Fields of Love

I love finding outings to take Isabella and Brooklyn on. I am not the kind of mom who lasts long just sitting at the park, especially in the heat of the summer, and so it's much more enjoyable for all if there is an actual event for us to attend. I don't know if I'll be able to do many 'single parent' outings once there are three children with me so I have made the effort to do a few fun things this summer and am hoping to find a few more for the fall.

Last week's outing was to a place called Andrews Scenic Acres. We want to hold Brooklyn's first birthday party there as in October they have a huge pumpkin patch, haunted house and other things for the kids to do. There is a small playground and picnic area, but the majority of the place is acres and acres of fresh fruits and vegetables. You can pay a few dollars and go pick your own fresh blueberries, or raspberries or what not.

Today's Parent was sponsoring a day at Andrews so I talked to a few other parents and we took our kids for a few hours in the morning. Isabella got to hang out with her friend, (and future husband?) Liam. The above picture of them holding hands was not coerced at all. We simply asked them to walk together, thinking the faster at that moment would speed up the slower. They were of course adorable.

There is also a playground, and this is the main slide. Isabella climbed up the whole thing by herself. There weren't actual steps but rather metal bars to walk up. I stood behind her so nervous but the slide is taller than me and I had to let her do it by herself. She didn't even slip, she made sure to have good grip before moving up any steps and she even remembered to only go up onto her knees at the top. Then she slid down all by herself. Definitely not a baby anymore.

The corn stalks sure made her look small though. We decided to also take a hay ride around the lot and while we were waiting for our turn Isabella ran over to the Today's Parents reps just to hang out. They were throwing around a ball and frisbee and she wanted in on the fun. This was probably the most confusing part of the day as all of the Today's Parents reps were teenagers. What they were there to tell us parents I have no idea as they only talked to each other. Isabella sure enjoyed them as she introduced herself, (she now tells people: "hello, bella" while pointing to herself). She is going to be quite the social butterfly.

There wasn't too much to do as the place was quickly filling up with other older children and there was one more child than adult in our party so no extra hands for fancy pictures or anything too memory making, although Angela did teach them how to 'sample' fresh fruit from the bush.

All in all I'd say it was a successful outing. I'm sure Isabella would have continued going up and down the slide a zillion times, but now she'll get the chance when we go back for Brooklyn's birthday and there are more adults for us to socialize with thus extending her happy hour.

This weekend our outing is going to be the Children's Museum in London. I think it's going to be a family outing as everyone else is quite busy, and it's a few hours of driving, but they're doing a Robert Munsch exhibit so I think it will be worth the trek.