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!!!!!