Thanks for the Fun Day Picking Apples!

As the bags were full and the trip was ending...there was a little girl that was ready for the long ride back to take a nap. She was getting tired but maintained very well. Before we left...Papaw took us on some secluded high hills were we did a little four wheeling in the Tahoe. Everytime we would complete a big hill, Emily would yell.."Do it again Papaw". They had a blast riding the hills along with picking apples. Just for the record..Emily was only not in the carseat during the hill rides! She took close to an hour nap on the way home!!!

Thanks for our special day...we look forward to going already next year!!

Sniffing, Eating, Sharing, & More Eating....

Everytime we went to a new area...Emily found it her tradition to try the apples to see if she would like this kind. I don't think she found one she didn't like. She was cracking us up sniffing them before tasting. She usually wanted me to start the apple because she couldn't bite thru the skin.

So...this is how it went: Emily sniff, Mommy bite, Emily bite & lick, lick, bite and then throw down, and start picking!

Picking Apples......

Emily didn't want much help. She jumped right in to picking apples with the other kids. She was going into the the trees to get some down low, tried to pick off the ground, and sitting down at her leisure. She even carried her own bag(until it was real full) and keep up with it. Dallas climbed a few trees to get "good" apples. After Emily watched him do that....she wanted Mamaw to hold her up to get "good" apples too!

Anderson Orchard Apple Festival & Craft Fair

Mamaw & Papaw invited us to go on their Annual Anderson Orchard trip. They have been taking my sister Shannon's kids and used to take my brother Jason's boys (now they are older and aren't really interested) for a couple of years now. Actually..Emily was invited to go by herself with them...but I wanted to enjoy watching her pick apples for the first time too. They usually go on the same weekend that the apple festival and craft fair is going on.......

When we arrived everyone was ready for lunch. The drive from Carmel to Greenfield ( to pick up Makenzie & Dallas) and then to Morresville to the orchard was a little bit of a road trip. It was a beautiful day..so no complaints except hungry kids!

Along with lunch, Emily and I shared an elephant ear. No surprise to me that she liked it! It is a bread product! We hurried up the lunch because the bees were extremely bad up around the food area and picnic tables and Makenzie was already stung getting out of the car.

They had an area set-up for buying pumpkins and mums that were beautiful...but we reminded the kids that we were here for apples. LOL Pumpkins later when we take our family pumpkin patch train ride together and all of the parents are with us!

White River Gardens - Autumn Harvest

After all the fun that the Zoo had to offer we were approaching 3:OO and Emily was definately ready for a nap. We couldn't resist a small peek at The White River Gardens-Autumn Harvest. It was beautiful and we got a few good pics but then it was time to get on the road.......I have to admit, I have never seen the Butterfly Gardens and was really bummed it was over. I thought it lasted thru the month. Oh well maybe next year!

We put her in the car with her ice water and new penguin and she lasted all but maybe 3 minutes...we weren't even out of the Zoo parking lot yet!! What a fun day for her! We can't wait for Zoo Boo.....

Other Animals that we photographed

Here are a few other pics that I took of the animals that we had seen. The lions and tigers were not on exhibit today. We watched the polar bear sun bathe, the walrus show off, the elephants drinking, the meercats playing, the penguins swimming, the baboons were attending to their new baby, the rhinos were sleeping, and many others just strolling around.

I am planning on making Emily her own picture book of her Zoo Day...........

We Finally Got to go to the Zoo Today!!

Emily and I have been waiting all Summer to go to the Zoo. We really wanted Daddy to be a part of it but he hates going on the weekends. So finally......we were able to get a day thru the week when we were both available to go. I have to say it was a BEAUTIFUL day for it.

You can tell a huge difference in Emily's age this year with her recognition of the animals. She feed the giraffes (several times getting back in line..I bet she spent $6.00 feeding them), liked watching "US" pet the sharks, watched the dolphin show, helped Daddy feed the lorikeets, and even rode the carousel, and cooled off in the sprinkler area after lunch. Her favorite thing was watching the penguins. We had to go back to see them on the way out and visit the gift shop and buy one to take home. It's funny because the penguins were always Matthew's favorite at the Zoo when he was little. Go Figure!

She got many compliments on her giraffe print outfit from Baby Gap, but if you can tell in the one pic of her and Mike..the giraffes look like they want to either eat them or they think she is their baby. LOL