Abby's 1st Field Trip!

On October 17th Abby had her very first field trip! All of her school friends got on a bus and went to Gaver Farms to play and pick pumpkins.

Abby was a pro on the bus after the National Apple Harvest Festival the previous weekend.

Kera was very sad that she didn't get to go on the bus with Abby but, due to Kera's age, we had to drive separate. Due to the rules there is no one under the age of 2 was allowed on the bus. Abby's teacher told us that there was room on the bus if we wanted to sneak on and hitch a ride but, Abby was VERY adamant that she wanted to ride the bus on her own.

The first thing that the kiddos did was when they got to the farm was to hop on a hay ride to go out to the pumpkin patch.

Abby found her perfect pumpkin.

We also pick out a pumpkin for Kera.

After the pumpkin patch it was time to see some animals. They had goats, bunnies, chickens, turkeys, peacocks, cows, an alpaca, and donkeys. The girls loved them all. Abby especially liked feeding the goats.

This farm was fantastic! Not only was this farm in a beautiful location with a great pumpkin patch it also had a lot of other great activities for the kids like corn and hay mazes, games, hay to play in, slides, and much more.

Abby with her 2 friends Grace and Maddie.

After a sack lunch it was time for the bounce pillow. This was a blast for the girls and we spent the rest of our time bouncing!

I hopped on it for a while too.

I asked Abby if she wanted to drive back home with Kera and I in the car but, no, she wanted to ride back on the bus. I don't blame her, she was having so much fun!

What a great outing!

We will have to come back to this farm in December. Not only is Gaver Farm a pumpkin patch but,  they also have a u-cut Christmas tree lot!

National Apple Harvest Festival

On Sunday, October 14th we headed to the National Apple Harvest Festival with 2 other families from Jim's work. The National Apple Harvest Festival is near Gettysburg, PA, about an hour and a half a way...we are no strangers to driving lately.

This apple festival HUGE! The festival is only open for 2 weekends and they were expecting  over 300,000 people. When we got to the festival we parked in a big field and then had to take a school bus to the actual festival. Needless to say, the girls were VERY excited about the school bus!

Even with the crowds we enjoyed walking around, trying different foods, and hunting down apples, apple cider and apple butter.

Abby and Kera's favorite part of the day was playing in the hay with 2 of their new friends Aaron and Noah.

We have spent time with Aaron and Noah on one other occasion and, as you can see from this next picture, Kera REALLY likes Noah...

When we are together Kera is always following Noah around and looking for him if he is not nearby. Thank you Noah for being so kind to our little Kera.

Abby and Kera also got to bring home a couple new friends...

We were all a bit tired after this outing!

Kera Watches a Movie?!?

Kera is not a girl who likes to watch TV or movies. At the most she would sit and watch something is for about 10 min. I like that she doesn't watch much TV but, to be honest, sometimes it is nice to turn on a show for the girls when I need to get something done or, turn on a movie at the end of the day to wind down. Abby has always loved watching movies, any movie. Maybe we just never found a show or movie that kept Kera's attention, until now. On Friday, October 12th Kera sat through an entire movie!

What movie kept Kera's attention? Was it some Disney princess classic? No.

It was Monster House! Odd choice for your first movie but, Jim was hopeful that he would soon have two little girls to watch all of his Halloween movies with.

Ohiopyle

Columbus Day weekend (Oct. 6th-9th) we were back on the road heading to a cabin near Ohiopyle, PA. While we are living in the east we want to experience as much of Fall season as possible and what better way to do that than renting a cabin in the Laurel Highlands. The weather forecast was not in our favor but away we went.

Saturday when we got there it was an absolutely beautiful day. So, before we checked into our cabin we went into Ohiopyle to walk along the Great Allegheny Passage. The Great Allegheny Passage is a 141 mile trail that runs between Cumberland, MD and Homestead, PA.

The cabin was cozy but it was perfect for us with one main room, a small kitchen, a bathroom, and a wood burning fireplace.

Chewy REALLY loved being outside and smelling all the great highland smells...

...and the girls liked all the great leaves.

Saturday night we all settled into our cabin, lit a fire, and watched Halloween movies. For the girls the movie selection was Halloween Town and for the adults Phantasm.

On Sunday morning we all headed back to Ohiopyle to the Great Allegheny Passage but, this time, we had our bikes. It was a beautiful and relaxing 11 mile bike ride along the river.

After the bike ride we had a picnic by the river.

 

Sunday afternoon we tried to check out a small town Autumn festival but it started to rain on us and it was quite cold so we headed out to dinner instead. The short time we were at the festival was highly entertaining. There is GREAT people watching in small town America!

Sunday night equaled SMORES...and more Halloween movies...

Monday was a bit rainy out but we still ventured out for a small hike in the woods.

After our hike, we headed to a place I have always wanted to see, Frank Lloyd Rights' Falling Water. Due to the age of the girls we were not allowed in the house but we were able to walk the beautiful grounds.

Monday afternoon was quite raining but it did let up enough for us to venture out on another hike. I am sad I don't have any pictures from this hike, it was beautiful. Plus, it was also a battle site in the French-Indian war...George Washington was there!

We headed home on Tuesday but before we got on the road we had to visit the Great Allegheny Passage one more time.

On the weekend we went only 40% of the leaves had changed color, I can't even imagine the beauty of the area if it was at 90-100%.

 Even though we had to deal with some rainy weather it was a fantastic Fall weekend adventure!

Star Spangled Banner!

Ever since the Olympics Abby has been singing the Star Spangled Banner, she has gotten really good! On September 21st I was able to catch this rendition...

Ocean City

On Thursday, September 27th we headed to Ocean City for a long weekend. Our friends Andy and Tracy have a condo there so we were lucky enough to stay at their place...right on the beach. Here is a view from their deck...

It was off season in Ocean City which means less crowds but the weather was still beautiful! The mornings and evenings had a chill in the air but that didn't stop us from having a lot of fun!

Here are some picture highlights from our time on the beach and as you will see Abby is completely over her fear...

Kera running in the sand.

Abby trying not to get too wet.

A lot of sand toys! thanks to Andy and Tracy's stock pile.

Happy girls!

I always loved digging sand holes!

Kera LOVES chasing the birds!

Another great thing about Ocean City is their boardwalk. The girls could not wait to go and ride some rides and have ice cream.

The funny thing was that Kera was a bit afraid of the rides this time around. When she saw the carousel she was VERY excited but when it came to getting on it she was tentative. While Kera was selective on the rides she went on Abby wanted to try everything!

Abby's first roller coaster!

Mint chocolate for all!

We had a fantastic time and actually I think it was our best family vacation to date!