Sunday, October 23, 2011

I LOVE October!!!!!!!!!!

Since October is still Mom's favorite month of the year, Macie and I knew that this month would be full of fun and surprises! To kick off the month the family took a trip to a local farm to browse this year's pumpkins and enjoy the holiday festivities. Mom took this opportunity to make us the first of many holiday outfits we would be wearing this year. Here we are as we stroll through the parking lot on our way to some fun at the farm:


At the entrance Mom insisted that we stop and take a picture in front of the big scarecrow; we posed nicely for a couple of shots,


but making silly faces was much more fun!


Inside the farm there were all sorts of fun activities for the whole family. We chose to ride the cow train first,


and Dad took one for the team so that Macie could ride as well (they said she was too little to ride on her own).


The cow train was lots of fun and it took us on a tour of the whole farm!


After our ride Macie and I milked a cow.

That's right, I said milked a cow!!! It was just like the cow at the Zoo, and both of us were so enthralled by the fact that actual liquid came out of its utters...


Mom finally managed to direct our attention away from the cow by luring us with the promise of a horse ride. When we arrived at the horse corral we discovered that the horses were inflatable, and were therefore a little disappointed...

that was until we rode one...


The inflatable horses were super bouncy and tons of fun!



We bounced until our legs were tired, and then moved on to the next attraction.

On our way to the race cars we stopped to document just how "big" we were:

Mom is curious to see who will be taller next fall...


At the race track Dad took turns riding Macie and I around- we both LOVED it!



We spent lots of time bouncing, running, laughing, and playing!


Mom suggested that we see all the animals before we ran out of energy, so we made our way past the goats, sheep, pigs, and stopped at the chicken coop.



The chickens were fascinated by Macie and I, and before we knew it every chicken in the coop was at the fence in front of us.


The crowd was in awe as they watched the chickens cluck at us through the fence. Everyone laughed when I raised up my arms and began ordering my flock around:

"all of the chickens, I command you to listen to me"...I went on and on...


When my flock lost my interest, Mom, Dad, Macie and I made our way back to the front of the farm. We stopped along the way for some photo ops,




But before long, Macie started to get tired...


I chuckled, as I watched her cry her way to the exit,


but managed to persuade her to suck it up and so that we could climb the maze one last time.



After making it to the top, the family all agreed it was time to head home to nap. Macie and I both chose some pumpkins from the "patch" to take home.





Back at home we started decorating for Halloween (yes, it was only the beginning of the month, but as I have mentioned before, Mom LOVES Halloween and wants to take full advantage of the holiday month)! Our new pal Eddie had settled in quite well since he arrived- almost a little too well. Mom finds him in all sorts of silly places, and she secretly smiles as she endearingly yells "no" to scold him.


The whole family was enjoying the fall as the weather in Arizona improved drastically! Some days required long sleeves (a huge change from the past 5 months), and night fall came a little earlier, giving us more indoor time at night to enjoy things like reading.

Macie and I enjoyed playing outside in the yard since the weather was so nice. We spend lots of time on the swing set these days, especially now that Macie has learned to pump her legs and essentially push her self!



Once our house was adequately decorated, Mom started work on this year's costumes. Here are some of the costumes she created before our travels:

Peacock


Flamingo

Tiger


Each outfit still needed accessories, but Macie and I were excited at how they were coming along. After a full week of costume sewing and errand running, Macie, Mom, and I took off for California. It was mid month and Dad had business in Minnesota, so we figured it was the perfect time to take a break before the craze of the holiday season hit. We arrived at Jeff and Susan's house late on a Friday night (around 1:30am, thanks to a freeway mistake and a short, unplanned tour of northern LA). We were SO excited to be in California with our friends and family that it was hard to get to sleep (poor Mom didn't get to bed till 3am). Early Saturday morning we met some friends at a park nearby. Maddox and Dash drove out to see us, and I couldn't have been more excited to see my pen pal in person. We hadn't seen each other since the beginning of summer and so may things had changed since then!


Miss Nathalie brought Lyla and her new baby girl Riley to the park also, and all the kids had a great time playing together!

We spent the day on Sunday taking it easy in HB. We played at a few parks, and in the afternoon got to visit with Jeff and Susan's new grandbaby Addison. It was so much fun seeing her and Kristy!



Early Monday morning Susan, Macie, Mom, and I all packed into the car and drove to California Adventure. We were eager to ride the new Ariel Ride, so we went straight there and could barely contain our excitement as we stood in line!



Because we beat the crowds, we only had to wait a few minutes before boarding the sea shell. I chose to ride with Susan, and sat there in awe as we entered the under sea adventure.


The ride was Awesome and totally worth the long summer wait. We decided to head over to the studio to catch the Disney Junior show, but on the way stopped to visit with some friends.


Having made it across the park with time to spare, we took a ride on the caterpillar.



Miss Nathalie and Lyla joined us at California Adventure at the start of the Disney Junior show.


We had a ton of fun at the park, riding rides, seeing sights, and posing for pictures. Here we are at the pumpkin patch photo op:





We stayed late to watch the water and light show and loved singing and dancing to the music- it was awesome!

That night while we were in bed, Mom packed our car in preparation for our long drive home to Arizona. Early the next morning Macie, Mom, and I got up, dressed, and took off for a day of Disneyland fun! Inside the park we decided to ride the finding Nemo Submarine Ride that usually had a line way to long to tolerate. Since it was still early the line was not bad, so we filed in and tried to make the most out of the 30 minute wait. Macie didn't do as well as we had hoped...


After our submarine adventure, Mom gave in to our pleading requests and waited in line so that we could meet some new characters. To make our line waiting expereince more fun, Macie and I played in the ropes...


when Mom decided that was not a good idea, we tried running the stairs...


When that was vetoed and Mom suggested we just "stand still" I made the most of it by smiling and posing,



Macie didn't take it as well, she spent most of her standing time pouting...



We met Lady Tremaine (Cinderella's Stepmother), and I advised her that she should be nicer or Mom would put he in a time out- she got a kick out of that.



We met Captain Hook next, and although I was super excited to shake hands with his hook, Macie decided to keep her distance.


Just when Mom thought we were done with lines, we found ourselves at the princess palace where we waited for 30 minutes to meet some of our friends.

We first met Tiana,


then Cinderella,


and Ariel.



After we spent time in the palace, we made our way to toon town and got in line to meet Mickey Mouse. The great thing about that line is that there are things to do along the way. You get to walk through his house and play with his belongings!!!



Before we knew it we were face to face with MICKEY MOUSE, and we both gave him HUGE hugs!!!


When we got out of Mickey's house we posed for some pictures at different "hot spots" for Dad, but Mom had a tough time getting the two of us to pose nicely at the same time:



After our photo shoot we met up with Jeff and Susan, and I settled right down on my spot on Jeff's lap in the wheelchair.


We all rode a TON of rides together, and had a blast! To get some exercise, and relief from the chair, Jeff would push us up some of the hills throughout the park- it was awesome.



Macie and I had an incredible time with Jeff and Susan at Disneyland!!!

As our day at Disney came to an end, Macie and I pouted as Mom dressed us in our jammies for the long car ride home. She had to get back home with enough time to complete two full costumes for the Baby Boo Bash two days away. We thanked the Jacklin's for EVERYTHING, and headed back to AZ.

We got home early Wednesday morning and all fell fast asleep, dreaming of all the amazing fun we had, and all the amazing fun that was to come...