the farm!

Wow, we've had a busy week as this is my third post tonight! I'm trying to keep up!!

Daddy is out of town for work, so we went to spend the night at Nana and Papa's. It's nice to break up the week when Daddy's gone, with an adventure. Since Papa retired, he has been working at his cousin's farm (the farm Magra grew up on). We thought it was time to take the girls out there to check it out. Considering we were just at the state fair on Monday, I thought they would love seeing more cows. They weren't really interested in the cows, but they were sure interested in Lucky the dog! SURPRISE! It was still fun to take them out there. They loved running around the open area and since it was such a beautiful day (finally!), we all had a great time!

Checking out Lucky's spectacular trick. She jumps up on top of this tree stump!!

Little Pie enjoyed the freedom to run around.

Getting in the puppy's face...her usual m.o.

I like Lucky! (Lucky was so nice to her too!)

Bye bye Little Bird!!

Loving all of the freedom!

Checking out the kittens.

Fluffy kitty!

Little Pie even loved the kittens.

Sorry Little Pie, we are not bringing one home.

Gentle kitty.

Little Bird pet the kitten as long as somebody was holding it.

The girls brought a calf out of the barn so Little Pie and Little Bird could see. They weren't too excited though.

Wanting to run around some more.

OK, I like the cow as long as it's over there.

One last pet for the kitty.

Be gentle Little Pie!!!

Hey, where are you going??

little gym!

Tuesday was our last day of our summer session at The Little Gym. We are enrolled in the fall session so it wasn't too sad ending the class. We had a great time with the kids we met in our class and are sure we will run into them again. The Little Gym has been a terrific experience and the girls are now so excited to go there. They have really come a long way since that first class. They both eagerly run into the gym when class starts, they are so excited to introduce themselves to the class each time, and they hurriedly run to the instructor, Miss Deb, when she is demonstrating a new skill so that they can be one of the first to try it. I really can't believe how much they have grown and how much they have learned by attending this class. They have become really strong and so much more coordinated. I'm so glad that we participated and that we will continue to participate in the future.

Since it was our last class of the summer, we had a little ceremony to celebrate all of the accomplishments the kids had. Each child got a ribbon and stickers. The stickers were a huge hit!!

One of Little Bird's favorite things at Little Gym was swinging on the rings. As the summer went by and she grew taller, it was easier and easier for her to grab the rings herself!

Both girls LOVE the balance beam. Towards the end of the summer they practically walked across it themselves. I only had to be standing next to them with my hand nearby for them to walk to the end of the beam.

Fortunately the girls are patient and good at waiting their turn. Even though you can see that Little Bird has climbed up on the beam, she waited until I helped Little Pie to the end before walking herself.

Very proud of herself!!

The day's skill was wheel-barrels across the beam.

Little Bird was a CHAMP!!

 

 

 

Tumbling. Both girls love to do forward rolls.

Little Bird's FAVORITE activity is playing with the balls. She only plays with the yellow ones!!

Red ball. We are starting to learn our colors, but have a ways to go yet.

Little Bird receiving her ribbon and sticker.

Little Pie receiving her ribbon and sticker.

We love The Little Gym!!!

state fair!

On Monday, Daddy took the morning off and we headed to the fair. It was an extremely HOT day, but fortunately we were there during the coolest part; the morning. The girls had a GREAT time! I think they really enjoyed watching all of the people. Little Pie was all about checking out the animals. Both girls had a great time learning so many new things!

Ready to go in to the fair!

Dressed for success at the Little Farm Hands exhibit.

The girls got an apron and a bucket to collect their "work".

Kids had to be taller than two chickens and shorter than 4 to ride the John Deere tractors. Whew! We just made it!

Driving the tractor. It's just like the one Uncle Rye had!

Little Bird driving her tractor.

"Feeding" the chickens with their corn.

Here the girls needed to plant some seed and water them.

Little Pie thought she was supposed to pick up the potatoes and throw them. That was wrong.

Picking an apple from the apple tree.

Checking out the goodies in their buckets.

Sweet Little Bird.

Enjoying a Sweet Martha's. mmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Ran into some free apple sauce. The girls preferred this snack over any of the fried stuff. GOOD!!

mmmm...apple sauce!

Checking out the lambs in the Miracle of Birth center.

Checking out a cow in the Miracle of Birth center. Little Pie basically tried to climb into any and all pens. She didn't understand what all the bars and fences were for. Aren't you supposed to pet animals??

"Cow's sleeping. Shhhh," says Little Bird.

All you can drink milk!! Little Bird managed to dump half of her cup of milk down her shirt. The rest is on her face.

One way to keep cool on a really hot day is to poor milk in your lap.

Little Pie was not afraid of any animal. Here she had no problem petting the horse. "Gentle horse," said Little Pie.

Checking out some pigs. Again, Little Pie wanted to climb in.

The end of our trip to the fair. Little Bird was so proud of her pig hat. 

We had so much fun at the fair even though we were only there a few hours. We are so excited that next year we will be able to take them on some of the kiddie rides. I'm sure they will LOVE it!!