Corn Maze!

We went to check out the Kelley Farms Corn Maze. I have done a couple of corn mazes before, but this was Ryan and Rachael's first time.

They have goats! And a billy goat mountain, which we didn't have any luck getting them to climb.

Rachael loved feeding and "petting" them. (Mostly she just put her hands out and waited for a goat to pet itself. That worked.)

One favorite activity: the hay ride! She was ready to do this over and over.

And the other favorite activity: climbing the hay mountain.  Those are some big bales of hay - Ryan had to help her climb it.  (He has since decided hay mountains are for much younger people.)

They have two mazes - a short one and a long one.  We did the short one in a little under 30 minutes.  Rachael was excited to find some corn that was shorter than her!

We did the long one in about an hour and 20 minutes.  Most people take less time - we walked at five-year-old speed and took a couple of breaks.  We also found some corn that was super tall.

(Also, to Jack: Rachael may have "watered" some of your corn in the northwest corner.  An hour is a long time to hold your bladder when you've had a lot to drink. Sorry!!)

It was great fun! We also got to see all the fantastic pumpkins they have and visit with our friends the Kelleys.  I'm sure it will become an annual fall tradition for our family!

Flashback Friday

Alex and Rachael, September 2009

I'm keeping this picture so I can remind her in 20 years who was the first love of her life...

Feeling better

If you have been following the saga of Rachael's fat lip, she is feeling much better.  It's gotten a little better every day since last Saturday, and she has mostly lost the funny lisp she had for a few days. 

Cheers for a healthy immune system!

Flashback Friday

Smokies, 2007

Dentist

Rachael had her first cavity filled last week.  (Probably a result of not enough brushing and too much apple juice... these are the breaks when you are five.)  The visit to the dentist went really well! They gave her strawberry-scented laughing gas and filled the cavity in no time.  I was very impressed.

As she was finishing up, the dentist said I should watch Rachael to make sure she didn't chew on her lip, but also that the numbness would go away in about an hour.  We made it home from the appointment just in time to catch the bus, so I went ahead and sent her to school.  Bad idea... she came home with her lower lip looking like someone punched her.

Poor baby! Lots of Tylenol, ice, popsicles and anything else we thought would work.  She's developed a bit of a lisp trying to talk around it, but now that we are a few days out, it's looking much better.  And next time I will have her eat lunch at home before I send her to school.   IF I send her to school.

We tried to make a fun weekend anyway with pink cupcakes.  Everything feels better with pink cupcakes, right?

Labor Day weekend

Rachael and I went to the pool on Saturday.  It was rather cool that day - a pleasant change! - so the pool was pretty empty.  We splashed around for a little over an hour, but I finally had to talk Rachael into heading home because her teeth were chattering so hard.  My bribe for leaving? Ice cream.

Sunday right after church we headed out to Gatlinburg.  We drove through Knoxville to Maryville and on to Townsend, which is a slightly different route than we usually take.  We forgot to charge the DVD player so Rachael had to do the whole trip with things from her travel bag and watching stuff on my ipod.  It was a nice drive and a great way to avoid the traffic in Pigeon Forge.

We always take a family picture when we visit the Smokies! (I love the remote shutter release for my xTi).  I also took a picture of Rachael at Newfound Gap - one day she might think it was cool to stand on the line bewteen North Carolina and Tennessee.

(Note the elevation.  Not even as high as Denver! The Mile High City is 5280 ft above sea level.)

Monday we went shopping! We started at Bass Pro Shop in Kodak, but we also hit the Christmas Store and of course the Tanger Outlet stores.  I had a great time and Ryan and Rachael were good troopers.  Rachael saved up her allowance so she could buy a toy at the Disney store - she chose a small Lady dog. 

On the way home we had to sit in stop and go traffic in Pigeon Forge.  It was hot.  Hot. HOT.  120 on the thermometer in the car, in case you can't tell.  

Overall it was a fun weekend.  Next year, though... are there factory stores in Alaska?

Flashback Friday

September 2003

Pikes Peak!