Fall Farm Comparisons

This is the third year that we have taken Avery to the West Farm Corn Maze in the fall. I love to do comparison photos on this blog, so here are a couple of cute ones from the past three visits.

This was Avery's first visit to the Corn Maze in October of 2009 at seven months old. Below is Kayla at eight months old.
Avery watching the farm animals in October of 2010 at 18 months old. Below, Avery is watching the animals at two and a half years old.

This was our family at the corn maze in 2010. Below is a picture of the growing Jean family (with Kayla making an appearance this year).

West Farm Corn Maze

On Sunday, we went to the local corn maze for the third year in a row. Avery enjoyed feeding the farm animals, painting pumpkins, and not understanding why he couldn't drive the tractor that was pulling the hay rides. MawMaw Sattelmeyer was in town, and this marks her 2nd visit to the farm. I hope this becomes an annual tradition!

Foxbank Fall Festival

This past weekend, we learned that Foxbank Plantation subdivision is officially cooler than Spring Grove (only the locals here will understand that statement). Foxbank had an awesome fall festival on Saturday, complete with a petting zoo, pony rides, bouncy castle, DJ, chili cook-off, and other family-fun related activities. Being lowly Spring Grove residents, we mooched off of our friends and tried to blend in as Foxbank homeowners, haha. Avery had an awesome afternoon, although the majority of his time was spent holding rabbits. It was so sweet...he just sat in his chair so content with a bunny on his lap and every now and then he would smile and rub it's fur. He is such a sweet kid!! Kayla spent her time zoned out and napping in her stroller (where is my stroller and how do I get to take two naps a day??), but was awake enough to see her cute friend, Marley, dressed as a duck. Is it too late to switch neighborhoods?? :)

Happy 8 Months Old, Baby Girl!!

Steam Train

Last weekend, we woke up early in the morning and made a two hour drive to visit the South Carolina Railroad Museum, which is just north of Columbia. They were having a special visit from a steam train built in the 1930's that weekend. We thought Avery would love to ride on the train, as the boy is obsessed with Thomas the Tank Engine and all things train-related. The pictures below are slightly edited, as I chose not to include the pics of Avery crying for approximately 70% of the hour-long train ride. "Excuse me, Daddy....I wanna get off, Daddy...". Let's just say that no one on that train would have awarded us best-mother- and father-of-the-year award based on that trip. It could have been that we hyped the steam train up too much the week before, or we had to wake him up too early in the morning, or the whistle on the trains were too loud (I would choose the term "nerve-wracking", but that's just me), or maybe he's just two and a half and at this age, you never know what you are going to get on a daily basis. Kayla, on the other hand, loved the train ride, and tried to cheer Avery up by pulling his hair and sharing her toys. After the ride was over, Avery enjoyed visiting the exhibit car and other parts of the museum. And then cried when it was time to leave. Oh, to be two!

Four Generations

I forgot to post these pictures from our trip to Cleveland back in May. These are a "must-have" in my baby blog book.

Four Generations in 1980: (L to R) Mom, Grandma, Great Grandma Becka, Baby Emily
4 Generations in 2011: (L to R) Grandma, Mom, Emily, Baby Kayla
Grandma & Baby Emily: 1980
Grandma & Baby Kayla: 2011 (Kayla is wearing one of my baby dresses from 1980)

Punkin Patch!

Last weekend, we visited Legare Farm, which is a large farm on John's Island. They have an annual !Punkin Patch! Avery was so excited to visit the !Punkin Patch! and pick out !punkins! at the !Punkin Patch! Avery purchased a !baby punkin! at the !Punkin Patch! As you can tell, Avery is very excited about pumpkins and all things related at this time in his life.