This weekend I couldn’t take the icky, mucky, no fun to play outside, weather any more. It has been cold without good snow (I’m all for sledding and building snow forts), leaving our backyard a slushy, muddy mess not suitable for any real play. When the sun decided to come out from behind the clouds, I had to get outside. So we bundled up and headed to the farm. The wind was pretty fierce but we could duck into the barn, chicken coop, etc when we needed to warm up. AND I got to see when the Sugar Shack was planning to open. Just a couple more weeks… 🙂
There was a litter of 1month old piglets that Pixie fell in love with.
Fairy worked out on the pulley demonstration lifting 20lbs again and again.
And Bug was enamored with Jazzie the Bunny.
The highlight… Mr. Rooster. I think he felt as cooped up (ha) as we did. He was strutting around making as much noise as he could. Every time he squawked, it startled the kids but they laughed and laughed. He was very entertaining.
At the farm the other day we got to meet Millie who was just 1 day old. So cute.
The kids also got to test out the kids’ field maze, which had been recently shaped. The kids’ maze is really just one long loop but they have fun running around in it. After the third time around I camped out by the entrance and just time how long it took them to get through it. I think Bug must have run the course at least 6 more times.
On our way out we ran across a fence covered in box elder bugs. There were thousands of them sunning themselves on all of the posts. The kids were fascinated.
Guess what? The Cider Mill is up and running. Woot! We haven’t had our first frost, which of course improves the cider a ton, but hot donuts and fresh cider are always a treat. AND our favorite mill in the area redid some of their playground equipment this year. The kids love the new additions including two huge tube slides and a corn box.
PS… check out Fairy’s new skirt. I was going through the corduroy scrap box working on some doll clothes for Christmas gifts when I came across this lovely rose piece that screamed Fairy. It was just big enough, with a ruffle added, to make a romantic fall skirt. It was a quick twenty minute project before we headed of to the mill… of course the dolls are still in need of new clothes… must not get distracted.
The second leg of our recent trip was to the beautiful Green Mountains of Vermont. We joined my Dad and Susan in Smuggs… a place we have been going to since 85. This was my first year back with kids in tow and it was just as amazing being on the other side of it. The kids all loved day camp and Todd and I were able to get out and do some non-kid activities… like a round of golf and a geo-cashing hike.
Warning – this is going to be a photo heavy post.
Crossing a covered bridge on our walk to dinner.
The kids making the hike up the ski trail to our condo. By the end of the week Pixie refused to go anywhere not on shoulders or in a carrier (it has been at least 6mo since she would allow that)… lol.
Todd on our geo-cashing hike in the rain.
The kids playing in the creek that runs through the village.
Even on the days it was in the 60s, we could not keep the kids out of the pools and off the water slides. Frankly since the water was in the 80s… it was the warmest place to be… until you needed to get out and get to your towel. We had a few nice, warm, sunny days in there.
The kids loved camp… even the Pixie girl who went a couple days. Here are the older two heading to camp the first day and then in a silly parade.
Pixie got some individual time with us. Here she is playing golf with Daddy.
There was a new indoor Fun House that was great for the rainy evenings. Fairy got pretty good at the rock wall and Bug was big enough (sadly – there were tears – Fairy was not) to go on the super slide.
This is how everyone looked that final day after camp. All tuckered out.
We were on the road for a couple weeks… starting in Philly for my hubby’s cousin’s wedding. We went several days early so the kids could hang out with their cousins and we could check some of the fun things to do in Philly. Unfortunately I’m still having issues with my camera… I really need to have it looked at but who can live without their camera while waiting for service? So none of the wedding shots turned out since my flash is basically unusable.
The thing that we had to do while we were there as predicated by Bug… check out Dinosaur Hall at the Academy of Natural Science. I’m sure no one could have guessed that one… lol.
Although this was not a Liopleurodon (my kids’ favorite… do all kids have a favorite prehistoric sea reptile?) but some other prehistoric sea monster it was really cool to see one up close.
The kids got a chance to dig for dinosaur bone with a small chisel. It would have taken them years to actually get one of those bone out of the waxy composite in the display.
The ANS also had an awesome gecko exhibit. They are such cool little critters.
Then we made our way over to The Franklin Institute for some hand’s on science. Here is Daddy helping the kids operate a large mechanical arm.
They had several very large mechanical art installations.
Bug sitting in the cockpit of an airplane.
We snuck in a trip to a Dairy Farm.
The rest of our time was spent at the pool and parks with the cousins.
And of course there was the wedding. Fairy girl joined the ladies to get her nails done.
Hmm… no the photo below was not me trying to be artsy… I was just desperate to get something from the wedding on film (err in pixels). That blur in the front is Fairy girl dancing. My kids couldn’t wait to hit the dance floor… Bug was literally twitching in his seat to get out there and I had to coax them back at some point to eat a few bites of dinner.
It is more than a little disconcerting to turn the corner at the zoo and come face to face with this…
I couldn’t help but think of Jurassic Park movies and wonder… in whose world does this seem like a good idea?! Well, Bug thought it was totally cool and basically wanted to pet all the dinosaurs. The girls preferred to stay in the safety of the wagon.
The girls enjoyed digging for bones. And they all enjoyed getting a chance to use the remote controlled dinosaur… which of course Bug now wants.
There were a couple stations set up too with additional items of interest. And while listening to Bug interact with one of the guides my husband and I were given a clear example of why standard testing is a far from a reliable means of judging a child’s understanding of a topic. Bug got every dinosaur question she answer correct and filled in with probably more info than she knew (seriously that kid knows more about dinosaurs than I do) but when she tried to get him to compare the Omeisaurus that was set up behind us with a long necked animal that could be found in the zoo today he couldn’t come up with the word giraffe (to be fair he actually had never seen a giraffe before – this is our first year with a zoo pass and we had only done indoor exhibits previously). He did list several other sauropods… heck dinosaurs were in the zoo today, weren’t they. She final fed him the answer and he still looked confused. The context didn’t make sense to him at all. My hubby declared as we headed on that the boy was going to see a giraffe today!
Standing in front of the giraffes Daddy tried to make the connection for Bug with what the lady had been asking in the Dino exhibit. Bug stared at him with his pensive look, the one in which we can actually see the wheels in his head turning. Finally, it clicked and the recognition was there on his face followed by annoyance. "Oh… you meant a MAMMAL long neck." Like, well duh. Why didn’t you just ask the right question? In the Zoo was hardly a usable connection for him… Mammal, Africa, heck a cast member in Madagascar would have given him a true reference point.
We went to one of the nearby historic villages last weekend. When I was a kid we went all the time and now my kids request going all the time too. Their favorites… riding the train, the round house and the trades area.
Bug would watch the glass blowing all day… even when it is 200 degrees in there (ok, I’m sure that is an exaggeration but it pretty much feels that way and it was only 70 outside. Last time we went it was 85 outside and I think I lost 5lbs just standing in there).
Fairy Girl… has gift for getting free stuff. I’m not kidding, whenever she runs weekend errands with Daddy, she comes home with free stuff. I don’t know how she does it but she scored us all some free brand new tin cookie cutters while chatting with the lady doing the demo in the tin shop. Normally all the stuff the trade folk make ends up in the gift shop. We will be making cookies one day this week to try them out ;).
And of course everyone loves riding the 100 year old carousel.
We went to a Spring Festival a couple weeks ago and got to watch some Sheep get their summer cuts. The kids always enjoy watching this. Bug stood up at the end and explained to the crowd how they then need to clean the wool and then spin it into yarn to make sweaters. I didn’t take my camera but luckily my new cell phone has a camera. I couldn’t figure it out… but my hubby finally figured out how to get the photos off of my new cell phone. I was pretty impressed with the photos considering.
At the beginning of the week we went on a Field Trip to the zoo with Daddy, Liz and Kyle. The amphibians and reptiles were by far the biggest hits… although this may be due mostly to the fact that their buildings were so nice and toasty warm. It was maybe 40 degrees out, misty and very, very windy. We spent the majority of our time in the reptile house watching the nesting crocodiles which was cool… although that building is the creepiest place in the world if you ask me. I am not a fan of snakes due in a large part I assume to a traumatic experience I had at Bush Gardens when I was about 3yr… some silly zoo keeper put a giant snake on my shoulder after I told him I didn’t want to touch it and then got mad when I threw it to the ground… UGG! Anyway, we had a fun time and will be going back soon to appreciate some of the outdoor inhabitants.
I’m not going to kid myself into thinking that Spring is here. I am fully aware that we still have a full month or two of winter left… BUT we are coming out of the bitter cold and we have had proof that there still is a Sun! If nothing else, this past weekend was rejuvenating in its teasing sense of Spring. What struck me most were the sounds!
Little joys of the day…
We spent over two hours at our favorite farm were there was an adorable litter of 5 day old piglets. What a noise they made at feeding time.
The sky was filled with birds. Swooping, diving and chattering up a storm. It must have felt nice to stretch their wings.
There was a constant sound of running water. The streams were vigorously flowing… icicles dripping. And who could resist the splash of jumping in all those puddles… oh so tempting.
Gone was the squeak of stepping on super cold snow, replaced instead with a satisfying crunch. We trudged through the 2 foot deep mounds without feeling cold just in our fleece coats and stocking caps. It was the perfect wet snow for packing to make snow forts and for throwing snow balls that landed in a thudding splat.
Once inside, hot chocolate was served by Gammy in English Garden tea cups that made such a delightful clinking sound.
