Morning at the farm

At the great suggestion of Maddie's Mommy, we visited an apple orchard the morning. This wasn't just any apple orchard though, it was more of a petting zoo or farm. Yes, they did grow apples and pumpkins, but I'm not sure how any parent is able to successfully pull their children away from the freely wandering animals to pick fruit. It took Amelia a bit of time to warm up to the animals, but I think Graham would live on a farm in second if the opportunity presented itself. Too bad for him that his Mama is more of a city girl!

Amelia getting comfortable with the goat. She's holding a bag full of goat food and couldn't understand why the goat wouldn't leave her alone!

Graham's baby goat....he's been asking for one all day

Hayride-the second one in a week-lucky kids!

The kids had a ball in this corn box - it was like a giant sandbox filled with dried corn that nearly went up to their waists

Sibling Care-Attempt #2

After being stuck in the house all of last week, the only thing on our schedule today was getting the kids back to school. Graham had class today which means that Amelia got to visit sibling care. She was not a happy girl. I had to leave my screaming baby and walk down the hall with Graham who was very disturbed that I left Amelia while she was so upset. I have no pictures to document school today, but really, it's probably for the best. Trust me, it wasn't pretty....

When it was time for me to pick her up, I was told that she cried a great deal but was easily distracted for a few minutes at a time which is apparently a good sign. The minute Amelia saw me she started screaming hysterically. I felt so bad! But, Miss Amelia is a smart little lady...she's decided she going to punish me for leaving her. She refused her favorite lunch, refused her milk, and even refused her bottle before her nap. I'd say she's pretty ticked off with me. Hopefully, when she wakes up, I've been forgiven!

The Border Battle

Just in case there is any question as to who we're rooting for during tonight's big game against Green Bay, Amelia wants everyone to know that she's a Vikings fan through and through!! Go Vikings!!!!

A Trip South...

We didn't go far enough south today to get a taste of warm weather, but we did head south of the cities to pick apples at an orchard and spend some time wandering around St. Olaf, or as Graham calls it "his college" :). The campus really is beautiful in the fall and we make an effort to visit each October. But, before we got to campus, we stopped at an adorable apple orchard. The kids were handed apple slices by the farmers then ushered onto a hayride pulled by a giant tractor that took us directly into the orchard. Amelia was happy to pick apples off the ground and Graham was happy to pull them off the branches. Together, they made a great team!

The kids were VERY mesmerized by a small airplane as passengers boarded the hayride at the orchard. Notice Graham's arm around Amelia? He was concerned that she was "too little" to ride on the wagon and made sure she stayed seated.

A rare picture of Mommy and Amelia

Let the apple picking begin!

Finding the perfect apple...

The basket was apparently very heavy!

Looking for a tree loaded with apples

Happy on Daddy's shoulders

Graham couldn't resist a snack-he was eating apples right off the tree!

After we purchased our massive bag of apples (we didn't have the heart to put any back since the kids worked so hard to select each and every one), and had some delicious apple donuts, we headed down to Northfield. No trip to St. Olaf is complete for us, without having the kids sit in the giant chairs for pictures. In 20 years when we have two kids attending school there :), it will be so fun for us to look back on these chair pictures and see the progression of how they grew up visiting a place that has so much meaning for Jeff and I.

Graham was happy to play in the chair today

Amelia decided she'd rather stand than sit

How sweet is this? They really look deep in conversation as they wandered through one of the gardens...

All tired out and ready for dinner at Hogan Bros!

Meet 'Baby'

This is 'Baby' or "BeeBee" as Amelia pronounces it, and if you read this blog on a regular basis, you're going to become very familiar with her....
Amelia has several dolls and in the past few days she's taken a real liking, no a real LOVE, to one certain baby. This doll must go everywhere with her. Silly me tried to go to Ikea yesterday without Baby, and Amelia's shrieking protests of "BeeBee! BeeBee! BeeBee!" were so loud and emotion filled that I turned the car around (I was only at the end of the street) to retrieve the precious doll. Then, this morning, silly Daddy, tried to strap Amelia into her highchair without inviting the doll to join the meal. Again, shrieking protest ensued. Apparently, we've now got three children that need to be accounted for in all car rides and family meals!

Amelia and Baby play with a magnet game

Amelia and Baby color

Amelia and Baby play with toy food

Are you tired of seeing Baby yet??????

And yes, most memorable is Baby's first trip to Target

*As a disclaimer, only as I loaded pictures onto the blog, did I realize that Amelia and her baby are dressed nearly identical in head to toe pink. This was not done on purpose. Baby happens to have a pink outfit and Amelia happens to have a closet full of pink outfits so although it wasn't done intentionally, I guess it's not surprising!

Bubbles in the Tub

Both Amelia and Graham are feeling much better, but the end of their colds is still lingering, So, thanks to a 'no runny nose' policy at school, we were once again stuck in the house. I completely understand the 'no runny nose' policy the school has, but being cooped up for the 4th day in a row has me going a little nutty! Out of complete desperation today, we picked up Jeff from work for lunch and went to McDonald's. Yes, I was that desperate to get out!

Here is a cute video clip of the kids in the tub. Graham LOVES to completely submerge his head under water and blow bubbles and Amelia has recently tried to imitate him. As you can tell, she thinks that she's quite funny!

15 Month Check-Up

This afternoon, Amelia had her 15 month check-up. Our favorite pediatrician has been out on maternity leave with twins, so today was the first time that Amelia got to meet her. Thankfully, the pediatrician's calm and sweet demeanor quickly won Amelia over and not a single tear was shed! Because Amelia is fighting off the end of a cold, she escaped without having even a single shot. Little does she know, that as soon as she's healthy, we'll be back for those immunizations! At 15 months old, Amelia weighs 23.5 pounds and is just over 31 inches tall so she continues to follow her growth curve and remains our perfectly healthy, big girl!

Amelia was FULL of energy at her appointment. The doctor was running late and instead of looking at books and eating cheerios I had in my bag, Amelia entertained herself by dancing on the examination table. She thought she was hilarious! Here's Amelia gettin' down with her kleenex! Excuse the blurriness-she was moving way too fast to get a good shot!


When she did finally grow tired of dancing, she sat down to wipe the table clean. It appears that my obsession with wiping down the counters and tables multiple times a day with Clorox wipes is rubbing off on her!