Xiaoniu 小妞

This past weekend ended up being pretty good. I was bummed out about not being able to accomplish much at home or at work, but after a day full of cleaning the house on Saturday I’m feeling much better. Even though cleaning sucks in the end it felt good to finish something and in the process be able to live in a house that isn’t cluttered and messy from kid(s).

Sunday we ran around town doing this and that; out of the house type chores. We picked up Emelia her first toy in a long time. We haven’t bought anything since Christmas and seeing her new interest in building stuff with blocks we figured she was due. We picked up a smaller and more advanced set of blocks. She’s upgrade from the big mega blocks that Sarah got her for Christmas last year.

Emelia had a great time. She looked genuinely surprised and happy to see that she had her very own set of blocks to play with at home. Up until now she’s only had the chance to play with her big ones and the smaller ones that James has. She’s quite eager to play too. Not a day has gone by where she hasn’t come over to me and Sue, grabbed our hands to drag us over to sit on the floor and play with her. She says, “Up! Come on!”. Very cute.

Since we had Monday off and we wanted to do something fun we indulged the kids and went to Indian Ladder Farms to pick apples, pumpkins and to eat fresh apple cider donuts. The kids had a blast and to be honest it was nice to get out and to overeat on apples and donuts, washed down with cider. Yum!

The weather was great; not too cool and not too warm. The farm is right next the Helderberg mountains, which offer a pretty nice backdrop to the whole area. Some day we’ll have to make our way up there.

When we arrived we bought our bags, made our way to the empire apples and got to work eating apples to our hearts’ delight. Empires are the only apple that Sue can eat; she has a sensitivity to all others, which usually means an annoying tickle in the ear. Empires don’t stand a chance in our house.

Posing for pictures in the orchard, Sue realizes just how much both kids weigh. She barely made it through this picture shoot without falling over.

Amy was all business once there; picking, juggling and nearly dropping as many apples as she got into her bag.

Emelia was having a great time. You can’t tell from this picture, but Amy and Sue had their hands full trying to walk with Emelia. The little one was so happy that she kept jumping up and down instead of walking properly.

Our booty: A few golden delicious and many empires.

Looking for that one pumpkin that looks good and isn’t rotten or broken.

Emelia giving one pumpkin a try. She was rocking back and forth on the round pumpkin.

Getting four people (two of which are kids) to look and smile to the camera is like pulling teeth.

After running two very overful bags of heavy apples and two pumpkins to the car with two kids in tow all of us were ready for a rest. We walked through the store and bought some freshly fried apple cider donuts and fresh apple cider for the kids.

Emelia could not resist going into the huge sandbox for some playtime. This picture is one of my favorites because it really captures one of Emelia’s genuine smiles.

James does his best to push Emelia around in the little car. It’s too bad that the sand made the going tough.

Pony rides! The kids both took rides on ponies. This is Emelia’s second time on a pony and she did great. The helmet was worthless, but with the handler having a hold of a leg and daddy holding an arm she was pretty much covered.

Emelia showing her badges of honor: A yellow “I rode a pony” sticker and two dirty knees.

After playing in the sand and running around the messy orchards James told me his feet were dirty and he wanted to wash them. Mere seconds later this is how I found him. It was amusing to come across since I really wasn’t expecting this method of washing feet, but I’ll give him credit that it worked out just fine.