Aldor Acres 2015

Today we went to aldor acres with Miriam's preschool class. She goes to the same preschool as Georgina but is in a younger class on opposite days of Georgina. 

Aldor Acres is a local pumpkin patch and petting zoo. I wrote about it two years ago when we were there last. Miriam got a lot more out of it this time. 

This is Zeus. He is a bull. He is a giant. And Miriam has no fear. She just walked right up to him and made him her friend. 

I don't know this bull's name but he shares a pen with Zeus and is cool if you sit on him so the girls did. 

Georgina declared herself a bull rider while sitting on this guy. 

Then we went into the barn where the children are encouraged to climb in and hold and pet all the animals. There were baby bunnies, baby chickens, a baby cow, guinee pigs, donkeys, alpacas, and baby pigs!

This kitty cat is so gentle and patient and the girls gave her treats so she loved them and let them hold her and pet her and she fell asleep beside Georgina and no cat has ever done that for them before. The girls were so taken with her you'd think they'd never seen a cat before. She's also a third the size of either of our cats so I guess she was quite novel. 

We then went on a tractor pulled hay ride out to the pumpkin patch. Each girl was allowed to pick out whatever pumpkin they like as long as they could pick it up and carry it all by themselves.

So they chose small. 

After the hay ride the class trip was over but we were allowed to stay. So we bought some feed and went to see the goats. Those goats are aggressive when they see small children with bags of food. Aggressive but friendly.  

After feeding the goats we walked around and looked at the chickens and sheep. The chickens aren't cooped up in the day time and the girls had fun chasing them. 

We stopped to say hi to this cow/steer/who knows. It has a HUGE hump on its back and was quite friendly.  

Then the girls wanted to go back into the barn with the cat and bunnies and they climbed up, danced on, and ran around on these hay bales. For two hours. There was music playing in the barn so they were quite entertained. 

We then went on another hay ride and I bought four more pumpkins and then the girls pet and fed a 4 year old giant Turkey named Cecille and at that point we'd been there 6 hours and my phone was dead so we bought some jam and left. 

Tomorrow we have Georgina's class trip to an apple orchard. Oof. 

Miriam, you're doing it wrong

*** oh my god. I wrote this so long ago and never published it! So long, in fact, I refer to Miriam as 1 year old and none of this is still true! whoops! well enjoy. I don't think the story has a shelf life. Should still be good, if not a bit stale ***

Miriam is so so so brilliant. She's clever; does very well communicating her wants and needs; easy to understand; patient about her limitations. She's seriously an exceptional child (says the mother) and I hope everyone reading this can be lucky enough to interact with her beautiful personality. 

But. But. She's still a one year old and doesn't quite grasp why or how we do the things she sees us doing. And so she's often doing them wrong. 

Here's a list of examples I've compiled, addressed to Miriam. 

Miriam, my love, You're Doing It Wrong

Using an umbrella: Get under the umbrella. Under. 

Trying to climb over the back of the couch: You feel you need to start from a lie down position on the seat cushions and climb your toes up first. Entertaining and painful to watch. And slow. So slow. 

Using binoculars: No. No. Just no. Backwards and pointed into the couch with your eyes sealed shut.

Sleeping: anywhere but here my dear

Playing with the dollhouse: No it's not your house. 

Giving baby a hug: Looks like choking. Probably feels like it too. 

Eating pizza: starts from the mid point, upside down.

Applying lip balm: you missed your lips but got your eyeballs. Impressive.

Saying Cheese

Washing your hands

Eating yogurt: that's Princess Amber, upside down, serving as your spoon. 

*the post ends here like this. I'm going to leave it as is. I'm sure I was waiting for Miriam to screw up some other simple task and provide more content for the post. And while I'm sure she did do that, I completely forgot what I was doing and here we are. xo

Miriam the Cat Whisperer

Deo hates children. I'm not exactly sure why since he's bigger than all of them and could definitely take them. It probably has something to do with the physical exertion required to fight them off or run away. 

But today there was a huge breakthrough. He and Miriam had a moment! Became friends even. 

They walked off together with a silent, new understanding between them. 

Awwwwwwwww ❤️

Say Cheeeeeese

I was trying to snap a photo of G and was asking her to say cheese. Miriam walked into the shot saying cheese over and over again. Behold: Chubby cheeks in all their glory!

Also, Georgina's really giving off an Ace Ventura vibe with this outfit 

For your reference:

Hansel and Gretel

You know the story where a witch builds a house out of candy to lure children in so she can eat them? Well something similar but way less sinister is happening over at my in-laws. 

It started with a swing set. Pretty basic stuff. But the kids went nuts over it and hours turned to days spent on that. 

Then they bought a water table (a table you fill with water that the children can splash around in without getting wet, Morgan). Nothing too extraordinary but its irresistible to little ones. 

My beautiful niece, Breanne, playing so sweetly with Miriam. 

It isn't just the toys though. Like the witch in Hansel and Gretel, they use candy to lure the children in. Georgina even calls Jan Chocolate Grandma. Actually. 

Are those gummy bears ontop of each sandwich? you ask. Yes. Yes they are. 

They really stepped up their game when they bought the cottage playhouse. Jan says, "Costco can see us grandparents coming a mile away". No kidding. 

Rocks for a floor making all of Miriam's dreams come true. 

But then the real game changer happened this summer. They took it to a whole new level.

The unsuspecting children wandered right into the trap...

Bah-bah-BAH!!! A pool?!?! AH-mazing. 

And it comes filled with cousins!

Georgina wasn't too thrilled with actually getting in the water at first 

But with some awesome hands-on encouragement she soon become a little fish. 

Look at them so proud of themselves; a plan come together. They certainly know what they're doing. On second thought, it's more like A Field Of Dreams. If you build it, they will come. 

Careful, Jan and Bryan, anything more and you'll have to accept that your grandchildren will become permanent residents. 

Or your children for that matter.

We love you. I am one lucky daughter-in-law with even luckier children. xoxo