A September day on the Farm

About 3 weeks ago, Lyla and I made an impromptu trip to Nana's and Papa's house. Both Lyla and I really enjoyed our visit because we hadn't seen Nana and Papa since June and we had not seen my sister and her kids since Lyla's Birthday party in May. Lyla loved to be home as she got to see some farm animals which is one of her favorite things in Lyla's whole world.

Cousin Jillian and Lyla made a date to go to a local vegetable farm that has farm animals that the kids could get close to and pet. This was a huge hit for Lyla. Jillian was not to impressed with the smell that these animals produced, but still enjoyed seeing them. This farm also had outdoor activities that the kids could play on. Jillian enjoyed trying all the different activities while Lyla was just content playing in the largest sandbox in the world.


Here are some pictures from the girls adventure to the farm..

Lyla is obsessed with pigs, cows, neigh-neighs, baa-baas, and chickens right now. And all of these animals were at the farm for her to enjoy. The pigs were asleep when we got there but it wasn't long until they were awake. That was the other great thing, going on a weekday allowed us to be the only people in the barn which made it great for the girls to see whatever they wanted. Here are the two little farmers and the most popular animal of all - this little orange kitty. And this kitty was so nice and friendly for the girls to see....

and to touch and pet...

When we left the barn area Lyla was calling for the kitty. The kitty ended up following us for a bit which didn't help Lyla forget the kitty.

We headed over to an area that had slides and at the end there was a lot of straw. Here is Lyla sitting and playing in the straw..

Now both girls playing in the straw..

Lyla's favorite spot, next to the barn with kitty, was the sand box. She sat in this sand box for at least a half an hour as Jillian ran around and tried out all of the other attractions. Lyla was happier than a lark here in this sand box. Jillian wasn't too keen on the sand as it kept getting in her shoe, but there was lots of other things for her to do.

Can you see Lyla? I told you it was the biggest sandbox in the world!

Here is Jillian going for a ride on a horsey!
We ended the day by picking up some freshly baked cranberry-raisin bread. It was still slightly warm and so delightful. The four of us ate a whole loaf as we drove into town to do some shopping.

I am going home in about a month, and Pam and I and Jillian and Lyla have already made a date to go back to the farm. We can't wait!

Oh Deer!

Yesterday on my way to work at approximately 6:45 in the morning I had a little miss hap with a deer. In that the deer decided to run in front of my car and I hit it. Luckily I am fine. So basically the deer came out of no where. But the odd thing was that I thought about hitting a deer right before I hit the deer. Maybe I am psychic or something.

As you can see from the pictures the deer came out from the right side of the road and hit me on the passenger side of the car. I think I was driving about 40 to 45 miles an hour and I hit the brakes. You could see on the roadway my skid marks, and they were completely straight, so I didn't swerve which is a good thing or I would have been in the ditch.

Unfortunately the impact did not kill the deer. Rather it ended up in the ditch on the opposite side of the road and it was rolling around trying to get up. It ended up going over the ditch so at least I couldn't see it.

I called work and started to cry hysterically. I guess it was the shock of hitting something. Then I called 911 for the police to come out. And then I tried calling Ryan who was still asleep and didn't hear the phone. The police showed up around 30 minutes later . He had to shoot the deer as it was injured but not dead. He came back and told me that it was a really big buck and that I was lucky not to be hurt. Then we checked out the car and decided that I could be able to make it to work. An hour later than normal, I punched into work ... What a start to the day that was! Then everyone from work wanted to know if I had gotten the deer for meat, and NO I didn't.

I have to admit that this was pretty traumatic event. I keep seeing the deer right in front of my face or seeing it in the ditch injured. I am glad that I was alone without Lyla with me. And I was definitely being watched over by angels as I came out unscratched, as I heard so many horror stories from deer collisions.

Here are some pictures of our car...From my work on the 8th floor it looked just like a deer body outline on the hood of the car... I can see it, can you?

Gone is my light, and I could reach right in to the side there and pull out pieces of the car that were no longer attached. They are now in the back seat of my car...

This one is a little hard to see, but just below the wiper blade start point there were scratches on the hood from the antlers. Too close to comfort - they were right in front of my face, almost through the windshield.

A picture from the other side, the dent in the hood from the impact..

Our car is already in the shop for work and we have a rental car. I hope none of you ever hit a deer...

Labor Day 2009 - The Zoo!

On Labor Day we decided to head out to our local zoo. Lyla woke up in the morning talking about cow and pig. She was indeed in for a trip to the zoo. Even though Lyla had a cold we headed out so she could see the animals for herself.
We enjoy going to the zoo, but it is getting increasing harder to go by yourself with Lyla as she wants out of the stroller to walk and does not like to have to get back in the stroller. So I was glad that we could all go together as two hands are better than one when dealing with any situation.
She was pretty good, other than these struggles with her independence she had a great time.

This visit the big hit was the 'Neigh-neighs' or horses for all of you English speaking folks. There were two horses at the zoo and they came right up to the fence so Lyla could get a good look at them. Here she is getting a close look at the horses...
And here she is telling her Daddy all about the Neigh - neighs...

We then headed over to the polar bear exhibit. I had learned on an early trip to the zoo that the Polar bears like to swim in the morning hours, so we were hoping to see them swim as Ryan had never seen them swimming before. And we sure did luck out as three of the bears were swimming around and putting on a great show for everyone to see.

Lyla was getting tired by that time, and was enjoying her snack but she did enjoy watching them swim as well. While we were watching the polar bears a little boy came along and started to eat her Gerber sticks from her stroller tray. It was pretty funny, the mother was pretty mortified - Ryan and I just laughed...

Here is our little snacker taking a look at the swimming bears...

See the bear swimming in the foreground... to the left of Lyla's head...

There are two bears hanging out, one floating above our head with a pretend ice berg in its paws.

You can then go up to a viewing area on the upper level and see the bears as well. So we went up and the bears were playing right in front of the glass. This is probably as close as we would ever want to get to these huge animals. The female was about 500 pounds and the male (the one facing us) is about 1000 pounds! Massive animals..

Our zoo has a train that goes from the main gate to the back of the zoo property. Every time the train goes by Lyla gets very excited and says 'Choo Choo' or 'Train'. I had been wanting to take her on the train for a while but wanted to save it for a time when both Ryan and I could experience it with her.

She was very excited at first, sitting on the train, talking about it and eager to just be on the train ... Here is her before the train started picture...

And here is her during the train ride picture, after she had calmed down some... She really did not enjoy the train ride at all. It was pretty loud and it goes through a tunnel which is dark - which really scared her. So I guess we will have to wait awhile before we try the train again.

After we got of the train she said 'All Done?' in a little voice but then pointed at it and said 'Choo-Choo' when it pulled into the next station. I think we will be walking the zoo rather than riding the train for a little while longer..

We had a great time at the zoo this labor day... it was a great family outing...

Go Team Go!

Last Friday we went to our local high school's first home football game. Coming from the great white north, neither Ryan or I had experienced high school sports like this. This is a community event, a social event and a great time for everyone - even a young family with a toddler. Lyla and I went for the music and Ryan went for the sports. There is something for everyone at these events.
Here is Lyla when we arrived at the gates. You can see the excitement in her eyes. We decided to stay outside the gates as there would be no way that Lyla would sit still in the stands. She is a on the go kinda girl. It worked out great. She was able to walk or dance around as she pleased and we didn't bother anyone who was there to watch the game.

Here is Lyla watching the team run out to the field and listening to the band playing their song... it stopped her mid-sentence...

but not for long as she started to say 'Go! Go!' as she could hear the audience cheering 'Go team Go!' She also was very taken by the band's hat as she was talking about their hats to us.

We spent a lot of time walking around. Here is Lyla and her Daddy walking outside the gates. She is smiling at the crowd as they came in, saying hi to people and watching the cars go by.
She was a great greeter... If you can click on the photo - check out Lyla's smile.. priceless!

One of Lyla's highlights was the ambulance or 'truck' in Lyla lingo. She got right down and had a good look at it, pointed at it and talked about it a lot.

Here is Mama and Lyla having a dance..

and another dance...

Our goal was to make it to half time so we could hear the band play. We almost made it but there were flags and time outs and all that jazz so we ended up leaving before the band played as Lyla was done. Maybe next time. All in all, we had a great time at our high school football game. It is a great American tradition - one that we are hoping to enjoy next time the team plays at home.

Halloween preparations...

Today Lyla and I went to Once Upon a Child to look for Halloween costumes. We had decided to see what the second hand store had to offer before buying a costume for like 30 dollars. I mean this is something that Lyla will wear for one night - if we are lucky - so I didn't want to spend a whole lot on it.

There was one rack of costumes for all sizes of children. Not really organized well and very crammed together in a small space. I was holding Lyla because I thought we wouldn't be long. Lyla quickly made her way to the ground to explore and I searched the costumes. We came to two options... which Lyla tried both on - a pumpkin and a bee. Then we had to make a decision.

So I let Lyla choose, seeing that it is her costume. And what did she choose.... The "Bee'. Just yesterday Lyla was pointing out real Bees to me at the play ground. So I think she made a good decision!

So, we left the store with a costume for Lyla which I spent only $6.50 on. Which made both Lyla and I very happy!

When we got home, Lyla quickly asked for her costume and had to put it back on. Lets just say I couldn't get it off of her.

She danced in it...

She found her 'shun-shine- in it...

And she even ate lunch in her costume.

Maybe she will wear it more than one night...

Marching

Lyla learned to march this week. Here is a snap shot of her marching in our backyard last night. When I say ' March! March! March!" she breaks into this marching routine. All we need now is the band... Oh Happy Fall!

Gifts from Above

Sandy

Meet Sandy. This is the horse that sits at our local Meijer who entertains children of all ages. You can ride this horse for 1 cent. Where else in the world can you get a ride for 1 penny? This is truly a find!

A couple of weeks ago Lyla was introduced to Sandy and she was so thrilled to finally get a ride on it. I didn't get very good pictures as I had to hold on to Lyla, even though she thought she was a big girl and didn't need to be helped on her 'horse'.

Last week I didn't have a penny, so I just let Lyla sit on it without the motion. This week I was sure to have a penny but Lyla didn't want to go for the ride. Instead she talked to the lady who was sitting on the bench beside Sandy.

We look forward to many rides with our friend Sandy!