The Walk To Remember - 2011

Our local hospital runs a Pregnancy and Infant Loss support group, and every year, during October, which is Pregnancy Loss and Infant Remembrance Month, they have a Walk To Remember for the families.  It is a one mile walk from the hospital down the Nature Trail to the city's outdoor amphitheater.  After we get there, everyone releases balloons.

There were 165 people at the walk this year.  It is one walk I wish that there were LESS people :(  We have gone to the walk every year since 2008.  I blogged about it last year here.

Super walking on the street before we got to the trail.  His sign says  "I walk in memory of Christopher"

Flower with her balloon

Super with his balloon (the red one, his favorite color) and I'm behind Super and my balloon is the blue one

Letting the balloons go

As the balloons started to float up

Higher and higher

Super and I

We love you Christopher and we will ALWAYS remember you.

It just isn't Fall without THIS festival!

OK, I had to update to Google Chrome to post now, and I'm SOOO not used to this interface. Anybody else recently update to Google Chrome?

OK, back to "regular" posting. The third weekend of October, we went to our FAVORITE autumn celebration. We have been to this festival every fall since 2008. It is at Sugar Grove Nature Center, which is about 20 minutes from our house.

Flower drinking cold apple cider.  It was fairly warm this year at the festival.  Some years it is  hot, some years it is cold, last year it was wet.  I'll take fairly warm.

Super and Jelly Bean decorating our pumpkin.

Our Pumpkin "Nerd" He has a bow tie, braces, and  glasses.

My three cuties! I love Fall!

Super on the covered bridge.

Super and Jelly Bean walking over to the Imagination Grove area.

Super climbing up to fort.

Super up at the top of the fort.

Another shot of the three kids.  (That sweater that  Flower is wearing? Ithas been in numerous fall pictures on either Flower or Jelly Bean for the past 2-3 years.  I love clothes like that!)

Jelly Bean starting Flower on the zip line.

That is Super hanging at the end of the zip line and Jelly Bean is watching on the left.

Jelly Bean heading down the zip line.

This is the end of the "festival" pictures.  Don't fret - I still have pictures to share here of the Walk To Remember and Halloween from this past October, and then maybe, I'll go back to more writing and less pictures.  Or maybe not.  It is certainly faster to post pictures than having to think and write about something :) No, I will get back to writing more soon.  I miss it.  Plus I have some news that I haven't shared over here yet.  It is a little exciting too.  Keep watching here.  Hopefully I'll let you in on my news before the end of December.

Ropp Road Roundup - Part 2!

On the same day that we went to Ropp Cheese Farm, we went down the road (they are both located on Ropp Road, hence the name of the round-up!) to Radar Family Farms. Like I said in the last post, we had heard that they had changed it since we had last been out, but we didn't really know what to expect. Part of why we hadn't gone back out was that when we last went out in 2008, it was free, but now they charged admission. Well, once we got there, I understood why they charged admission. Since we were last there, they have added a much larger pumpkin patch, and a retail store, and lots of things for the kids to climb on/jump on/slide on, etc.

Here are some of the pictures from the rest of our day:

A quick photo before we went in

Flower doing some practice roping

Here is what she is was trying to rope. Jelly Bean is pointing them out to her.

Jelly Bean was slightly more successful.

Then the two of them tried it together to see if that helped. It didn't, but I had to take a picture of them cooperating. :)

The huge tube slide

My kids were too big for this ride, but I thought it was so cute that I took a picture of it. The corn bins are in the background.

Flower waiting at the top of the tube slide.

The kids spent the longest time in the corn bins. Here is Flower in one.

Super being buried in the corn.

The girls together again in the corn bin.

Super jumping on the hay bales.

Flower at the top of the hay castle.

I love this picture. Flower mid-jump on the jumping pillow.

And Super mid-jump.

We had a good day at both Ropp Farm and Radar Farm. We are looking forward to next year's Ropp Road Round-up. Maybe we will even try the corn maze next year!

The Ropp Road Roundup - Part 1

We live very close to two local farms - The Ropp Jersey Cheese Farm produces fine quality cheese. When you visit the farm, you can see (and pet!) the our pure bred prize winning Jersey calves. You can see the cheese slicing room with viewing windows, and also purchase all kinds of cheese products at the store. We have visited the Ropp farm before, a few times actually over the years, and I blogged here back in 2008 when we visited for the first time.

The other farm is Radar Family Farms. Radar Family Farms is also a working farm and they concentrate on sweet corn and pumpkins. However, they have also started in the past few years adding other attractions, in part to expose more children to agriculture. We went out to Radar Farms a few years ago (and again, I blogged about it here), but we were unprepared for how MUCH it had changed in just 3 years. In some ways, it was great, and the kids really had a fabulous time. But on the way home, the kids and I talked about how we missed the more simple Radar Farms too.

Anyway, the first weekend in October, Ropp Farm and Radar Family Farm have extra special activities, and this year, we decided to go. We had a GREAT time.

We went to Ropp Farm first. (The next blog post will be about our visit to Radar, so stay tuned!)

When we first got out of the car, the kids took a quick jog through the straw maze.

Then Flower posed with Mr. Scarecrow

Then Jelly Bean posed with Mr. Scarecrow. (And yes, that is Flower down in the bottom corner of the picture.)

She was getting ready for this shot.

All three posing with Mr. Scarecrow.

Some sisterly love

The White Oak Wind Farm is just across the street from Ropp Farm, and we took a hayrack ride out to tour the wind turbines.

From right below one of the wind turbines.

After the tour of the wind farm, we went back to the farm. It was also back to the straw maze, but this time, they weren't just walking THROUGH it. Super jumped up on top . . .

And then it was Super and Jelly Bean.

And then it was Flower, Jelly Bean, and Super!

After that, the kids went into the barn to feed the cows. Here is Flower feeding a cow.

A shot of both girls feeding cows.

There was a sleepy cat in the barn too.

In the next barn, we saw a turkey.

And a VERY pregnant goat. (She was due that day!)

There was a llama in that barn too. Here is Jelly Bean feeding the llama.

Then we went outside to feed the calves by bottle.

We had so much fun! Thank you to everyone at Ropp Farm!!!

Next up, Radar Family Farms!