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.

Our Shocking Weekend

I woke up to the shock of the century this saturday. I heard commotion down in the kitchen and I thought it was Ja making breakfast for us (he often does on weekends). I went back to sleep then was awakened by Macy singing Jingle Bells on the top of her lungs down in the kitchen.

That was Shock #1- she went downstairs without me! For the first time in her 4 1/2 years she actually got out of bed and went somewhere without getting me first.

Shock #2- She went downstairs with Ja! (for some reason he is incapable of certain things in her eyes) Or so I thought...

Around 8 o'clock Macy comes into our room and tells me she made me breakfast. I follow her downstairs and find this in the kitchen:

Shock #3- Macy really did make me breakfast! All by herself!! Ja thought she was with me and I thought she was with him.

Here's her soup recipe: 3 eggs, 3 spoonfuls of dill pickle relish, a small container of vanilla yogurt, whole chives, water, and 1 1/2 cups of cream.

Of course she wanted me to try her soup since she made it for me. I took the littlest spoonful I could expecting the worst. Shock #4- it didn't taste that bad! In fact, the cream made it taste good. We deliberated over how we could turn the soup into something else since it had raw egg in it. I suggested pancakes and Macy was all for it. So we added: a few cups of flour, two teaspoons baking powder, and two tablespoons of oil. Macy wanted to add salt and pepper so that went in there too.

Continuing her independence Macy wanted to pour the pancakes onto the skillet. I think this one was a Minnie Mouse pancake complete with bow.


Shock #5- the pancakes turned out fluffy and yummy! I could taste pickle but it wasn't strong. If I didn't know it was in there I'm not sure I would've been able to identify it. I found it funny that I had to pull out long pieces of chives but I could tell they added to the overall flavor. I only put butter on them and I thought they were good. Ja had a harder time eating them. He said he couldn't get past the fact there were pickles in his pancakes. Savory pancakes are a innovative concept and would be delicious with sausage. Maybe Macy is onto something...

As a side note- I'm not sure where she got this new found independence. She does help me cook a lot but she's never tried to do it on her own. Two Sunday's ago a sister missionary gave a talk and shared a story of trying to make lunch when she was four. She put raw eggs in a bowl and a few other ingredients. She tried it and it was horrible. Perhaps Macy was listening to the story but tuned out when the sister said it was horrible. Macy was sure proud of her self for making us breakfast!

We decided to go the Amazing Maize Maze which is just down the street from us. It has over two miles of maze to walk through and I'm pretty sure we walked at least that much. Saturday was a beautiful day with sunny blue skies. Macy spent almost the whole time in the wagon. Anna walked or was carried. I don't think she liked the bumpy ride.

This was Macy at the end. People passing us thought she was asleep.

At the start of the maze you're handed a blank sheet with numbers and all around the maze there are mailboxes with pieces of the maze inside. I don't think I would have found my way out even with a map. I'm so glad Ja was with us doing all the navigating. I would have been the person waving her flag in desperation asking for the exit. In 2 hours and 15 mins we found 11 of the 12 squares. It was a little disappointing not to finish but we did have to take a long detour to try and find a bathroom. Plus we had a 2-year old, a 4-year old, a pregnant lady, and a wagon.  Considering all of that we did pretty well. The girls were excellent and we had no crying. Towards the end we were trying to find the exit and Macy said, "I want to get out of this maze!" Shock #6- That was all the complaining we had. 

Ja then took Macy to a birthday party an hour away while I put Anna down for a nap, watered our grass (we just had it aerated and new grass seed put down), and made rolls for the dinner before the General Women's meeting. Everyone was exhausted that night!

Sunday morning Macy wanted to make breakfast again. I suggested a fruit salad because I know she likes chopping things up. She was excited about this and wanted to chop up chives to go in. I talked her out of that. 

At church we had another big shock, this time by Anna. It was time to go to nursery and Shock #7 she just walked right in! There was no crying, no asking for daddy to stay, nothing. We waved good-bye and that was it. We waited 7 months for that moment! I think the thing that helped was her nursery leader babysat her one morning two weeks ago. Ever since then Anna has had an easier time going to nursery.

Everyone was exhausted after our very busy weekend and both girls were in bed by 8:30! Shock #8! It was amazing having extra time in our night.

Another side note about Macy's independence: For the past two weeks she has been going to the bathroom all by herself! Usually she would want me there for moral support I guess. She could do everything herself so she would make excuses like she didn't like the dark, or didn't want Anna to come in, or some silly reason. For awhile I was able to say, "Tell me when you're done and I'll help." Then when she tired of that she would say, "Mom, I have to go potty and I can't tell you when I'm done." I would have to escort her to the bathroom and sit and watch her complete the whole task by herself. But now, Shock #9 she will tell me she has to go potty, goes, flushes, and washes her hands all by herself! I don't have to be there anymore! This is such a freeing feeling!!

Macy on two wheels!

Its official! Macy can ride her bike with no training wheels all by herself! Now she can start by herself, ride fast, and break all by herself. She's very good at steering too. I love her determined face!

Two days ago we went to the pool parking lot with our neighbor Austin. Both kids were riding around in circles and going quite fast. I was really impressed with Macy since she used to be scared about going fast. Ja tried to get pictures of them but most were blurry because they wouldn't slow down!

The next night Ja took her out and she took a turn too sharp and fell off her bike. She cried but she got back on her bike and rode some more. This is huge for Macy. Usually when something gets hard for her or she gets hurt she gives up. Macy was very determined to ride her bike!

A few weeks ago Ja was out with Macy riding on the tennis courts. She had a couple of setbacks (riding into the net, having a hard time starting) and announced she was done riding. He pulled out a video he took of her riding really well. That was all the motivation she needed. She got back on her bike and rode some more. Way to go Macy!

 Anna joins the big kids by watching them. Tonight she decided to "climb" this pole. She loves trying!

 Macy actually did climb the pole and made it off the ground.

The past few days

Things have slowed down since school started last week. The weather cooled down this week so we've actually been able to play outside. Our neighbor have us a swing set on Saturday so it's been fun playing in the backyard again. Today we blew bubbles which we haven't really done since May because it had been too hot.

I wanted to document a couple of things we've done in the last two days. Nothing exciting but I enjoyed the activities.

Yesterday I needed to cut the girls nails. Neither of them like this so I decided to bring out the nail polish to try and help things. I said before we paint we have to cut. I started with Anna but she was not on board. Macy stepped in and said, "Look Anna. I'm not crying." I then cut her nails quickly and easily. Anna then got her nails cut, not happily, but she wasn't  crying. Macy still refused to have her toenails cut so I'll have to deal with crying sooner or later.

Both girls wanted to paint their own nails. Anna let me paint her nails blue first then wanted to paint another color on top. As you can imagine, they looked, umm, fabulous!

This was such a simple activity but the girls were so excited to paint their own nails. They ran upstairs super excited to show daddy their work.

Today we played with play-do. We haven't done this since Spring. Both girls played for a long time and did really well. And the best part of all was they both helped clean up. Sometimes it's like pulling teeth to get Macy to clean up. Anna is usually pretty helpful (knock on wood).

I sure love my girls!

Funny things Macy said today

We drove past some cows in the field today and Macy said:

"Mom, I want to know what a cow looks like inside. I want a cow for Christmas. A dead one so I can cut it up to see inside. No, a horse. A live one so I can ride it. Tell that to Santa."

She was asking Siri questions on Ja's phone. She asked her favorite color, who her best friend is, and her favorite animal. Siri said she doesn't like talking about herself to each question. Ja asked Macy to ask Siri another question so we can get to know Siri better. Macy responded, "She doesn't like to talk about her herself!" So she asked Siri where the closest playground is. 

Anna is very much into independence and tells me often she will do something herself by saying "myself." 

Macy's first day of Pre-k!!

Macy told me last night, " mom I'm so excited to go to school with real teachers, not moms." I guess she remembers doing the preschool co-op with friends two years ago!

She was thrilled to go and woke up nice and early this morning. She walked right into class without any hesitation. I knew she would be fine because she loves school. And she did a week of summer camp with her teachers at the preschool this summer so she was familiar with them. She will be attending Meadowlake Preschool at Meadowlake Presbyterian church. It's Monday through Thursday 9 am- noon. 

Anna asked about Macy all morning. She asked, " Macy back? Macy home?" Multiple times. I think she missed her big sister! 

I told Macy to wear her backpack but she said she wanted it in front. She is so grown up it's killing me! I'm glad I have another year of her being home most of the day before kindergarten starts!

I love these two girls so much! Anna wanted to be in the picture and is showing off her keys. Here's to a great school year Macy!

Anna turned 2!

Happy Birthday Anna!

I can't believe my little Anna is growing up so fast! Where has the time gone?!

We had a simple birthday for her. She seemed to know it was her birthday because she was extra good and sweet today. Or maybe I paid closer attention to her since it was her special day. Today made me love this sweet girl even more!

I went visiting teaching in the morning so I decided to have a special birthday lunch at McDonald's for Anna. We never stop for lunch so it was a special treat. Anna was very excited and stood up on the bench and sang everyone a song.

I tried to get Anna to say birthday or cheese but these are the faces I got. Silly girl.

Macy was excited about her happy meal too.

After Anna's nap she watched Frozen, her favorite. She didn't want to sit down but wanted to be right up in the action. I love watching her face as she watches the movie. She is so enthralled and looks joyful.

I made Anna a simple cake but it was delicious! I followed a tip to make a box cake taste like a bakery cake: add milk instead of water, use butter instead of oil, and add 1 tsp vanilla.

Macy took a picture of the birthday banner.

This was Anna dancing as we sang her Happy Birthday. All day she was telling me about blowing out the candles by saying, "Birthday" then pretending to blow out the candles. But when the real time came she wouldn't blow it out!

I tried getting her to smile with her cake but that didn't happen. (Yes her shirt is too big. Yes it is Macy's shirt.) We had the Elder's over and our neighbor Parker to help us eat cake.

After cake and ice cream we put together her wagon which was a present from Granny Dot.

I was about to put the girls in the bath when Macy reminded me about Anna's present's from us. Ja was at a meeting so I tried talking Macy into waiting until Ja could be there but she said, "No, Anna wants to open then now." Macy helped open the first present...

Which was a doll stroller! Anna loved it instantly and walked around frantically trying to find a baby to put inside. We had to convince her to come back and open the next present...

because we knew it was a baby doll! Anna immediately tried to rip the baby from the box.

I think she would have been more thrilled with this Frozen book if she had opened it first but it was second class to the baby and the stroller. She glanced at it then moved on.

Anna immediately put her presents to good use. She was so cute carefully putting her baby in the stroller.

And she made sure her baby had her bottle. 

I couldn't get a good shot of her because she wouldn't sit still long enough for a picture. 

I think this cute smile shows how happy she is with her birthday presents!

Anna took her baby in the bathtub with her after this!

Today the girls both took their babies and strollers for a walk around the neighborhood. My two little mommies! They also took them with us to Anna's doctor's appointment. They walked into the office with their babies swaddled in blankets carrying them very still because the babies were sleeping. 

Anna is still on the peanut side. She is 21 lbs (1st percentile), 33.5" (51st percentile), and head circumference is 17" (0%). She is healthy overall but we found out she does not like the doctor! She screamed on the top of her lungs as the doctor was checking her out. She also screamed when I had to take her shoes off to weigh her. She was crying out for her shoes and wanted them back on as soon as she got off the scale. The doctor said, "She may be little but she is feisty!" That's my Anna and I wouldn't have her any other way! I love her to death!