Annual trip to Walden Farms

Abbie in the hay maze.

Abbie loved playing in the corn trough!

She's queen of the world!

Our two lovely girls with the big wagon!

Sophie and Abbie loved the big see-saw too!

Mama and Abbie as a farmer and a pumpkin.

This past Friday, was a beautiful day.  (I wish the girls fall break had been a week later.)  We hadn't been able to visit Walden Farms and do all of the fun stuff that we traditionally do each year because it had been too rainy! We were having trouble making everyone's schedules align so the girls and I went after school on Friday but Matt did not make it.  He was attending a conference in Nashville Thursday-Saturday.  We saw some folks we knew, enjoyed the kiddie areas, the animals, Abbie enjoyed the small hay maze though she was getting a little lost in there =), and we had a lot of fun looking around.  They had the big hay maze closed while we were there because it was still muddy so that was too bad.   Abbie's favorite animals were the little pigs!

My big pumpkins in the pumpkin patch!!

Fun with Friends at the Kiddie Park

Sidney, Sophie, Abbie, and Caleb

Uncle Phil and Abbie

Caleb and Abbie holding hands (aww!)

Sophie and Abbie riding in a flying saucer

Abbie and Caleb

One of our few attempts at a family picture!

Sophie & Sidney in October 2011

Sidney and Sophie in March 2006

Our kids got along really really well with the Davies children. It was really cool to see Sophie and Sidney together again because they were both born during the year that we lived in Maryland. We were really good friends with Brett and Stacy Davies during that time. Then we moved away and we had only seen each other once when Sophie and Sidney were less than a year old. They are only about 4 months apart and I told Sophie that Sidney was one of her very first friends. Caleb, their middle child, is only 3 months older than Abbie. They were celebrating his 4th birthday while we were there and they invited us to come along. Stacy and Brett also have an almost 1 year old little boy named Tyler. He is so adorable but boy is he a fast little walker! Our girls loved him! On Saturday night, after going back to Sea World that day, we had dinner with the Davies (except for Ms. Stacy). Sunday morning we went to church with them. That afternoon, the kids played some and then we checked into a hotel.

Later, we met up with the Davies and some of their friends at the Kiddie Park. It is a little amusement park with carnival type rides. This park has been open since the late 1920's and all of the rides are old but charming. Sophie and Sidney loved hanging out together and were the best of friends after our visit to TX. Abbie and Caleb became buddies too and they enjoyed riding some rides together. Caleb had a cute monster cake and after the kids had ridden some rides, the kids got to try to knock down a pinata. It was Abbie's first experience with this and she was pretty hilarious! I forgot to mention that my brother, Phil, decided to come down to San Antonio at the last minute and stay with us for a day or two. He decided to go to a baseball game in Dallas where he saw the Rangers play. Then, on Sunday, he drove over to San Antonio and met up with us. I think that the girls were surprised to see him when he showed up at the Kiddie Park.

Fall Break Trip to Texas

Matt and Abbie feeding the dolphins!

Abbie, Sophie, & Matt by the dolphins.

Mama and Abbie are ready to ride the Shamu roller coaster!

Here we are riding the carousel.

Sophie and Abbie are ready to go!

Last week was Sophie's fall break. They were only out for 2 days but we took Sophie out of school about a day and a half early and flew to San Antonio. It was the girls' first time to visit Texas. For our first day there, we headed to Sea World. We were ready to enter the park when it opened and we headed straight for the dolphins so that we could feed them. Dolphins are Sophie's favorite animal and Matt had found out that if you want to feed them, first thing in the morning is best. You can buy little trays of fish and feed them yourself! It's not cheap to feed them but it is pretty amazing to reach out and pet a dolphin. I did it (though Matt had to handle the fish). Our girls were so excited to see the dolphins but they became kind of timid when they saw the dolphins with their mouths open wide and all of those teeth coming near them. Sophie was a little disappointed that she didn't touch one but after we had bought two trays of fish (which were gone in no time), we decided that maybe she'd have to work up her courage to do it in the future.

We had a wonderful time checking out the rides in the kiddie area, seeing some amazing shows, the girls trick or treated in the park one day, etc. On Friday afternoon, we headed over to the Davies, friends of ours from Maryland who Matt also went to college with, and we hung out with them on Friday night. They were gracious enough to let us stay with them. We didn't want to wear out their hospitality too much so we spent 2 nights with them and went back to a hotel. We went back to Sea World again on Saturday. Abbie's favorite ride was this boat ride which she was barely tall enough to ride. It's a water ride and if you asked Abbie what she wanted to do, she'd say, "the boat ride." She just loved it! It was hard for me to believe because this boat ride had a huge drop at the end.

Walden Farm-part 2

This isn't as clear as I'd like but Abbie has a big grin on her face as she blazes her own path through the corn maze.

Yes, it's staged! I grew up with Shelly (Reeves) Walden who married into the Walden family. Matt wanted to get into the tractor. She told him that he could drive it but we just snapped the picture. Matt actually rode on the pumpkin train though with the kids.

Abbie climbed up hay mountain.

We all had a great time at the farm! The girls both had their faces painted and Sophie did a little sand art necklace.

Walden Farm

Look how tall the girls have gotten!

baby calves

our family

The girls are heading into the corn maze!

The first weekend in October was a wonderful weekend for us! Friday afternoon, we decided to be brave and take both girls to see the movie Dolphin Tale. Abbie had to go to the bathroom no less than 3 times during the movie and she had a hard time being still but the movie itself was good. It was probably a little slow for Abbie but Sophie loved it! Matt and I were able to see Winter, the dolphin, in person almost 4 years ago when we visited Florida. Uncle Phil met us at the movie and then we had pizza with Nana and Paw-paw afterwards.

On Saturday morning, we decided to head to Walden Farm. The girls enjoyed the mazes, had fun riding the pumpkin train, seeing the animals, playing on the playground equipment, etc. It was a little chilly but at least the sun was out. Nana met us at the pumpkin farm. Afterwards, we headed to Martin's BBQ for lunch. That afternoon,we stopped by LifeWay for kids day (Aunt Patti works there), ran a quick errand or two, attempted to rest, and then played outside.

Meeting the Princesses

Sophie & Snow White-can you see the pure joy on Sophie's face?

Abbie's checking out Snow White-she kept calling all of the princesses Snow White or Cinderella since that's who she and Sophie were dressed up as

Jasmine and Sophie

me and the girls with Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)

Breakfast at Cinderella's Royal Table was fabulous. I got the French toast and it was amazing!! The service was great and we all enjoyed meeting the princesses. Sophie got all of them to sign her autograph book. I think she just wished that Ariel had been there too but she's a mermaid! =) Matt felt like Abbie needed to dress up like a princess too so she bought her this Snow White outfit before the trip. That was a sweet thing for a daddy to do! When we asked Sophie what her favorite thing from the trip was, this was definitely one of her favorite things (a lot of times her answer would change because there were so many fun things I guess!).

Zoo trip

Sophie running and jumping in one of the kids' play areas.

Matt and Sophie with an elephant

After a couple of months of being in Nashville, we followed up on our promise to take Sophie to the zoo. Nana was able to go along with us. The weather was great and we had a nice time. There was a big crowd there but it wasn't too bad. We bought an annual pass so we didn't feel pressured to try and see everything. Sophie has always loved seeing giraffes and she also got to see some farm animals. She said that her favorite thing though was the Gibbon monkeys that are really loud and were swinging around up in the trees. Sophie also had a blast in the kids play area.

Zoo Time

We visited the Metro Richmond Zoo while we were in Richmond for Thanksgiving. Sophie loves seeing all the animals. She is getting less and less shy with animals, and she now loves to get close and touch the animals (at least the small animals). Sophie also loved riding the big carousel (twice!) and the little coin-operated carousel. She had a great time, she even skipped her afternoon nap.

Gobble Gobble!!!!!!!

I helped everyone get packed and ready to go for our trip to Richmond.
I made this beautiful Indian headdress in my Parents and Children Together class.

The turkey frying crew of Grandpa, Me, Daddy, and Great-Uncle Gary

Happy Turkey Day!!!
At this time every year, I think of things I am thankful for. Currently, I am thankful for Pepperidge Farms Goldfish, Fisher-Price Little People Farm and Zoo playsets, Little Tikes playground equipment, and the Wiggles and VeggieTales DVDs. I also am thankful for Mommy, Daddy, friends, and family.

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Richmond for Thanksgiving. I am going to get my first taste of deep-fried turkey (Just like the Pilgrims and Indians did at the first T-giving in 1622). It has been cold and rainy here, but hopefully it will warm for us to go shopping tomorrow at the doorbusters' sale at Macy's tomorrow at 5AM.

XOXO Sophie

Happy Fall Y'all

Over the weekend, we visited a local farm that has a corn maze, pumpkin patch, petting zoo, hayride, and more. We had so much fun! Sophie loved seeing all of the animals up close. On the hayride, the cows came right up to us and you could feed them. It was a much cooler day and we had a lot of fun on the farm! In the above picture it looks like Sophie might have a future in politics. What do you think? By the way, one of Sophie's newest tricks is drinking from a straw. We were so proud of her when she mastered this last week and she kept clapping for herself.