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I absolutely love the newest addition to our family. We got it for a steal! Craigs list was good to us after about a month + of searching. We bought this beauty for $200. It comes with six chairs and has a butterfly leaf! When we got it home I was so excited. We can now fit four people comfortably at our table, with the food on it too. Our little old table now serves us elsewhere (a study table). I know some people may wait for many years to have a decent table. Willie and I waited for over 3 1/2 years. This matches the hand-me-down furniture we have in our apartment. So we don't have to upgrade that stuff for awhile. Yeah for our new table!!!
Halloween has come and gone. We didn't do much but we made sure we took pictures of Parker in his cool costume. First off the costume was craftily done by one of our friends last year for her little boy. The homemade dinosaur fit Parker perfectly and he didn't complain about having the hood on (most of the time). We picked a pumpkin out one night and tried to carve it. Unfortunately it was so thick that all we could do was cut open the top, clean it out and scratch the surface of the pumpkin so it looked carved. We never did get to light it up, the carving tools wouldn't even make a dent. Next year we will do better about picking out a pumpkin. We took Parker trick-or-treating to the ward trunk-or-treat. He had a good time roaming around in the parking lot. On Halloween we visited with a few friends and played some games. Not too bad for Parkers second Halloween.
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.
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.
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.
