Nana's Birthday!

Today we celebrated Nana's birthday.  Nana and Papa took us to Hidden Valley Animal Adventures.  Last year they took Claire but Oliver was too little so we stayed home with him.  This year we all went and it was AWESOME!

This place was gorgeous!!  It is 63 acres and the animals live there and roam the land.  The owner set up some trolleys to take people around the land and feed the animals. 

 As soon as we got there, Oliver was amazed by this huge bear!

They had a really great hay maze for the kids.  

Claire loved showing Oliver how to get through the maze.

It was really sweet to see them walk through the maze together.

 We had a nice lunch while we waited for the trolley.

Claire had fun playing antler ring toss while we finished our food.

 This whole place was just gorgeous!

 While we waited in line there was this truck.  Thank God this truck was there because Oliver fell in love with it!!

He just loved looking at it....

touching it....

and then telling us all about it!

Then when he was done with the truck, he had a seat and drank some juice while we waited. 

Finally, our trolley came and we were ready to see some animals!

I couldn't believe it, these animals really came RIGHT up to the trolley!!

I really thought that Oliver would get bored after a while, but he LOVED it!!!

These gigantic animals were so friendly and sweet!

Oliver thought they were just awesome!  He didn't even get scared!  He kept waving and yelling "HI" at every new animal we saw!

Claire loved feeding the animals.  She went last year so she was an old pro and told us everything that we had to do.

The ride was an hour long and I really thought that he was going to get bored and antsy.  But he was so busy watching the animals and yelling to them that he didn't get bored once.

After his final "HI"....

he started to look like this....

then like this....

then like this...

this....

and finally this.

While Oliver was sleeping the trolley ride ended and we headed to the petting zoo.  Claire loved this part.  We just walked around with the animals hanging out and feed them.

This goat was hilarious!  Claire kept calling him Wilbur and he followed us everywhere!

Claire really loved the animals.  She was so kind to them and gentle.

Look who's back...it's Wilbur!

On the way home we stopped for gourds, apples, and cornstalks.  It was a tight squeeze home, but we made it!

Then it was time for Nana's birthday dinner and cake.  Yes, I made the cake.  I am not sure what happened but I did my best.  It may look a mess, but it was delicious!!!

The kids loved singing happy birthday!!

I swear they are not laughing at my cake.

Oliver loved wishing Nana a happy birthday!


It was a great day!!  Happy birthday Nana!!  We love you!!!

Wine With Friends

Yesterday Mark and I went on a wine tour with our friends Mark and Lesa.  We always have so much fun with Mark and Lesa and yesterday was no exception!

It was really nice to get out for the day and try some new wines with good friends.  

Lesa found these wine cork earrings and she was really excited about them!  Those earrings and Lesa's "window art" were huge hits!!

Mark and I had a nice time spending the day together.

 I think that Mark and Lesa did too.

The Marks.

Lesa and I lovin' the fruit wines from Mommy's sippy cups :)

Even though the weather was yucky, the scenery was beautiful.

And apparently the theme of the day was "Save All God's Creatures".  Here is a rooster that was just chillin' in the gardens.

Overall it was a great day!  I can't wait to do something like this again!!

My Kids

These are my kids.  I know all parents say this but I have the best kids ever.  Claire is so smart, kind, and funny.  She is getting so old so fast.  And Oliver is getting so big and becoming such a little person.  He is so interested in EVERYTHING around him!  And together they are priceless.  They are always playing together and helping each other out.  I just love it.  Oliver's new obsession is books.  He cannot get enough of them!  So Claire is great with helping him to read them and look at the pictures.  I love it!  Oliver is always bringing us books and squirming his way onto our laps, and Claire is no exception.  He grabs his books and worms his way right up to her!  And she LOVES it!!

We have been pretty busy lately with school starting back up.  And with the start of school comes the start of the activities.  Here is Oliver at his swim lessons.  He is doing so well.  He does not mind getting his face wet at all, so he loves to jump in!!  PS Check out that belly!

On top of being busy with activities and school we have had some birthday parties too!  Here is Oliver and Frankie hanging out at Bella's birthday party!

Even with their buddies around these two find a way to hang out!

Claire loved the parachute!

And Oliver loved to watch and do his famous "Woah".

Also, Grandma and Grandpa bought a cottage at the beach so we snuck in one last trip to the beach!  The weather was beautiful last weekend so we couldn't resist going for a long walk on the beach!

My beach bum.  She loved hanging out on the beach on last time this season.

She even walked in the water a little.

Then Claire and Great Grandma chatted away.

We stopped at the beach playground for a bit too.

Claire loved swinging away on the sand.

Oliver loves the swing too!

So September was a pretty busy month for us.  But busy in a good way.  Hopefully October will be just as great.  I can't wait for the fall weather and crunchy leaves.  Plus it is HALLOWEEN soon!!  I can't wait to dress these two up!!!!!

We spent last weekend visiting Uncle Brian and Aunt Erin at their cottage in Seneca Lake.  We had such a great time!  Claire had a blast playing with her cousin/friend Owen.  She also loved playing with Mr. Steve.  Here she is hanging out with Mr. Steve just chatting away on the dock.

The kids also had a blast with Miss Nikki too!

Mr. Steve and Miss Nikki were so good with the kids.  Claire loved just chatting with them and eating Miss Nikki's delicious pancakes.

Oliver and Owen had a nice time catching up on their reading.

 The lake was gorgeous.  And even though it was a little chilly the kids loved looking at the water.

Oliver loved playing outside and just being handsome.

He rode some bikes.

And worked on his putting.

Then when he got a little tired he hung out with Uncle Brian on the big swing.

Then we all took a turn.

It was so nice to just hang out and spend some time together.

Oliver and Grandma spent some time shoveling stones on the beach.

Then to warm up the kids hit the hot tub.  I love these two!  They have so much fun together.

 

Then Daddy and Oliver hopped in.

And Claire took a little time to think.

God I love her.

Mark and Claire took a little boat ride to enjoy the lake.  Claire loved going out there with her favorite buddy.

THANK YOU BRIAN AND ERIN FOR A GREAT TIME!!!

Irish Festival

Last Saturday was my birthday and we celebrated by going to dinner at a great Asian restaurant (my favorite) and then going to the Irish Festival.  We always have a blast at this festival.  The kids love the music and it is great to see our family.  My cousin plays in the band Emish (click HERE to check them out) and our family always goes to watch them!  

Claire loves getting her popcorn and hanging out with Uncle Greg.

And of course, she loves hanging with her Daddy! She loves to watch the Irish dancers perform.  She spent about 20 minutes dancing to the music.  It was hilarious!  She was dancing all over the place and she kept bobbing her down in this long dramatic pause.  She is awesome!

Here is Claire dancing away.

Oliver loved the music.  He kept dancing and he LOVES the drums!  Whenever there would be a drum solo he would watch the band (very seriously) and just go "woah".

And what would a festival be without the junk we buy for the kids.  Claire fell in love with this unicorn that you could "walk".  She kept saying "I can't wait to take her home and show her my room.  She has never seen my room and she is really excited!"

And Oliver is OBSESSED with balloons.  I am talking OBSESSED!  Whenever we are around balloons he goes crazy.  He goes "HI!!" and waves at them.  It is adorable.  So he was thrilled when I bought him this Spiderman balloon!  He kept kissing it and dancing with him.

He was very proud to show Spiderman to G.G.

Seriously?!  Could he be any cuter?!?  I cannot believe that he doesn't have bite marks all over his handsome little face! I could just eat him up!!!!!!!

My little Irish princess had fun hanging out with Nana (and her new unicorn).  

Overall, it was another great birthday.  After the festival the kids slept at Nana and Papa's (and trust me they couldn't wait for us to leave so that they could be spoiled rotten by Nana and Papa) and Mark and I went out with friends.  It was a great night full of laughs and great friends!  Another amazing year has gone by and I have so much to be grateful for!  I can't wait to see what the next year brings!!!!