Apple picking. . . sort of.

We headed North to Ellijay, Georgia. Hillcrest Farms was a fun place to visit with our friends, the Smiths and Pagets. We went to pick some apples but missed the picking season by a week. No worries though, there was plenty to do without picking the apples. We enjoyed a fun horse race at the beginning of our day. Well, at least those who were watching enjoyed. Willie and our friend Joe were picked to participate. They were good sports about being involved in the horse race. The video below explains. Willie's horse won. In last place was Joe, but his horse followed the rules and did everything he was suppose to.

Hillcrest Farms had a small petting farm. Parker loved it. He was first introduced to baby chicks. He wanted to grab their heads, so we just moved on to the bigger animals. I loved the little chicks, it was a cold day and they would snuggle up to each other. We saw goats, chickens, a calf, bunnies, and some sheep. Recently we ask Parker 'what does a sheep say?' He will reply 'ba'. Then he gets excited because we get excited. Parker loved chasing the chickens and petting the goats. One of the little girls didn't like when her hair was being chewed up by a friendly goat. As good parents we all just laughed at how funny it was.

Though our day was full of fun events, Parker had the best time while on the tractors. He really loves to get behind a wheel. Throughout the day we would make our way back to the tractors so he could have another go at driving. This boy really can spend hours playing with a steering wheel.


The last of our activities were taking the kids down a 50' slide (I think that was the length). Parker didn't like the first ride down, but he went down a couple more times and enjoyed himself. Then he went on a much smaller slide and did really well. The little guy was getting very sleepy by this point, but we still had to get some apples. We went inside the store and picked one of every kind of apple they were selling. Who knew how delicious they would all be. We enjoyed experiencing all the different tastes and textures found in the apples.

Berry Patch Farms

Parker and I went to Berry Patch Farms. A place not to far from home. We went with our pals, the Merkleys and Salmons. Our spouses were not invited. . . just kidding, they had to work. It was a chilly day but I think the kids had a good time. To get to the pumpkin patch we took a hay ride driven by a cool tractor. Upon drop off the kids were able to pick up some small pumpkins then we worked our way up a small hill to the bigger pumpkins. After spending a lot of time with the pumpkins we took the hay ride back to the beginning and visited with some penned up farm animals. The biggest hit with the kids though was a fun old red tractor. All the kids were fighting over the driver seat. Parker was devastated when I pulled him away to go home. We didn't buy a big pumpkin but Parker took home one of the sweet little ones for a pricey $1. Berry Patch Farms was a fun place to visit.

Fall Break

Georgia Tech had fall break on Monday and Tuesday. Willie and I were able to take advantage of one of the days and head for Stone Mountain Park. After a rough night with Parker teething we woke up ready for a relaxing day as a family. We love to have days where we don't have too many cares and we just want to spend time together. Stone Mountain was fun even when our plans changed a bit. We had planned to visit the back part of the park because we had never been there, but after being pulled over by the police we found that the whole back portion was closed for repaving the roads. (We missed the sign). Once we decided to take a walk that would lead us to the lake everything was great. We ate lunch on the grass in front of the carving of the confederate men on the mountain. Parker played with rocks and on occasion kept one for sucking on. I guess we don't give him enough to eat. We found a cool water wheel and small waterfall that Parker loved. We spent a lot of time playing in the water. After our walk back to the car we were a bit tired, but very grateful for a beautiful day.

Wicked!!

Willie and I were able to go on another date. We have been wanting to see 'Wicked' for a long time. Last year Willie purchased the cd and we have loved the music from this play ever since we were introduced to it. We weren't able to take pictures inside the Fox Theatre, but that didn't stop me from taking video. :) The three hour play was awesome and we loved every minute of it. I only thought about Parker once. I usually have a hard time leaving him when Willie and I go somewhere.
For those of you who don't know, the play 'Wicked' is about the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda to Good from the 'Wizard of Oz'. It's the story of how the two knew each other and what life was like before Dorthy came along. I recommend that if you get the opportunity you should go see it.

The Fox Theatre in Atlanta was really cool. It had sort of an Egyptian theme to it, but then it also felt like you were getting ready to watch Aladdin. The ceiling was blue like the night sky and it had stars to light it up a little. We were excited to experience such a great play in the Fox Theatre.

Dancing Through Life.

As many of us know little kids just love to dance. We have too many videos of Parker dancing and we have finally decided to share a few of our favorites with you.

Ultrasound

Here is an ultrasound introduction to baby #2. Parker enjoyed watching his little brother on the tv. We took a little video of Parker watching because it makes it more fun.

Little Helping Hands

Parker has been helping around the house a lot recently. When we first moved in to our new place he would help me push boxes around. He now helps to move the laundry basket over to the washer and dryer. He has been so helpful in allowing me to fill up his bottle with milk. I give him the lid to the milk and then when I'm done pouring he will put the lid back on and put the milk in the fridge. He does great when there is less than half a gallon. We haven't filmed him putting his diaper in the diaper champ but once he has been changed he knows right where to put the diaper (we need to make sure it actually goes in the champ). Parker loves to help sweep up the floor too. If there is music he will even do a little dance for you. More to come on Parkers dance moves! We are working on getting him to stay on the ground while we vacuum. The vacuum can be a scary thing every now and again. Parker has been learning to brush his own teeth. After we brush his teeth he will take the toothbrush and suck on it and even brush most places other than his teeth. He loves the taste of the Thomas the Train toothpaste. We have also introduced utensils to our little dude. It sure helps out when Parker can remain a little more clean during meal time. He really likes to use the fork and always likes to have it in his hand even if he doesn't use it much.

Parker was really helpful on night when he went to bed an hour early. We weren't quite ready for him to be going to bed, let's just say we were a bit surprised during dinner.