Blue Park Musketeers

What would we do without the Blue Park and all our friends (both those under 3 and over 30, or thereabouts)? Harry, Sabrina and Jack had a whoppin' good time this afternoon....running. I wasn't there, but I suspect there was a fair amount of joyous squealing as well. Thank you to Missy, who, despite being just about to pop with baby-boy #2, was quick with the camera and sent along awesome photos. I am just not sure if Paul will like the way Jack was smiling at his darling daughter on the rocking rocket. At least Elmo was there to chapperon.

Bottoms Up!

Today Harry and Sabrina's nanny share relationship really gelled. They've spent the day giggling and dancing, holding hands, jumping and playing hide-and-seek. They shared a sandwich, they played with baby Charlotte (Sabrina and Charlotte are engaged in a test of wills over the newly acquired baby doll) and most notably for me and Roxana, they've made us laugh out loud.

After posing on the stairs they decided a new stance was in order. Despite the fact the camera could only see their posteriors, they still insisted on yelling "cheese!!!"

My LIttle Tomato

Charlotte doesn't have many food friends. She eats, if grudgingly. Jarred food pretty much repulses her, except when she's really hungry. What she loves most: pasta with pesto, pan seared broccoli and her number one fave....tomatoes. We were lucky to produce a massive crop this summer, in our little backyard garden, which kept her all smiles and bibs full of oozy seeds. Yesterday she found a big, clearly lost, tomato on the kitchen floor, and before I noticed, she'd eaten half of it, biting into it as if it were an apple. I relocated her, and the tomato, to her highchair to finish the snack. In our house only the dog eats off the floor. We still have some manners.

When Goats Attack! Children of the Corn! Killer Slides! Run, Don't Walk to Cox Farms.

If you live in Northern Virginia I advise you to run, not walk, to Cox Farms in the Centreville countryside to enjoy their Fall Festival, which runs through much of November. My friend Lisa mentioned the farm to me last week and it rang a vague bell. A Google search explained why. I wrote about Cox Farms nine years ago when a controversy over the display of a rainbow flag rattled some conservative Christians who felt the gay lifestyle was being promoted in a place intended for family entertainment. The flag is still there today, along with the kind of wholesome good time that draws 85,000 people to the festival each year.

Maybe it's the spooky corn maze (not spooky to an adult, but Harry decided I should carry him half-way through, still he wanted to go back a second time to see the pirates), every farm animal you could want, many pet-able (the goat enclosure is AWESOME...but make sure you don't leave there like we did -- with new sneakers caked with mud and goat poo...wear your grubbies and prepare to spend an extra buck on goat food served in ice cream cones). Calves and piglets galore (a new crop was born on Sept. 17). Then there's a slew of slides (the kind you go down on on burlap sacks). Harry just about ran himself ragged running up the hills, sliding down the hills, over and over. Of course there's kettle corn and caramel apples and a farmer's market and a bumper crop of pumpkins. Live folksy music, the works.

We were super lucky to go when there was a threat of rain, so the place was ridiculously empty. No lines for any of the attractions. It costs $15 for every adult, but it was so worth it. We'll go back again for sure before Halloween. They even give you a little pumpkin on your way out.

Yea Cox Farms!!

House of Bounce

You can never be too careful. So when the petite moonbounce we bought for Charlotte's birthday party arrived last week, we knew we had to make sure it actually inflated before the big day. These things come with big blowers. I thought it would take a half hour to blow it up. More like one minute. Maybe less. And boy was it a lot of fun (even Paul and I wanted to try it...but lest it pop...we stayed on Terra firma.)

Now we shall think wishfully for dry skies on Oct. 4.

What a Doll

We're still a week or so shy of Charlotte's birthday, but that did not stop Cynthia, my Godmum, from presenting her with a gift, her very first baby doll. What a hit. In between naps she's been snuggling and nibbling and playing with her little baby. She's mostly interested in taking off the doll's hat and trying to put it back on, plopping it on her head as if it would magically stick. Totally precious. Thank You Aunty Skippy.

Cereal Thieves

If you're going to sneak food.....always have an accomplice to share the blame.