Reminder

Reminder: In 20 years, ask Poppy if she is still afraid of crickets and Olive if she still calls monkeys "hahas."

October Snow

Pumpkins on Pumpkins

The last blog post was about apple picking at Milburn Orchards.  About a week prior, we went just to explore and have fun.  Here are a few pictures from that outing.

Poppy

Olive

Poppy

Olive

Olive 

So tall!

Quick story about this next picture... Poppy was obviously having a great time in the tiny wooden school bus. I climbed in with her, and Olive was in there too.  It was a crowded bus that day, as there were 3 other kids and 3 other adults crammed into the 8 seats.  Poppy would not let anyone else have a turn as the driver, so I had to physically remove her from the bus kicking and screaming!

Apple Picking

We spent the morning at Milburn Orchards in Elkton, MD, with friends. All the trees are dwarf trees so that children can pick their own apples! Of course, Poppy and Olive could not resist tasting every apple in sight.

Olive tasting her first freshly picked apple

Poppy tasting her first freshly picked apple

There is a huge shadow on her, but I couldn't resist!

Keep your hands off my apple!

Look at all those apples!

Olive showing our friend M. the apples

Olive in the wind

Olive trying to hold her friend's hand

The end of this video is the best.  Poppy says good-bye to her friends.

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Boy, am I late on this!  Jill's birthday was October 12.  Unlike last year, we acknowledged her true age.  I made a cake, frosted it, and let the kids decorate it.  They had fun tasting all the decorations.

This was the finished product.

Poppy testing the frosting

Olive after testing the frosting

Icing from the tube

Jill and her cake

Jill and Poppy

The family

Happy Birthday, Jill!

16th Annual At-Home Dads Convention

Last weekend, I took my second trip to the Annual At-Home Dads Convention presented by Daddyshome, Inc.  Not only did it mean almost 4 days off, but I got to reconnect with friends from last year's convention and meet even more SAHF's.  Here's a breakdown of the weekend...


Thursday: Arrived in D.C. and had dinner with the other early arrivals.  Eating and drinking.


Friday:  Walked around the city and the National Mall (Smithsonian area).  Visited the Hirshhorn and saw an amazing Andy Warhol exhibit called "Shadows."  Highly recommended.  Visited the National Museum of American History and saw too much to tell you about!  Meet and greet at night, followed by eating and drinking.


Saturday: 16th Annual At-Home Dads Convention!  Keynote speaker Dr. Aaron Rochlen spoke about his research on the wives of at-home dads and how their emotions and relationships are affected by this role reversal.  Other seminars I attended included topics such as raising a healthier generation of kids, visiting art museums with children and creating positive learning experiences, developing self-esteem, and postpartum depression in dads (Yes, that happens!).  Nighttime: eating and drinking (Do you see a pattern?).


I didn't take any pictures during the convention, but here are some pictures of the sights I saw while in D.C.

I don't quite remember what this statue was.

My buddies Mike and Randy

Occupy D.C.

Capital Building

Washington Monument

Make-up

Olive and Poppy like to play with Jill's make-up.  One day, they figured out how to open something, and it was all downhill from there!  

Olive

Poppy

Olive after we moved the party to the bathtub

Word of warning: Do not use lip stain!  It also stains bath mats, legs, stomachs, bellies, and hair.