Coverdale Farm Fun Day

Last week we took a trip to Coverdale Farm for their farm fun day.  It was perfect weather- 75 with a little breeze.  Gotta love it!  I knew it would be pushing Lexi, but I wanted to chance it because the weather was too good to pass up.  I packed a lunch and we headed to the farm (12-2) to check it out.  I have never been, but have been anxious to take them.

 

They both had a blast.  It was a little hard to get them to eat once we got there because they wanted to check out the animals right away.  But since the activity is only from 12-2, I wasn't sure how long we would need there, so I wanted to get there when it started.

They had 2 scavenger hunts: finding the stamps (to stamp their sheet) and ABCs.  The stamp sheet was pretty cool.  Once they found the clipboard with the stamp, we read the fact sheet and got our stamp.  The ABC sheet was a fill in the blank with things you see on the farm that start with the letters.  He did really well with figuring out what letter the items started with.  But it was hard to find a lot of them.  We did get about half of them though.

 Our first stop: the sheep.  Lexi couldn't get enough and didn't want to leave the sheep.

 Then we moved on to the vegetable garden to check out what they were growing.  Devan was amazed that these things were grown in the ground :)  He thought we just get them at Giant.  LOL.  Then on to the pigs.  There was a gigantic sow (I mean HUGE!!) and she had 8 piglets.  Lexi was NOT a fan of the pigs.  She cried and cried so we moved on.  (This is why I didn't get a pic). 

Then on to the chickens.  She didn't like them either.  They had a bunch of baby chicks in the incubators so we checked them out.

 Then on to the cow barn where they had a few baby calfs.  And the barn swallows were everywhere- flying in and out with food for their baby birds.  Lexi liked the cows and "moo'd" all the time. 

At this point, it's closing in on 2 and Lexi is exhausted.  She walked around the whole farm.  Overall, a good day.  And both kids fell asleep on the drive home.

What do you do when it's hot?

What do you do when it's hot?  Eat popsicles!!!  We made our own popsicles and enjoyed them on the back deck on a hot day. 

 And this is our indoor activity: coloring!  I love it.  They've both been obsessed with it for a couple weeks now.  They color and peel the paper back because they've colored so much.  Great for eye-hand coordination :)  And, Devan is getting better at staying in the lines (he can do it, it's just that he doesn't really care).

Balloon game

Devan's new game: the balloon game (as he calls it)

Just chillin'

We've had some pretty perfect weather the last couple weeks and so we've been soaking it up outside :)

 

A bubble leaf blower-  So much fun!

 My little daredevil at it again... :/

 Ahhh.... Now THIS is the life :)

 Look at me!  I crawled right up here all by myself (and it spins!).  And drug my animals with me :)

 Love the coloring.  Both kids have been REALLY into coloring lately.  Good for me when I need to get something done.  BUT.... Lexi has a hard time keeping the crayon ON the paper.  The walls, carpet, table, etc have gotten tagged with crayon graffiti :P  Gotta love Mr Clean Magic Eraser :)

 Trying on my boots.  They look pretty good, don't you think?  (And notice the potty chair too)

 Family night at the pool!  This was Lexi's first time IN the water.  She loved it!  At least it wasn't freezing, like I remember last year.  She loved chasing Devan around the pool :)

 Just goofin' around

 Devan and Dustin have been playing catch most nights lately.  Every time Devan brings out his glove, Lexi drags out the batting helmet and the other glove.  She needs that helmet when she's hanging around since Devan doesn't have the best aim yet ;)

A few videos

 

Woodside Creamery

When Grammy was here, we got a break in the rain and headed to Woodside Creamery.  Who could pass up homemade ice cream???  Yum....  Devan enjoyed "dirt" (chocolate ice cream with crushed oreos and gummy worms).  We even saw some sheep and cows (they're usually hiding).

I just have to brag....

Real quick, I just have to brag about our successful outing today. 

We went to the Delaware Natural History Museum.  Without a stroller.  And without a binkie.  I'll just take a second and pause here to let that sink in.....  Yeah, pretty awesome, huh?

It's not that big of a place, but it's always nice to have the stroller just in case they want to go different directions.  And also to carry my bag.  LOL.  But I figured, let's give it a try.  It's small and we can always leave if it's just not working out.  Well, it was fabulous!  Lexi loved the freedom and surprisingly stayed with us the whole time.  She actually walked around holding my hand a lot.  Score!  My little runner was an angel today, and of course, Devan is always perfect :)  We saw lots of different things and they stayed together the whole time.  Devan was actually showing stuff to Lexi, which was adorable.  And Lexi did great!  This is NOT her favorite place as she's been super afraid of all the stuffed/preserved animals.  But this time, she recognized some animals and was pointing them out (mainly the birds and rabbits and fish- the bears and lions still scare her).  But this was huge!  And in the Nature Nook, she pet the snake they had out, sat and listened to the lady talk about it, and colored a turtle puppet with Devan :)

The other big thing: I left the house without the binkie.  She put it in her crib after she got dressed (like usual), but I usually grab one for the car as she is the WORST car rider EVER!!  After the first 3 minutes of yelling "Mama. Mine. Bee.  Mama. Mine. Bee." she gave up and was content looking out the window.  Double score!!  I knew should would be fine once we got there as it's been over a month that she hasn't had her binkie out in public.  But I was a little nervous about the car ride home with her being tired and hungry for lunch.  But again, after the first 2 minutes (it took less than the car ride there), she gave up.  Maybe we've turned a corner on the car riding thing?  Knock on wood!!

That's it.  I just wanted to brag that we had an awesome outing today.  I didn't have to scold either one of them for something :)  Overall, we had an awesome day, which is HUGE because it's been a tough couple weeks with Devan.  I hope this continues!!!!

Brandywine Zoo

When Grammy was here visiting, we ventured to a new location: THE ZOO. 

 

I was a little unsure about this place.  You just never know if it's going to be busy, and if the kids are going to want to go in different directions (I had the stroller, but Lexi would rather walk and likes to throw a fit if she's in the stroller).  So it was good having an extra pair of hands (and eyes). 

 

But, I didn't need to worry.  This zoo is SMA-ALL!  I was thinking Portland Zoo: how fabulous it is and you could walk all day and not see everything.  Then I was thinking Richmond Zoo.  Small compared to Portland, but they have interesting aspects like you can feed the giraffes.  But those poor animals in smaller habitats.  I mean, why would penguins want to hang in a tiny fence with a tiny shallow pool?  At least Portland has Antarctica where it's cold and deep! 

 

Whelp, I had nothing to worry about.  The Brandywine Zoo makes the Richmond Zoo feel gigantic!  We probably walked half a mile- TOTAL!  It was very sad.  Poor tiny cages.  Just small mammals, a few birds, etc.  ONE tiger who just paced and paced around and around.  Broke my heart.  And the "monkey house" was tiny cages of little Amazon monkeys.  No big ones.  I was extrememly disappointed and doubt we will ever be back. 

 

But, it was a good experience.  The size was great for Lexi.  She got to walk the whole time.  And I guess because the cages are so small, the kids can really see the animals (I mean, where are they going to hide???).  Within 20 mins we were half way through.  So, we got to go to storytime.  Devan was SO excited!!  He was hilarious because he REALLY wanted to see all the animals, but he REALLY wanted to listen to the story.  We sat and he kept looking at the cages around.  I kept telling him not to worry because the animals weren't going anywhere and we will see it all :)  Lexi and Grammy wandered around while Devan and I sat for the story and craft.

 

Lexi's favorite: the llamas and emus

Checking out the birds while Devan was at storytime

 

Sitting right in front, of course

The atmosphere was pretty cool- sitting and listening to a story and then someone talking about the animals, all the while being surrounded by animals.  A great setting.

 

Devan's craft (the little pine cone was supposed to go in the mouth and the twiggy things were supposed to be the tail.  But Devan chose to be creative- yay!

Devan liked petting the goats.  Lexi was not too sure. 

But.... you could see the llamas and emus from the goat pen :)

Have you ever seen otters out of the water???  I haven't.  They had a small pool and we were looking all over.  Then around the corner, these 2 otters were cudding.  Awww....

But, the kids had fun running back and forth through the otter tunnel

Looking for the sloth

Snack time!!

At the end of our 2 hr trip, we tried to get a picture of them.  But, they had other plans, of course.  This was the best we could do.

By the parking lot, there's a nice fountain.  This little girl came right up and kept hugging on Lexi and standing right next to her.  Lexi did not appreciate it and kept pushing her away.  Hmmm... I guess she gets enough "invasion of personal space" from Devan at home?

Trying to get a pic of them with Grammy.  Devan was too busy reading the map and leading us to the car.  Lexi just wanted to jump into the fountain.