Jenna Sings a Song

Jenna sang me this song today and I thought it was so beautiful I asked her to sing it again so I could record it. This is the only way I can think of so I can share it with her Mommy. Enjoy!

Irons Farm and Heritage Day

Last weekend soccer was rained out on Saturday which gave us an opportunity to do some Fall fun things! The kids have been asking Patrick if we could go and pick apples. Irons Fruit Farm happens to be the closest place to us. It's about 30 minutes away. First, let me say that the apples are delicious and the kids had a blast picking them. The farm itself is an absolute mess. Patrick and I couldn't get over what a complete state of disrepair the place was in. The apple trees were being choked by poison ivy, poke weed and anything else you could think of. The ground under the trees was covered in hundreds of apples just left to rot. We're so used to seeing Rouster's apple trees. Dan Rouster keeps his place super tidy - no old equipment laying around the trees are well cared for. Not at this place!!!

Luckily Athena and Carter are old enough to understand what not to touch and what too touch. We still expected to see one of us with a spot of poison ivy the next day, but luckily no one got any. Here's photos of the kids in the orchard:

We skipped the hay ride to the pumpkin patch. We heard you took a hay ride and then picked out a pumpkin that was just laying out there - not grown there, but brought in. After too many years of going to a real pumpkin patch at Shaw Farms, we decided to miss this. Plus, the hay ride was free but only on the pretense that you picked out and bought an overpriced pumpkin. Patrick and I are too cheap for that, so we just took a photo of the kids at the pumpkins that were out in the public area.

There was a church holding a mission day at Irons when we went so the kids got popcorn, a pumpkin each and Athena got her face painted - all for free. Woo hoo!!!!

There was also a local fire department there with one of the big engines and the kids were allowed to climb all over it.

The farm had a store that sold apples, pies, donuts and homemade apple fritters. We bought some apples from there in addition to the ones we paid to pick and ate some fritters. Boy were they good!

After we left Irons Farm, we took a lunch break and then drove back into Blue Ash for the annual Heritage Day Festival. We always have such a great time at this festival and this year was no different. We ran into our neighbors, Susan, David, Zoe and Max and the kids enjoyed playing with each other and watching the magic show together along with some friends of Athena from school. We did the scavenger hunt, painted some ceramic ornaments and played some games. We got there late in the afternoon so skipped our normal carriage ride, but we do it most years, so the kids didn't really mind not going on it this year.

The magician, who has been coming for years and who is super good, decided to bring two friends along this year to help the show along. Terrible mistake - the two friends were so so at best and one was just plain boring. Poor Patrick got picked to come on stage and do a card trick. It was so boring that during the middle of the trick Carter got up and asked me if we could leave as he was sooo bored. "But, honey, Daddy's on stage right now. We can't leave, yet." almost had the boy and me crying.

SunROCK Farm

Notice my emphasis on the Rock - this farm is so awesome! We go every single Fall and it's one of our most favorite places in town. I thought I'd taken some photos, but can only find one

Farmer Frank lets the kids put baby chicks on their heads. This is the first time Athena put one on her own head. Normally she just puts them on Patrick's head. She also milked a goat by herself for the first time. She's getting so grown up!

SonRock is always just a good time for everyone. We learn something new every single year that we go and the hands on with the animals is always a thrill for the kids. We always go on the free weekend and this year was no exception. We were hoping to go back for the Halloween event, but Carter just got an invitation to his first birthday party without his big Sissy. He is too excited about it!