Ramseyer Farms

This is a fun place.  I think we could have been there longer this year, had we left earlier and fed them a little while we were there.  There stamina for the attractions has increased since last year.  Madison carefully chose her outfit for a day on the farm :)

         

They also have new things tucked away in little places.  We started with some fun with little mazes and tic-tac-toe.  Then, the girls headed straight for the big – seriously BIG – corn bin.  I even love this place! 

    

From there, we headed to the tires.  This is a great playground experience, except for the black shoes you have when you leave from the rubber.  They did the tire to tire obstacle, climbed the tired wall, slid on a slide, swung on the tire swing, and lept between tires on the tire trail. 

         

Next came the pedal bikes.  These are maybe my most favorite thing.  I love how fast you can go.  Jeremy and I like to race.  This year, I beat him, but he says it was only because he was counting on a second lap to pull ahead.  I say I am the champion! 

    

We found this Wall Maze that was a good challenge.  You had to use the two pulleys connected to an object to direct a ball from the bottom to the top of the maze.  It involved a lot of hand-eye coordination.  We all conquered at least one. 

    

We tried the slides out again.  This one is steeper the the ones on the backside of the hill.  So, it is a definite rush of adrenaline. 

There was a tug-o-war challenge we had never done before. It was Jeremy and I against the girls… and a few random boys that happened to be standing there.  They won… we kinda let them.

And the hamster wheel and rolling tubes…

 

Then, we ran out of time.  It was dark.  Ellie was having a breakdown from “starving”.  And we still needed to pick out the pumpkins.  Madison pondered hard over hers.  Ellie picked fairly quickly, but maybe changed it up once. 

    

We made it out and headed to eat.  It was a good night.

Still need to carve those pumpkins…

Fall Soccer

The past two years, we have joined the ranks of the soccer fans and players.  I like our league.  I like that, for the most part… and for sure our teams and fans, we abide by these rules.

We have practice every Tuesday and Thursday night.  Which, to be honest, feels like a lot sometimes.  But, I use this time for two things: 1) go on a walk (this year with the dog), and 2) talk to other parents.  I don’t need to be at their practices.  In fact, this is probably the closest we will ever be located to a practice location.  It is barely over a mile from our house.  But I appreciate the way that – after the dinner rush – it forces me to go out and exercise.  And it gives me an opportunity to just sit and talk with others.  So, I kinda like the soccer season.  I am also glad it is only about 7 weeks.

Games were Saturday.  This was the hardest part because with two different kids to watch, we were there for what felt like most of a day.  But, again, it was a time to talk to others and just chill for a bit. 

Madison has had so much fun the past seasons.  She had a great coach this year, Kevin Weaver.  He was encouraging and easy to play for.  He even gave her (and the other players) personal notes at the end of the season of what he saw in them.  I have coached before, and I know the time and energy it takes to do this.  I think this year, it was neat to see Madison start to attack the ball a little more.  She also started to see holes in the field in move to get in the right position.  She was not on a team with many of her friends from school.  There were two of them from Dalton in fourth grade on her game time team, and about 4-6 more that came to practices, but were on the other team.  It didn’t seem to bother her much, and I thought it was cool she got to know some new kids.  She scored one goal, and I think they won one game.  It didn’t matter; the season was still a success!  Here are a few shots I got:

         

Ellie has had fun playing, too.  Last season, she was asking about when the season ended.  This year, she was a little disappointed to see it come to an end.  She had a good coach, too.  I appreciate the people willing to put so much time into something that gives them no monetary reward.  Ellie had a few girls on her team from school, but she had a chance to meet some other kids too.  She worked on passing this year.  During one game, you could see that this idea was forming in her head.  She would be heading down field with the ball when suddenly she would stop and wait for a teammate to catch up so she could pass her the ball.  While a good idea, sometimes, it is good to just take the fast break!  It did work a number of times to pass though.  One time, her teammate (Esther) and her passed and scored!  They ran down the field and I overheard them say, “We should try that again!”  Lightbulb moments!  Here are a few from her games:

         

Until next fall… or maybe the spring if they decide they want to do the spring season!

Things That Happened

Pepper had his 1st birthday on October 8.  We didn’t celebrate it on that day – Jeremy was out of town and we were super busy.  Instead, we celebrated on the weekend.  Ellie and Madison had made signs for him and wrapped gifts.  Ellie gave him a cloth chicken/duck; it was destroyed in less than a week… maybe in a day. 

    

Madison gave him a bone; this one is still going strong.  Whenever he gets a toy, he takes it and runs under our blue chair… which is also where he goes when he has something he shouldn’t. 

      

I think he feels untouchable under there.  I don’t know when he is no longer considered a puppy and will do away – magically – with all the bad puppy habits.  I was hoping at 1.  Most people are telling me 2.  He is getting better, but he is still not where we would like him to be.  I think it is partly our fault…

We have enjoyed hiking at Kidron Park Woods recently.  It is a good route for the dog with lots of exploring even on leash.  And it is beautiful in the fall. 

The girls still enjoy reading – together and alone.  This particular night, they were reading in unison this classic – Sing, Sophie!  It was entertaining and pretty well done.

Finally, Ellie really wanted Jeremy to come talk for Career Day at school.  So, he made it happen.  She was super proud that he came.  He had a 20 minute time slot – 20 minutes to talk to 2nd graders about being an environmental scientist.  20 minutes!  He did a great job.  He got some swag from his company as well as Soil and Water Conservancy to pass out, created his first Google Slide presentation, and made a coloring sheet for them.  (Well, I made the coloring sheet, but …)  I am glad he was able to do this.