This became more difficult for him as we picked more apples.


So, what do you do? Eat a few to lighten the load. What can I say? The boy likes to eat. A lot.


The most stylish little apple pickers.


The girls dressed some scarecrows.



And had their picture taken here.


Mason did some mining with Brynn's brother Will.


And enjoyed the tractor.




It was a great day! And now we have a LOT of apples. And a LOT of apple cider. The kids aren't tired of it yet!