My mom came to visit a week after Derek's family. On Saturday morning, we woke up and decided to do something fun and different, so when it was time for Easton's nap we got in the car (hoping he would nap on the drive) and took a two hour drive...
...to an apple orchard.....Sky Top Orchard.
It was excellent. It was the closest orchard I could find that was still open in Mid-October. I don't think I will ever go to a different one. It was fun and fabulous! MY favorite apples-Pink ladys just became available for picking which I didn't expect because their website said they would be ready at the end of the month. I was a happy girl.
Derek complained the whole second half of the trip about it being too late and too far and dumb. He wont admit it, but he ended up having fun.
The place is huge. They have a large playground too, but we didn't have time for the kids to play because we spent two hours in the orchards.
The only time we typically see Clarisa is when my mom visits or Christmas :/ This does not make for a very happy little Arden. Arden just told me last night that she likes Clarisa's best friend better now because "Issa is always on her phone when she comes over and Kaitlyn plays with her." She's so crazy. The last time she saw Kaitlyn was our June trip to MA.
Easton and Arden had fun picking and eating apples.
I guess my mom didn't like the way I looked or was just having issues with me this day, because I was standing beside Derek and she totally cut me out of the picture! She blamed it on the camera ;) but it's kind of like guns. The camera didn't take the picture..(In case you don't actually know me and my humor, I'm just picking on my mom).btw did anyone hear about the restaurant/theater shooting in Texas that was stopped because of a civilian carrying a gun and she shot the guy? You probably didn't because the news doesn't want us to know about guns protecting us. The agenda is to have us all scared and accept gun control. Just sayin.
When we were done picking apples, we got apple cider donuts. Seriously delicious.
We we were loading up the car, Derek was a tiny bit grumpy and said something about the ride home was going to be the worst ever. It actually couldn't have been better. Both kids feel asleep pretty fast. When they woke up, we got something to eat and they were happy and good the rest of the way home.
After our visitors were gone and the kids were bored, Arden and I made colored rice.
It was easy and fun and Arden did most of it!
They were playing so well with it, so I left them and went upstairs to put shelves up in Arden's closet. Silly me. Arden came up and told me Easton was dumping the rice on the floor. Well I told her it was OK because I just assumed she meant that when he dumped it out of his shovel, a few pieces would fly out of the bin. Boy was I wrong.
The kitchen floor was covered in rice. Literally covered. I wish I had taken a picture. It was probably about five pounds of rice. As I was sweeping it up, Easton was grabbing handfuls and chucking it. I firmly told him not to and he just laughed and continued. The rice has found a nice home in our garage for now. I don't want them to play with it outside because if the birds eat it, it will hurt them.
Derek's mom brought us sponge candy and Derek ate the whole container
(ok, minus 2 pieces that I ate) and then his brother, Greg, brought us
the best sponge candy I have ever eaten and I ate most of that one,
minus a couple for Arden 's lunch and Easton got to have his first taste
of it, but he wasn't impressed. Derek and I fight over that stuff. I
think Sponge Candy is a western NY thing and it's seasonal. When Derek first had me taste it when we lived in NYC, I didn't think it was anything great and he was raving about it. Then I tasted another and it was good. Now I know how to pick the good pieces that are light and airy. ;)
Easton loves when Arden is at school and he gets to ride her scooter!
We started October with Derek's mom visiting us for a week and his brother coming for a weekend.
We had lots of fun and went to Aw Shucks farm.
Easton loved the animals, especially the chickens.
It looks like mommy and daddy are trying to eat the baby boy. Oops.
....and last year
Arden loved playing with Uncle Greg.
They all went to a high school football game while Easton and I stayed home. I can't remember what else we did, but I probably abused my privilege of having my mother in-law watch the kids while I ran errands.
5 new posts in 2 days and about 10 more to go!
Not only does the beginning of September bring Labor Day; it also brings my birthday and this this year, my birthday fell on Labor Day! I got the most amazing gift this year too- one of my best friends and former NYC roommate came to see me from Ireland (From France, currently living in Dublin).
She told me a few months prior to September that she wanted to come. When it was getting closer, she stopped talking to me and I figured she wasn't coming/couldn't work it out for whatever reason and just felt bad telling me. Derek came home at his regular time Thursday night, but the weirdo knocked on the door instead of just coming in. I opened it and there was Malika!
I just love her! I love talking with her. I can talk to her about anything. She is very intelligent and a good listener. There are very few people who are actually good listeners- I do consider myself a good listener though : D
Malika treated me to a day at the Ballantyne Spa. It was wonderful. We exercised at the fitness center, swam, sauna, relaxed, ate their healthy snacks, and got facials. We were going to get our hair cut/colored but couldn't work it in and boy does my hair need some help. I haven't had it cut since Easton was 6 weeks old. That was almost18 months ago!
The photo below is only here to show you how clear my face was. See, a week and a half before this picture, I started a new face regimen- the Oil Cleansing Method. I wanted an all natural cleanser instead of putting all of those chemicals on my skin. I know a few people who use it with great results. Me? not so much. It wrecked total havoc on my face and I'm still not back to normal. Slowly getting there, but wow. It was so bad that I went to a dermatologist and was given "very strong" antibiotics for infection. It helped a tiny bit. I have since read about others who have had the same exact reaction that starts with teeny tiny bumps- not really pimples all over. ugh.
Then:
(taken two years ago in NYC)
Now:
We took Malika to see the lovely downtown/uptown Charlotte that was almost completely shut down for the DNC. All was not a waste though. We met a cop from the Atlanta area and I set her up on a date with him! Ultimately my goal is to get her to marry a nice man in the states-preferably in the south-so I can see her often!
On my birthday, Arden went to a friends birthday party and I made my own cake. How wrong is that?! I didn't want to, but I did want a cake. You're never too old to have a birthday cake. Malika made a delicious vegetarian dinner and after dinner and cake, I put Easton to bed and Malika and I headed uptown to meet John.
I just had to add both of these photos because I love Arden's face.
Here is a video of the cop. He and his crew were all over the news including CNN the next day. When we first met them, they were not doing this so it was a shock to see them all over the news the day after their date.
Malika and I met them while they were still eating dinner. After dinner, we went to Howl at the Moon-a dueling piano bar- mind you NO one was there because of the DNC and private parties going on everywhere. Really. We were the only ones in the place and it was so fun. I loves pianos and singing. After listening to a few songs, John got up and gave a note to one of the piano players and the next song was ***Happy Birthday. That was really nice of John, but Malika and I were laughing so hard, we were crying.
Malika left the next morning and Arden and I were very sad. Arden took to her really fast.
More September fun playing with cousing Briggs in his cool car
Easton had a cold in September and was feeling pretty bad and wouldn't eat.
He finally ate a peanut butter sandwich and a smoothie.
Smoothies always make him smile. I pack their smoothies with spinach, carrots and whatever fruits I have on hand.
Some cute after school pictures:
Dance started back up too....although in the picture below, it looks like she's doing some karate.
Arden was so excited for dance to start back up. All summer she was asking to go back.
