Anna makes us laugh

Anna is clever and already knows how to make us laugh with the things she says. One thing she's been saying lately is "Don't want it _____." For example, "Don't want it milk" or "Anna don't want it shoes." I think it's so cute she says it that way instead of "I don't want shoes"- or even "Don't want shoes."

She continues to say, "No, self!" when I ask to help her with something. She is an independent girl.

One thing she said last night had both Ja and I laughing. It was bedtime and I was trying to get the girls to come to the bathroom to brush out their wet hair and brush their teeth (something they really don't like doing). I decided to walk into Macy's room, look at my pretend paper, and ask, "Is there a Macy here?" Macy thought that was funny and she happily ran into the bathroom. That was the easiest time I've ever had getting Macy ready for bed.

I went back into the room and asked, "Is there an Anna here?" Anna was busy playing with a toy but quickly answered "No." I laughed and said, "then what is your name?" to which she quickly replied, "Kate." She was very confident about her answer and did not hesitate at all with choosing a name.

I'm not sure why this is so funny to me. She's only 2 and she already pretends to be someone else. Macy does this too sometimes but I love that Anna has caught on.

Anna makes me laugh every day with her funny sayings and by how happy she is. She runs everywhere, or if not runs then leaps. Today in the backyard she stood on top of a little table and belted out "Let it Go" complete with arms outstretched and her eyes closed. All that came out was "let it go" and "anymore" but it was still the cutest version of the song I've ever heard. When I asked if I can take a picture she replied, "No want it picture!"

I can't imagine life without my little Anna! I feel like she's always been with us. It's been a lot of fun spending my mornings with her while Macy is at school. She is such a doll and does very well at the grocery store!

Anna showing me what she wants for Christmas

Anna after eating a kit kat bar.

I asked Anna to say cheese and got this.

Anna sweetly lines her shoes up against the wall when she takes them off.

Macy's Preschool Field Trip to Patterson Farm

Macy had her first preschool field trip of the year at Patterson Farm. This place was made for preschool field trips. They were cranking out classes one right after another. The kids had a good time and it was fun to see timid Macy interact with her friends.

First was a stop to take a class picture:

from the left: Miss Stacey, Megan, Lillie, Allie, Macy, ?, Caroline, Sophia, Diego, Hank, Morgan, Gregory, Miss Lesley

Then they sit a few schools into a barn to watch a movie about their farm. The kids were not interested in that much. Allie (red hair) is Macy's swinging buddy. She taught Macy how to pump and now they spend most of their playground time together swinging and singing Let it Go. 

Next, the kids stuffed a scarecrow with hay.

Each child got a cup of food to feed some animals. The farm has been doing this long enough to know that kids won't hold their hand right and will get bit so they installed some PVC pipes the kids put the food into instead. This made it a little less exciting for me but the kids didn't seem to mind. Macy's food lasted a long time because she would only put one or two pieces down the tube at a time.  The food was some sort of oats. 

Next, was a hay ride around the farm which dropped us off at the "pumpkin patch." It was just a spot in a field with little pumpkins scattered around. Once again, it doesn't take much to make kids happy. Macy was just as thrilled to choose one of these pumpkins as she was picking one from the vine.

Here's the winner!

Anna got a pumpkin too but this is what happened when I asked her to hold her pumpkin for a picture. She said it was too heavy and ran off. 

The scheduled field trip was done after the pumpkins. There was a great playground here and we could've spent more time playing but we had another appointment right after this field trip. I was hungry and Anna was a little cranky too. At least it was a beautiful day and Macy had fun with her friends from preschool.

Pinterest Fail

I've been trying to come up with activities to do with the girls so they don't watch Netflix so much. The two projects we've done lately I got from Pinterest and neither has worked out.

The first was some bath crayons. Macy and I shredded a bar of soap, mixed it with water, and added food coloring to give them colors. First off, Macy couldn't shred the soap so she lost interest quickly. Second, the soap and water was hard to mix so she didn't want to do that either. Third, when we tried them in the bath tub they didn't work. They hardly made a mark so the girls didn't like playing with them. Pinterest fail.

The second activity was supposed to be shaving cream dough. The lady called it cloud dough. I call it crumble dough. Supposedly all you do is mix shaving cream and corn starch together to make a "dough." No measurements were given so I guessed. Not enough corn starch and it was too wet, too much and it crumbled into tiny little pieces. It was fun to play with for a few minutes. Macy lost interest again after only 5 minutes (I'm seeing a pattern here) but Anna played with it for longer. It sure felt cool in your hands. It was wet but dry at the same time, weird I know, but somehow it was.

Anna loved it but made a huge mess! Her favorite was clapping her hands once they were covered in the goop. That shot little pieces all over the room. It was tricky to clean up because it was wet so I couldn't sweep it and I was afraid to vacuum it up. I ended up using a rag to wash it down which wasn't too bad since it was shaving cream. It did leave a residue over the table, chairs, and floor which took a few cleanings to get rid of. Cleaning the floor on all fours is not something a pregnant lady wants to do.

I stuck Anna in the bath to get her cleaned up.

At least we made a memory together. Probably one that only I will remember.

Red Wolf Farm

Saturday we ventured out to Red Wolf Farm out in Maiden, NC. We had a really great time! It wasn't crowded to us (the ticket lady said it was). If it were in VA it would've been swarming with people. There was so much to do there: wagon ride, pick pumpkins, obstacle course, huge slide, corn maze, corn bins, wooden playsets to climb on, tubes to run through, animals, horse rides, wagon rides, vendor with food, and other craft vendors. 

We took the wagon ride from the entrance to the big slide. Macy was excited to ride it but kinda fell towards the end of her ride so she wasn't enthusiastic about riding it agian. She eventually did and Anna rode on Ja's lap a few times. It was great not having a line! You could ride it as many times as you'd like. 

From there we went to the John Deere tractor race track. It was a great idea but most of the tractors were broken and wouldn't pedal. 

Anna was upset hers didn't have pedals. Not that he could reach them anyways. 

Macy eventually found one that works. 

Then the girls climbed on the wooden pirate ship. Anna did laps of going up the ramp and down the slide. 

Macy spotted the big tube to walk through. 

The girls loves the inflatable obstacle course. Ja had to do it a few times with Anna but she eventually went through it all by herself. Macy kept a very watchful eye on Anna to make sure she was safe. 

Macy is a pro at these things. I was impressed Anna could do it all by herself. 

By this point Macy was begging to ride the horses. She loves horse rides. Anna said she wanted to ride too so we tried putting them both on the same horse. When Ja lifted Anna up she grabbed onto his arms and lifted up her legs to make it impossible to sit her down. Wasn't going to happen. Macy was thrilled to ride Buttercup. She had a smile the whole ride. 

After Macy got off her horse Anna spotted a horse tied to a tree. It was a little smaller than Buttercup. She pointed to it and said, "Anna's horse." It was like she was trying to say, "I would ride that horse. That's mine. Not this big white one."

We hopped on the wagon ride again to take us up the hill to finish the activities. Farmhall tractors pulled the wagon. We thought of grandma and grandpa Winder. When the engine started up Ja said the smell of it brought back so many memories of being at his grandparents farm.

Loving the ride!

The corn bin was a definite favorite. We went back to these a couple of times. They had 4 giant tubs full of dried corn kernels. Macy has been in this type of thing before but I hadn't so I was anxious to jump in. It was a lot of fun! The corn was cool and combined with the weight of it the experience was almost therapeutic. I can see why the kids love it. It's fun to run it through your fingers. 

And fun to throw it around. Anna had some stuck in her diaper.

Ja captured this great shot of me and Anna in the corn tub. She was loving it!

It's funny when you step into the corn your feet sink down. I'm not sure how Anna walked with it up to her knees!

Macy was making corn angels but wouldn't let us get a picture of it.

I was able to convince Ja into the corn tub and he loved it too. He said we should buy one. When we saw the $300 price tag on the bin we changed our mind. We'll just have to visit Red Wolf Farm every year instead.

After enjoying some time in the corn we decided to pick out pumpkins. As soon as we got our shoes back on it started to rain. We huddled under a tree for a few minutes but it started to rain harder. It was such a shame because we had a perfect spot in the corn bin which was covered! We seriously left one minute too early. The tree wasn't keeping us dry so we decided to walk to the car and go home. Then it started to down pour. It was hard to see where I was going because the rain was getting into my eyes. All four of us were complexly drenched! It was like we jumped into the pool with our clothes on. Walking in jeans that are drenched is a weird feeling.

Luckily, I brought jackets for me and the girls that we had left in the car. The girls stripped down to their underwear and diaper then put on their jackets for the ride home. We were extra lucky because Macy had for some unknown reason put a towel in the car. At least the girls could dry off and warm up with their jackets. Ja took off his shirt for the ride home.  It was quite the adventure!

We had a great time at the farm and made it very memorable by walking to the car (which was a long ways from the corn) in the pouring rain. Macy said she liked this place very much and wants to make it a tradition to go every year. Just not the rain part, neither girl liked that.