Visit with Friends

The week before Thanksgiving, our good friends from Maine came to visit. They had already had quite the trip~ loading up their kids in the car at O dark thirty, then telling them several hours later of their final destination: FLORIDA and Disney World, among many other places in Orlando). (This of course reminded me of the fun we always had as kids when uncle Bill drove the  car, "Alright, kids, who wants to go to Disney Land??!")  They made time in their trip to visit us on the way back up for a little while, and we had quite a nice time!

We had quite a wonderful time, though I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, I did get a few. There are no Costco's or Ikea's nearby their home, so of course we had to visit both of those places! Kateri and Sebastian really enjoyed every minute of their visit. The house was full of (a LOT of)  life!

Spirits were high as we got in the elevator.

Of course, half of us had to take the elevator . . .

Unlike our usual trips (Stay in the cart! don't let go of my hand! No touching ANYTHING!), Kateri had more freedom. I think it is safe to say she enjoyed it . . .

There was A LOT of dancing. 

Sebastian had quite a lot of fun as well, and (lucky for me!) preferred riding in the cart to walking so that made life exponentially easier.

When at Ikea, it is absolutely essential to try out EVERYTHING.

Another day, went to the Air and Space Museum in Chantilly. It was balmy and warm when we went in, and absolutely freezing when we came out. We even got to see the front come in from the tower!

Sebastian cheesin' with the space shuttle:

The kids enjoyed seeing what the wheel, pedals etc moved on the plane. Sebastian was pretty exuberant and had to be told, NOT SO FAST! NOT SO ROUGH! NOT SO MANY AT ONCE! 

No matter how many times you see it, it is still very impressive to see the shuttle! 

Peter (7) was always eager to be helpful with everything, grabbing kids, carrying strollers down stairs, tying shoelaces, anything! It made our trips a breeze.

Nathan also made some delicious food, such as this fresh pasta. 

Delicious!

That is a lot of pasta! 

We ended up eating it for two nights, and on the second night we had home-made meatballs as well.

This freed me up to cook the pumpkin. 

Don't you love the color of this pumpkin? Apparently, it is a very popular cooking pumpkin in Australia.

It is VERY thick and difficult to cut, and next time I may just invest in an axe. 

Here is the pumpkin after it has been cooked!

I ended up making canless pumpkin pie, as I had no sweetened condensed milk or anything on hand. Forgot to take a picture, but it was very yummy! However, I will say this pumpkin has such a mild flavor, that it really isn't pumpkin-y enough for bread or anything of that sort!

It was such a blessing to see Nathan and Danielle. They left the same day we left for the cabin, and the house was soooooo quiet and felt so empty once they were gone. Hopefully, it will not be so many years before we see them again! 

Lucky to be Kid number Three

When you are the third kid, you are a little princess. 

Everyone brings you toys, and works hard to make sure you are always happy.

You even get to wear super hero capes so you can come and save the day!

Instead of a humdrum twenty minutes in the swing, your big sister will throw you your own jewelry party.

No one, I repeat, no one will have a fraction of the style you have! (or the joy for that matter!)

Your sister will dress you up as Our Blessed Mother, and then shower you with every toy available. 

So many toys, that it is difficult to know what to do with them! Bracelets, stuffed animals, weird super hero toys from McDonalds that Mom hasn't had the chance to throw away yet . . .

And, through it all, you have constant companions whose main goal in life is to make you laugh. 

Constantly loved, cared for, and entertained, you sure sure are lucky to be Kid Number Three!

Culpeper farm

Many weeks ago . . . so many, in fact, that it was the weekend of Halloween, we went to the Culpeper Farm with Pat's parents. It definitely ranked highest of all farms/fall festivals we went to and we will definitely go again! 

Here are a few of the pictures I took . . .

Creepy-eyed emu . . .

Curious donkeys . . .

Kia couldn't take her eyes off of the interesting animals!

That blue tongue!

If ever I was to get a cow, I would want one that looks like this:

Of course, we had to test out the corn maze . . .

Kateri had the best view of us all!

There were many areas for the kids to play, a long zip line, jungle gyms, bull-riding rides, pumpkin shooting, corn bins, rope swing into hay, and many other attractions.

A real saddle swing. Poor Kateri~ I couldn't find a hair tie once we were there!

Sebastian feels so comfortable with horses and donkeys, this little guy was especially sweet. Bashy looks like he was born and raised on a ranch out West!

And he is pretty relaxed whenever he rides a horse~ not bad for a two year old. Unfortunately, he has been asking for a horse for Christmas. Santa can do many things, but even he will be stumped at that request!

This pony was particularly ornery and kept biting the girl leading him.

Kateri loves riding as well, though she isn't quite as relaxed. She is so careful to hold VERY TIGHTLY to the saddle horn!

Sebastian picked out this little pumpkin. He looks so cute and little and manly I could just eat him up in this photo!

The tractor ride to the pumpkin patch was long and winding, passing long horn cattle and horses. There were pumpkins, gourds, and all sorts of things growing in the fields.

Some of our collection . . .

That is the face of an exhausted two year old doing his best to smile for the camera!

Kateri picked two little pumpkins . . .

Kia was good the whole time! Once again, ergo = lifesaver.

All in all, it was a lovely day and we will definitely go back. I highly recommend it for next year!