Autumn Fun

Greetings everyone!  I had another fun-filled week to tell you about.  Mommy and I tried to take advantage of the final days of our Indian summer by going to another apple orchard.  She tried really hard to get me to stand still and straight by the measuring stick but I wasn't that cooperative.  I'm actually a little over 3 feet tall now! 

 Like all good apple orchards, there were plenty of little cut out things to stick one's head through.

 We went to this place because they let you pick your own apples.  Mommy had just gotten a bunch of apples from a friend, so we really didn't need any.  So Mommy's plan was for me to pick a couple apples, and we would just buy those.  Well, it doesn't work that way. You pre-pay for your bag of apples and then fill it up to get best value.  So now we have a LOT of apples.  Mommy is making plans for all kinds of apple dishes. 

 One of the best things about this place was the duck races. You pump water into the pipes and the duckies swim along to the other side.  There is video of me doing this at the end of the blog.

 Serious duck racing.

 After the duck races, it was time for some more fun at the "play park" (my name for playgrounds) (I "might" call them play parks because Dora does...or it might just be a coincidence). 

 Trip to the apple farm isn't complete without some good tractor riding!

 They have a fun track to ride a tricycle.  Unfortunately my feet weren't quite long enough to pedal very well so Mommy had to help me a bit.  And I'm terrible at steering.  I haven't quite figured that out yet.  Last week at school my teacher told Mommy how good I was on a tricycle.  The trikes at school are a little smaller.

 Mommy came to swimming lessons this week so we got some photos.  They didn't turn out very well.  There is something weird about the lighting there.  This is Maddie, me, and my swimming teacher, MEGAN!  Two Megans and a Maddie!

 This is me patiently waiting for it to be my turn.  The teacher takes us one at at time to practice our strokes.

 This weekend Mommy went away for a night to get together with her high school friends.  I should clarify, she hung out with friends that she went to high school with---Mommy isn't all of a sudden befriending 16 year olds.  Anyway, Daddy was in charge of me for 24 hours.  We had lots of fun.  We went to the pumpkin patch!!

 The pumpkin patch is also an apple orchard and also a place to pick raspberries.  Too cool!!

 I was amazed at ALL the pumpkins.  There is apparently a shortage on the East coast.  Not here! 

 This is me showing off my little pumpkin.  I wanted a lot more pumpkins but Daddy said we could only carry 2.

 So we ended up with these two!

Daddy let me go for a little ride in the pumpkin cart!



 After getting our pumpkins to the car we went raspberry picking!  It was much harder than strawberry picking so Daddy did most of it. 

 After all of my hard work harvesting, it was time for a little fun. I got to go on the Moo Moo Choo Choo train. 

 One last stop before heading home.  No trip to Afton Apple is complete without a photo op in the giant chair.

 After my nap we headed to a fall party with people from church.  I had lots of fun with all of the kids.  I befriended this person and asked him to push me on the swings.  He was nice enough to oblige. 

 All in all, Daddy and I had a great weekend.  I was really excited when I got home from church on Sunday and Mommy was waiting for us! 

What else is new with me?

• Mommy and Daddy got a YMCA membership.  Mommy and I have been going to the Y nearly every day.  They have a childcare center there that I love!  Part of the membership is that you get to spend up to 2 hours a day at the childcare center.  So Mommy has been enjoying getting to exercise in peace, and I have loved playing with all the kids and all the new toys!  It's been a win-win situation!
• I'm making strides in the potty department.  My parents are hopeful we are close to a breakthrough.
• After school on Wednesday as we were walking up the stairs I heard music. I said "Let's check it out!"  So we did.  There was a children's program going on so we stayed.  Mommy thought it was super ridiculous, but I LOVED IT.  I even went down on the stage for most of it and participated in the program all by myself.  Mommy was proud of me for that, but thought the entire thing was really hokey.  Personally, I thought it was fantastic.  Who wouldn't love a 60 year old woman wearing butterfly wings and singing children's songs opera style with her ukulele?!?!

Apple picking with Mommy!


My goal was to ride to the cow!



I was really friendly with the goats, then for some reason got scared.



Duck races.  I was less into the racing, and more into the water pumping.


This is me doing my "scoops" swimming.


I had lots of fun at the fall party.  One of my favorite things was the trampoline!  I then pretended that each of the leaves on the trampoline were kites.  I had to retrieve lots of kites!