Tuesday, November 16, 2010

We had a really great weekend!

Saturday, we went up to a local farm that turns into a tourist attraction each fall. They have a pumpkin patch (which we visited a couple of years ago for some nice photos of Mercer amongst the orange backdrop)... and they have a corn maze. We didn't realize that they now have "bouncy pillows" -- sort of like a bouncy house, but instead, it's a giant inflated pillow that comes out of the ground.










Mercer needed help to get up on the big bouncy pillow, as it was quite steep (here he's coming off of it as a slide). The small one - Mercer could run up to on his own.



The pumpkin patch was quite small, so we didn't get any good fall pics, but Mercer instead got to play on a tractor next to the pumpkins - which he was much happier about, I'm sure! We set him up on the pumpkin scale. He clocked in at a whopping 35 lbs (with shoes & clothes)!!


We also let him "direct" us through the corn maze. He loves giving directions now when we're driving (he knows alternate routes to his daycare in the morning: "go this way (he points to the left) i want to see the crane." There's a construction site at the hospital near our house. So - he was in his element at the corn maze. We let him go for it. He didn't go too far into the maze before turning around, so we did not get lost.

After leaving the farm, we stopped by a neighborhood arts festival. I did not participate in it this year as an artist with a booth or managing the children's art tent. Instead, a woman who started a business called nerdybaby.com managed the children's tent. She had science experiment stations set up. One was color mixing with dyed waters. Another had soluble materials that would expand upon hitting the water. Another station had a box of dyed water and translucent colored paddles that - when used together to scoop things out of the water - would appear to change colors. Mercer had fun playing at all stations, but when he was "scooping" (or really stirring) the contents of the box of dyed water, he was tagged by the local newspaper photographer. 2 years ago, Mercer was in the newspaper at this same event playing with chalk in the street. There are some of the other kids on the street captured in the article including a feature about an adopted girl whose mother wrote a book about their adoption story. She was selling the book there, but I didn't purchase one as Mercer's adoption story is so different. Maybe it will inspire me to continue working on the coloring book pages I had started years ago and make a series featuring Mercer?? Who knows!!


Here are some additional photos at the farm. Mercer likes to tackle & wrestle now. It's great on a bouncy pillow... but at home on the hardwood floor... that's a different story! He also likes to tumble now & likes for us to tumble with him. (NICE JOB, TODD!!) As you can see, Todd & I had a great time too jumping and playing on the bouncy pillow!!

1 comment:

The Hawkins Family said...

wow! you guys look like you had a blast! so happy!