One of the highlights of summer are all the extra playdates now that are favorite friend's mom's are finished with school for the year! We got started a bit early with an evening barbeque at Denise's house a few weeks ago. Brianne and her son, Ryan and Sarah and Emma all got together for some yummy bbq and swimming!

While Denise was the only grown up willing to get in the pool, we all enjoyed watching the kids splash around! Alexa even watered Emma...so she'll grow of course!

Even though it rained, Alexa and I took up an invite to visit with Ashleigh and Blake for a play date. Despite a few tears (a result of missed naps!), it was still fun to visit the Starr family and Ashleigh's special horse was a big hit with Alexa! We're hopeful that next time the girls play they will both be well rested and the weather will allow for some outdoor fun!

Alexa and I recently went to visit our favorite neighbors, The Colquhoun's and Alexa played with Eva and Bailey. This was taken at the end of our visit when the boys, Will and Michael found some interesting music clips on YouTube. The girls were glued to the computer!

Alexa was excited to share her bouncy house with Jailee. After too many rainy days, we finally had a chance to set it up and Lisa, Baby Zoe and I watched (and worried...just a little) while Jailee and Alexa jumped and laughed! It was a beautiful afternoon!

It's been a while since we had visited the farm. In fact, the last time we were there, the lambs had just been born and we had to bundle up because the Spring was just arriving in Vermont. We met up with Denise, Sarah and Emma last week at the farm. Alexa was very attentive when the farmer explained how to milk a cow. That said, she isn't quite ready to milk one herself. Some fresh cheese and an almond croissant from thr bakery rounded out a beautiful day!

It's been a while since we've visited the farm. The winter keeps us indoors mostly and we figure the animals are indoors keeping warm too. We took a ride to the farm to see about advertised horse drawn sleigh rides this past Saturday. Unfortunately, Mother Nature hasn't provided us with much of the white stuff and the horses were busy doing errands in the fields. So instead we took a ride to the Children's Farm Yard and enjoyed a brief visit with some of the resident sheep, a rogue goat and some chickens!

During the winter the sheep take over the farm yard and eventually have their lambs (in a few weeks the first will arrive). The area is filled with hay and, this year, a goat was wandering the area snacking on a large mountain of hay! Apparently, the staff were unable to train this particular goat and he has had freedom the others only dream of! Here he is practicing yoga out near the chicken coup!

Ashleigh, her baby brother Blake, and her Mommy and Daddy (Heather & Matt) came along for the visit. Ashleigh, or the The Great Chicken Catcher as we can now call her, demonstrated her chicken catching skills! She makes it look so easy!

We saw some familiar faces...

and as the weather began to grow colder, it seemed only appropriate to work up a sweat...

We are hoping that this week's snow storm will have the horses busy pulling the sled at the Farm this Saturday...that is if we don't get rained on for the next 2 days! Ahhh, winter in Vermont!

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!

This morning Alexa changed her own diaper. From start to finish! I mean, took off the old one, threw it away, went to her room and got a new one and put it on all by herself! She then walked over to her new Sit n' Spin (remember those?) and told me "Mommy, I need batteries!" I'm not even sure how she knew it needed batteries. We picked it up yesterday at the consignment shop and she's never even seen it work with batteries!

Tonight, as we read books just before bedtime, Alexa took the book, Bunny Kisses, away from me as I finished it and exclaimed, "I read" and then she proceeded to babble imitating my reading of the text. She pointed at each of the animals on the last page, naming them. Especially cute is her recent pronunciation of the letter d for the letter b, i.e. "bunny raddit" or "riddet, riddet" referring to a frog.

Alexa will be going to her first dentist appointment next week. I've been told it is nothing more than counting teeth and educating parents about dental care/needs of a toddler. Additionally it may help reduce anxiety for future visits. It seems unreal that she is old enough to see a dentist, but the scheduling secretary told me that babies as young as 12 months are recommended to see the dentist. I guess we're a little behind schedule!

Alexa and I are beginning a Mommy & Me gymnastics class next Monday! I don't know what to expect but it sounds fun! Lots of busy weekends ahead...pictures to follow!

Below are some photos from today! Alexa and I stopped by Shelburne Farm. We collected eggs from the chicken coops and fed the donkeys! So many photos I just decided to uplaod a whole page! Enjoy!!

As the summer days draw to a close, we are lucky enough to spend a few hours enjoying Vermont's beautiful weather and landscape! Yesterday we took a trip to Shelburne Farm with Eva, Will and Minna. We boarded the tractor and took the bumpy road to the beautiful children's farm yard.

Eva managed to catch a few chickens and Alexa thoroughly enjoyed the donkeys once again! Will suggested a walk through the woods, which was an excellent idea as the trail exited us here...

We love all the animals. Alexa timidly approachs them all and once she lays her hand on them she quickly turns and runs giddily back to me so proud of her accomplishment!

The baby goats were a different story. Alexa sat outside their pen and stroked their heads gently for several minutes.

Yesterday was great...everybody had a wonderful time. I think I'll log off this computer and head over again today! As I post this Alexa points to this photo and says, "hummin bird." Obviously, it is not a hummingbird, but how impressed are you that she can say hummingbird?

I was browsing through some older photos of Alexa and stumbled upon these photos from one year ago...