Alexa, Minna and I drove to NJ to spend the long weekend with Daddy. Here is the rundown of our visit. Minna, Alexa, Mike and I took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty on Friday afternoon. It was overcast and blustery on the water, but something different and new for Alexa. We took a drive to Pt. Pleasant on Saturday, where it was chilly as well. Alexa rode some rides, including a few new ones this time (airplanes, helicopter, and motorcycles)! On Sunday, we spent the morning at Van San Park, took in a pony ride and played at the playground with Brady-Lyn before an afternoon visit with Unity, Scott and Jess at Imagination Station in Roxbury. We spent Monday morning at the zoo at Van Saun Park with Brady-Lyn and Minna.

As the Summer weather makes its way to Vermont, we have made every effort to spend our time outdoors. Over the past few weekends, Alexa, Minna, Ptah and I worked hard in the yard, planting and watering in the garden, already enjoying the fruits (or vegetables!) of our labor! A few weekends back, we found two plant sales and both were supporting local charities so we purchased some unique additions for Minna's flower gardens. It was for a good cause after all! With all of the sunshine and warm weather, Minna's flowers are blooming beautifully!

We paid a visit to Eva, well all the Colquhons, upon our retrn home from Florida. Although it was difficult to see or old home for the first time since moving, it was wonderful to see great friends and catch up. Alexa and Eva played in this giant hole that Eva had dug! I especially love to see how these girls bring out one another's silliest sides!

In recent weeks, we practiced our baseball skills and Minna even filled the pool for the first time this season! Daddy treated Alexa to her very own Bounce House too!

On Saturday afternoon (May 22nd), Alexa and I went to Eva's house to share in her 7th birthday celebration. Alexa seemed to really enjoy the opportunity to play with the older girls. They played in the backyard, built a lean-to, ate pizza and watched "The Princess and the Frog! Alexa had a great time!

Later that weekend, Alexa picked out her first tent while we were shopping. She has been eagerly awaiting her frist night "camping" in the yard! She and Minna promptly set it up and Alexa collected all of the camping essentials, two sleeping bags, pillows, a flashlight, and a bug net. She must have been excited because she didn't even give me a hard time when it came to tooth brushing! Upon my first "check-in," I found lots of giggling, but as much fun as she was having, Alexa wasn't fully ready to spend the entire night otside just yet! I carried her back inside and before I knew it, she was fast asleep in my bed!

Alexa finished the music class she's been attending with Minna on Monday, the 24th. She participated in dancing and playing some of the instruments. She now has some new favorite songs to sing! She enjoyed dancing with some of the other children and she

Alexa continues to spend two mornings a week at her daycare, or school as we call it. She has made some wonderful friends there and often comes home with a special piece of artwork for me to display!

She also continues to love all things horse! She has made the Meadowsong Barn (Minna's neighbors) a home away from home, galloping around and feeding the horses their special treats! It is not uncommon to catch Alexa in her own horse play...She's Black Beauty and her sidekick, Penny, usually played by Minna, is always getting into trouble for something! "Penny, you go in your stall, Penny!" "Penny, quiet! I'm trying to sleep, Penny!" It's all in the expressions though...she keeps us laughing!

Alexa discovered a new favorite movie...about a horse, of course! Disney's "Spirit" has been all the rage here recently.

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I knew September and October would be busy months. Most weekends offer festivals and family events that we just can't resist. On October 4th, we met up with some of our favorite (Or "fabrit") friends, Charlotte, Anna and Jailee to pick pumpkins at Sam Mazza's Harvest Festival in Colchester, VT. Despite overcast skies and dampness in the air, the girls appeared to enjoy themselves, riding ponies, jumping in the bouncy house and taking a hay ride to the pumpkin patch.

Once in the pumpkin patch the girls picked the perfect pumpkins while the mom's did their best papparazzi imitations trying to get the perfect shot, hoping the girls might end up in the newspaper again!

We even managed to get a photo of all of us moms!

The day ended with a hay ride back to the festival and some cider donuts from the farm store. Alexa took one final pony ride and another turn in the bounce house. I took a quick look for some friends I was hoping might have come while Mike stayed with Alexa. I returned to the bounce house to see Alexa crying. I was told that she did not want to come out on her own and that Mike had to crawl in to try to retrieve her. What a sight that must have been!

Last Friday (Oct. 2), on a whim, Minna, Alexa and I decided to take the ferry to Plattsburgh, NY. This was Alexa's first trip aboard the ferry and despite the chilly weather, we decided to take it in from the observation deck! We were hoping to arrive in time to visit a few museums, but after leaving rather late and hitting up a garage sale on the way, we didn't make it to any of the museums we had set out to see. It wasn't entirely our fault though, these places have some interesting Friday hours!

Instead, we happened upon a beautiful, historic horse farm, accessible to the public. Yo can check it ot here: http://www.whminer.com/heritageexhibit.html Heart's Delight Farm dates back to 1903 and consists of 15,000 acres of land. Today it was empty other than the people actually working there. A total of 25 Morgan horses reside in the old barn and they were some of the friendliest horses we've had the pleasure of meeting! That said, we do still very much adore our Morgans, Oakleigh, Teddy, Pecos and all the others at Meadowsong!!!

Despite the 2 dozen plus horses surrounding us, Alexa was quite taken with one of the barn cats and, it was pretty clear, the barn cat was taken with Alexa!

Well, really it was a toss up between the barn cat and the dandelions!

Before we left, we walked to another pasture and Minna found, and fell in love with, this mare. She appeared quite content to simply stand there and have Minna stroke her silky coat! Alexa continued to entertain the cat, or the other way around, and I found the plaques explaining the expansion of the property to be very interesting, especially the  photos of the various structures that once stood in the now open acres of pasture. 

Alexa continues to build her language skills and with each new development, I find myself amazed and often laughing! Some of the new things she says are..."That's my fabrit" These days several things are her favorite, but she usually uses this phrase when she has received a certain food, such as Vanilla mini scones from Starbucks (I have a bit of an addiction to Starbucks). Alexa call Starbucks, the coffeehouse! Additionally, last week I sneezed and from down the hall, I heard her little voice call "Bless You, Mommy!" She also has begun recognizing the need to apologize for some of her behaviors, saying "I'm sorry" when, for example, she has excitedly thrown a block at my face!

Today Alexa jumped on the scale and she weighs a whopping 26.6 lbs. I'm pretty sure she hadn't had her diaper changed yet! So, she's still very much "Minna's Fabrit Peanut!"

At the end of the week, we pack p the car for another trip to NJ to wish Gramma a Happy Birthday, then vacation to visit Aunt Carrie, Tim, Jenny, Joseph, James and new baby Jillian in Florida and then back to NJ to celebrate Wyeth's 2nd birthday in Brooklyn. Look for posts along the way!

Saturday was the annual Harvest Festival and Energy fair at Shelburne Farms. What started out as a rather brisk morning (47 degrees to be exact) turned into a beautiful, sunny early autumn day perfect for playing otdoors, visiting the animals and taking in a scenic hayride!

We were lucky to meet up with several friends throughtout the day, Anna, Charlotte and Jailee were there with their mommies (and Daddy, in Jailee's case!). Denise, Sarah and Emma and Ali and baby Julia came down to the farm. Michelle brought Caleb for their first trip ever to visit the farm. Ashleigh, along with her mommy and daddy, Heather and Matt, enjoyed a hayride and some tree climbing with Alexa and there wasn't even any hair pulling! Minna and Ptah stopped by too! We even saw some old friends, Anthony and Jill whom Alexa hasn't seen since she was just an infant! What a great afternoon it was!

Alexa wanted to give face painting a try. She actually remembers her face painting from her birthday party. So she chose a pumpkin and then picked the color purple. I suggested to the woman that she could paint a flower or a butterfly, but I was quickly corrected by Alexa who exclaimed, "A pumpkin!" So a pumpkin it was! She didn't want to wash it off that night either! Although by evening she referred to it as an apple!

Naturally we could have spent the entire day feeding the horses and so it is no surprise that we ended the day doing just that! These horses are rare. They are the same breed as the horse in the Disney movie Hidalgo. In fact, "Hidalgo" lives in Morrisville on the same farm as these horses! They were beautiful and savored every piece of hay Alexa fed to them!

We are so lucky to have such a beautiful place to visit on a regular basis. It's just another reason why we love Vermont, especially in the fall!

On Sunday, we were up bright and early to make our way to Tunbridge, Vermont for the 138th annual Tunbridge World's Fair. Tunbridge is about an hour and twenty minute drive but worth it. It has an old fashioned feel to it. A little bit of everything. Rides, competitive exhibits of local fruits and vegetables, 4H competitive livestock shows, horseback riding competitions, fair food, pony rides and pig races! We met Jailee, Lisa and Doug and enjoyed the rides and the warm weather.

Last year the pony ride did not go over that well! But after our trip to NJ a few weeks ago, it was evident Alexa was going to enjoy herself this year. Alexa and Jailee waited patiently in line for a ride and once around was simply not enough! Minna also learned that Alexa did not require the help of an adult...she is, afterall, an experienced rider at this point! We rounded out the day with a visit to the Children's Barnyard and one more ride down the BIG slide, Alexa's favorite ride! We all enjoyed a hot apple crisp just before we got back in the car for the ride home! We had a great time and look forward to the fair next year!

Last year, Alexa said "moo" for the first time while we were at the fair! I remember it like it was yesterday! I can't believe how time flies and how much changes!

We have just returned home from a week of house/Peanut (aka dog) sitting for the Clark's while they enjoyed some family time down the shore, followed by a trip to Nashville, TN to celebrate Karen and Ken's 5th wedding anniversary. Alexa and I arrived on Saturday afternoon after an eventful drive. Alexa has been wearing Pull Ups (the name we all assoiciate with training diapers, kinda like, BandAids or Qtips) for several months now as we potty train. So, as it turns out Pull Ups are Huggies brand, Easy Ups are Pampers. I have consistently used Pampers diapers since Alexa's birth. Any changes have usually resulted in messes that noone wants to deal with. Having run out of Easy Ups, I had to run to the store to buy some, but before I could get to the store, I had to put her in swimmie diapers to get out of the house. (Swimmie diapers are not intended to absorb pee, they simply guard from other stuff getting into the water) Needless to say, we didn't make it to the store without a soaking wet carseat. While I attempted to clean the upholstry on the carseat, I put a spare seat in the car.  Looking to save a few bucks, I used a coupon to purchase Pull Ups. Two nights in a row, Alexa (who still sleeps with me) peed through them all over my bed. I was so exhausted that I piled several towels on the bed, changed Alexa and went back to sleep. By now, I should have learned my lesson...We then leave for NJ and at the first rest stop Alexa announces, "I soaking wet." She had peed through another Pull Up and now the seat was, indeed soaked!!! I had to  put a towel between her and the seat which made the straps no longer fit, "Mommy, you hurted me." I struggled for 15 minutes to adjust the straps on the spare seat since I was not familiar with it. Finally, we were on our way and I put in a call to Mike, who assured me he would have Easy Ups waiting for us in NJ!

Saturday night, we all relaxed and settled in to the Clark's house. Sunday we made a trip to Brooklyn to visit Jamie, Kate and Wyeth. We haven't seen Wyeth in nearly a year. This was the first real playdate Alexa and Wyeth had shared and it went great! We took a walk to the park and then went back home where Alexa and Wyeth played blocks secretly in Jamie and Kate's room for about an hour!

We were pleased when Jamie and Kate told us that this was one of Wyeth's most successful playdates, that he was very engaged and interactive with Alexa. She seemed to really enjoy getting to tell Wyeth what to do as well!

On Monday, Alexa and I spent the afternoon at Van Saun Park in Paramus with Gramma and Aunt Eileen. Alexa had her first pony ride and despite her very serious expression, she really seemed pleased about the experience!

On Tuesday, Alexa and I met up with an old friend of mine, Mahnaz, at Imagination Station in Roxbury. Alexa was having a blast on the slide directing me to "catch" her and eventually telling me to back up so she could do it by herself. She was feeling so confident until some rotten little kids decided to run up the slide while she was coming down. There were tears and lots of mulch to be removed from her hair, but in a short while Alexa was back to monkeying around. She finished out the afternoon by showing off her bike riding skills on the bike path.

On Wednesday, I was terribly ill and thankfully the Clark's had returned from LBI to tend to Alexa's every need!!! Alexa played with Casey all afternoon, on the swing set and in the pool. Mike and Alexa went to dinner with Grandpa Stolarz and I stayed home with some white rice and steamed chicken, hoping for a better night than the last!

Thursday, although I was still not 100%, Mike, Alexa and Aunt Chrissy returned to Van Saun Park for some more pony rides and a visit to the zoo.

We also had a train ride, took a spin on the carousel and played for quite a while in the very large playground.

There was a great attraction at the zoo that allowed us to interact with parakeets. We took sticks of bird seed and walked among hundreds of these beautiful little birds as they landed on  our arms and hands to eat.

We couldn't leave without one last pony ride. By the third time, Alexa was an old pro! I still didn't feel great and the odor of horse manure wasn't helping!

On Friday, Mike, Alexa and I went to Pt. Pleasant for the day. We intended to spend some time on the beach and then ride some rides on the boardwalk, one of Alexa's new favorite things! We played in the sand as the water was off limits due to strong rip currents. Mike dug a giant "pool" for Alexa just along the shore line. It would fill up when a large wave rolled in and Alexa would get a thrill from jumping into the water! I sunbathed a bit and enjoyed a delicious Italian Ice from the boardwalk!

After lunch, we took to the rides. The usual carousel, train ride and the "Crazy Bus." Then we returned to the beach for some kite flying!

The Crazy Bus has become one of Alexa's favorite rides, despite how sickening it makes me feel! This thing goes surprisingly high. She's a real dare devil these days! As a side note, Alexa has begun referring to all school buses as crazy buses, and sometimes she even points out crazy cars! Mike says this time Alexa was so excited once the ride got started, with a big smile on her face the entire time!

We rounded out Friday evening with dinner with Melissa, Ty and Brodie.

On Saturday, we headed to the Land of Make Believe in Hope, NJ with Gramma and Aunt Eileen. We were all pleasantly surprised by the expanded waterpark area. Mike, Alexa and I did a few loops around the lazy river which really helped to cool us off! We went on more rides and ate too much junk food, but we all had lots of fun! I had never been to this park so I didn't know what to expect. I think it was well worth the trip!

At this point in the trip my camera battery had died and I wasn't able to find the charger! A bummer actually, since we met Melissa and the boys for a few hours Sunday at Seaside. After a few rides accompanied by Ty, Alexa actually rode on her first ride alone...the baby swings. She was THRILLED! She even went on a second time! We did capture a few cute shots on Mike's iPhone but I'll have to try to upload them on my laptop at some point.

On Monday morning we stopped by for a brief visit with Keith and Dana and then spent some time at the Morristown Arboretum. Alexa made a friend and was happy to share her tricycle with her. We relaxed in the evening with Karen, Ken, Matt and Casey and it was off to bed early to be rested for the drive home on Tuesday.