Hi, Baby Cow

Happy Sunday afternoon to one and all. Hard to believe that it is nearing the end of October with this wonderful weather. This afternoon, we participated in Lehigh County Open Gate Farm. It has been going on for 35 years. Farms all over the county open their doors for tours, etc one afternoon in the fall. This is the third year that we've participated. Landon decided that we should go to a dairy farm this year. It was quite an experience. We got to get up close and personal with the cows. I was proud of both kids; neither was afraid of them. Lauren was talking a mile a minute to the baby calves. The youngest one we saw was only 6 days old. We got to go on a tour of the farm, a hay ride, see lots of John Deere tractors and get chocolate milk and sausage at the end of the tour. The farm also raises pigs. They get the pigs when they are 40 lbs raise them to 250 lbs in the span of 3 months. They want them to gain 2 lbs a day! (Then they get sold to the butcher :) It was a nice way to spend a beautiful afternoon and a neat way for the kids to learn that milk does come in other forms other than the plastic container at Giant.

Other than that we've been busy with soccer and managed to get to the zoo with Beth and Evan. Had fun seeing the animals one last time before winter. The kids were excited because they were allowed to get stuffed animals as souveniers. Landon of course got a tiger and named him Dmitri and Lauren got a Lion and Landon named him Merlin. We probably won't head back to the zoo until spring. Coming up this week is Trick or Treat! Landon is going to be the race car driver Tony Stewart and Lauren is going to be the cutest witch. I'll be sure to post pictures. We are also (weather permitting) going to the pumpkin patch with cousins Griffin and Cassidy who will be celebrating their one year birthday on the 25th! Happy Birthday guys! Looking forward to sharing some cake with you on Sunday!

Hugs to all

Mary

I'm such a dork

I forgot to post the pictures for the previous post. Sigh. Here goes.

Long time No Post

I want to apologize for not posting for awhile. Our computer crashed at the beginning of September and it took us awhile to figure out what was wrong. Then we just decided to get a new one. Then we were busy, busy, busy. We got a chance to go to Waynesboro and visit (or invade) on Uncle Dan and Aunt Betty. Aunt Sally (from South Dakota) was in with her dog Annie and Ken and their daughter Nancy came in with their dogs Molly and Ciro (sp.?). So it was quite a full house. Luckily for everyone we stayed at a local hotel. (Plus the kids loved the indoor swimming pool.)
Last weekend started off by getting all new windows put in! Yay! No more needing to use the pliers to open the windows if you closed them too much and thankfully most of the stink bugs are outside rather than inside. Then on Saturday Landon had a large cheering section at soccer where Pop, Uncle Dan, Aunt Carina, Griffin and Cassidy were able to come. Gram was at the Dickinson football game, to support Uncle Darwin, since they were playing Moravian. (Dickinson won at the last second and is undefeated in their conference Go Devils!) After that we game home took quick baths and the kids got dropped off for an overnight at Pop's house. Kurt and I got to go to the Night Lites ball at Lehigh Valley Hospital. It was quite an event. Black tie and incredible food and music. It is always fun to get dressed up.
The next morning started off early due to a previously scheduled trip to the zoo with Michelle and Brandon. We couldn't have asked for better weather. We had a great time and the kids made a new friend. The lioness is named Zenda and was down in one of the viewing areas when we went through Big Cat Falls. I honestly think Landon would stay there all day long. Lauren was happiest because she got to "feed the goat." I will remember the joy, wonder, and amazement in her voice when she said "I did it!" (She had been trying all summer and usually dropped the food before it made it's way to the goat's mouth so this was an accomplishment for her.) We have really been enjoying our membership to the zoo and hope to squeeze in one more visit in a few weeks with Beth and Evan, weather permitting.
Needless to say, I'm once again exhausted. Life is definitely good. Hope all is well with everybody.

Hugs
Mary