The Perfect Pumpkin

Michaela Byrd and I headed off to our favorite local farm with her kindergarten class last week. The mission was, if you asked her, to find the "perfect" pumpkin in their pumpkin patch. I think the kindergarten teachers were more hopeful that the students would learn about pumpkins and farming. It was a chilly day, but we managed to have some fun and get some good photos. I thought I'd share some today since it is Halloween.

The "perfect pumpkin" ended up being slightly lopsided and missing a stump, but when you know, you know. Thankfully, I remembered to bring two plastic bags, which I used to lug our two pumpkins back up the hill to the swagger wagon, a feat which just about put me into early labor.

It was a perfect morning though. Happy Halloween to you!

What's your favorite pumpkin patch activity?

If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+. And I always appreciate kind comments.

A Day at Wakefield

We are blessed to live in an area of Virginia with lots of history, some of it dating before the Revolutionary War. One of the last big first grade events for Natalie was a class field trip to George Washington's birthplace, Wakefield. I hadn't visited since I was a little girl on my own field trip, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to chaperon. The grounds were too beautiful not to photograph, so I thought I'd share the pictures with you all today.

If you've never ridden on an un-airconditioned school bus with 42 antsy public school children on a day the temps top 90 degrees, I highly recommend it. I also recommend taking 3 Tylenol before embarking, which is what I did. This did not, however, save me from an awful tension headache from the heat at the end of the day. 

Wakefield rests along the banks of Pope's Creek, which looked a whole lot more like a river to a bunch of first graders. Washington was born there in 1732. The original house burned on Christmas Day, 1779, but a memorial home sits next to the place where they have marked the boundaries of the first home with a track of oyster shells.

Some of the furnishings in the memorial house were donated by descendants of Washington. The bed came from his great-niece. 

The kitchen was, of course, housed separately because it burnt down every few years. They also liked to keep all that heat away from the house during the hot summer months.

We got to see a real team of oxen!

They sold tobacco to buy luxuries like sugar, china, and fine cloth.

We picnicked by Pope's Creek after our tour. Then it was back on the hot, sweaty bus for a ride home. Thankfully, most of the kids were so hot and tired that the noise level dimmed considerably. 

It was a fun day, and I really enjoyed my first time as a field trip chaperon. I plan to enjoy it while my kids aren't embarrassed to have me around!

If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+. And I always appreciate kind comments!

Kids' Car Activity: Audio Books

With Easter approaching, families all over the country are planning Spring Break activities. I've shared before about how much my girls loved my childhood storybooks on tape and how books on CD are their new favorite way to pass the time in the Swagger Wagon. Whether your family is planning a big trip or if you'll just be hanging around town (like us), Audio Books are a great way to occupy your kids' minds! I thought I'd share some of the titles we've enjoyed.

I've mentioned before that we keep the DVD player in the Swagger Wagon for trips as a special treat to make the time more enjoyable for everyone in the car. It's nice not to hear "are we there yet?" for an hour or so. But the downside of letting them watch movies the whole trip is that we arrive at our destination with two tiny zombies with glazed-over eyes.

The books on CD are such a nice way to combat the car zombies. I don't have to referee fights over crayons or Barbies, and they get to sit and use their imaginations. Don't tell them this, but I'm pretty sure they've learned some stuff too. Imagine that!

I get all of our audio books from our local library. We have an iPhone app that lets me request and renew books, as well as search the card catalog. We can pick up the books we want at our favorite library locations, and drop them in the drive-through book drop when we're finished...easy peasy, and FREE!

Obviously, a few of these are geared more for girls, but many of them are good for boys too! These are some of the titles and series my girls have enjoyed so far:

• The Henry Huggins series by Beverly Cleary (great for boys!)
• Beezus and Ramona and all of the Ramona books by Beverly Cleary
• The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
• Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
• The Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne
• Books from the American Girl series
• Matilda by Roald Dahl
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
• The Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
• Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maude Montgomery
• The Piper Reed series by Kimberly Willis Holt
• A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett
• The Disney Fairies series

You will be surprised at how much your kids can comprehend! Michaela Byrd had just turned four when we listened to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. And Burnett's writing style in A Little Princess is very dated compared to many of the books children read today. By pausing the CD and asking questions or explaining things every so often, I was able to help my girls understand what was going on in the story. I love that they learned about how people lived in time periods different from them. The girls couldn't believe that Ramona was allowed to walk to school by herself or that Laura Ingalls had to sit quietly all day on Sundays.

And, let's be honest, they don't have much else to do except sit and listen when their movies aren't playing. Sitting quietly and using their imaginations is so good for them! And I really enjoy hearing my childhood favorites over again.

One more tip is to look at who the publishing company chose as a reader. Neil Patrick Harris read a few of the Henry Huggins books that we checked out, and he is excellent. He really captures the whimsy and fun energy of the stories. Stockard Channing read all of the Ramona books, and I thought the voices she used for Beezus and Ramona were too whiny. Some more of the audio books I'm on the lookout for at the library are The Secret Garden, Charlotte's Web, and Ralph S. Mouse.

Is your family a fan of audio books? What are some of your favorites you think your kids would love to hear?

*For more travel tips, you can check out our Car Activity Bag.

If you enjoyed this post or found it helpful, I hope you'll click your "Pin It" button to add this post to Pinterest, or a +1 for Google+. And I always appreciate kind comments!

Girls' Day Out in New York City

When the month of December arrives, I'm always filled with anticipation. For the past several years, I've traveled up to New York City with friends for a day trip run by our local Parks and Rec department. Always the second Saturday of December. This year, my sister-in-law (SuSu) decided to go with me. I thought I'd share some pics from our trip today. There's nothing like The Big Apple during the holidays!

For just $65, we rode a nice tour bus up to the city with other folks signed up for the special with the P and R Dept. The catch is that it leaves at 4 am, but most of the trip-goers opt to sleep on the way, save for one very obnoxiously loud guy and a pit stop for Starbucks in Delaware. This year, the bus pulled up to 34th Street around 10:30 in the morning, leaving us the rest of the day to explore the city at our leisure.

Our first stop was Macy's, which was just across the street. Tip: find a nice restroom and charge your iPhone while you do your make-up.

While my phone charged, SuSu and I eyed my subway map and decided where to go first. A pair of very sweet New Yorkers saw us trying to decide which subway line to take down to Ground Zero, and offered a few suggestions. Most New Yorkers I've ever encountered have been very kind and quick to help with directions.

Love the old Macy's escalator!

First on our list was to see the Macy's windows, which were nice, but nothing that really blew our minds this year. This may be the first year we didn't walk up 5th Avenue to see all the windows, but we had plenty of other things to do....

SuSu and I opted to ride the subway around town, which is much more cost-effective than taxis, and easier on your feet than walking. We each loaded a subway card with $10 (could not find the ulimited "fun pass" to save our lives!) and it lasted us almost all day.

Our first stop? Ground Zero and St. Paul's Cathedral, which is right across the street. Lots of history! We like to eat in off-the-beaten path spots, so we picked a deli down a side street and munched on subs and fries.

I remembered this same group of street performers from two years ago:

We hopped back on the subway and made a stop on Canal Street to hunt for "treasures." I scored a super-fun J Crew knock-off bubble necklace with matching earrings for $20. I've been wanting one for months, but didn't want to pay shipping from China and also possibly end up with broken bits in a shipping envelope. SuSu picked up a large cowl scarf.

I bought the gold one, SuSu bought the skull top:

Next on the list was to see this year's tree in Rockefeller Center...large and lovely, as always!

Our trip to the Upper East Side for Serendipity's frozen hot chocolate was a bust. 5 hour wait. No, thank you. We hopped back on the subway and bought some of the best popcorn in the world from Garrett's while we waited for our bus to pick us up on 34th street.

All in all, it was a great trip. I'm lucky to have a sister-in-law that's fun to hang out with. I can't wait for next year!

Other NYC trip recaps:
2011
2010
2009
2008

Have you ever been to New York City?

Get your party hats on! My Weekend Bloggy Reading link party is scheduled as usual for tomorrow morning (8 am ET), so be sure to swing by with your best post of the week.

Here's the button code for the party if you want to get a head start! Recipes, crafts, home decor, party ideas, tips and tricks, you name it. Come prepared to showcase your blog and find some great weekend reads.

<a href=" http://www.serenitynowblog.com/ " target="_blank"><img src="http://i985.photobucket.com/albums/ae332/Amanda_SerenityNow/Blog%20Party%20Buttons/WeekendBloggyReading.png" border="0" alt="Weekend Bloggy Reading"></a>