Hillcrest Orchards Visit

We drove up to Ellijay this morning and met Wendy and her son Logan.  The kids had fun holding Logan's hands and helping him walk.

We met Daisy the cow, but were not allowed to touch her head.

People were allowed to milk her and Chloe jumped at the chance.  Owen was a little scared.

Chloe got a little demonstration on how to grab the udders and squeeze.  Later, she told me "It was easy, you just grab the cow's privates and pull down!"

The kids had fun sticking their little faces into the big painting.

The kids both wanted to jump on the bouncy that was anchored into the ground like a big, yellow bubble.  Sad that they did not allow adults to jump, so I just took pictures.

I think Chloe had just as much fun falling down and getting bounced by other jumpers as she did jumping!

They both thought it was super cool for Owen to jump over Chloe while she was on her tummy.

They both had fun on the over-sized trikes.

Owen was almost too big for the trike!

Owensk wanted to drive the tractor, but it wouldn't start.  Probably a good thing ;)

And of course, Chloe had to climb up there and pretend to drive, too :)

I think she liked the hot rod, blue tractor best!

They had fun sliding down and running back up the tall slide.

Owen found he could slide down faster on his stomach.

Chloe went for a swing ride on the zip wire, but didn't get very far on her own.

I thought it was nice that Owen was willing to help move her along the zip line and then she hopped off and gave him a turn.

Chloe wasn't quite big enough to peddle these big tractors.

She tried hard.  When she wasn't looking behind her, instead of where she was going (typical).  Bean would get stuck when the ground shifted to a slight uphill grade, so I hopped on and peddled with her in my lap.

Which made Owen shriek, "Hey Mooooommmmmmyyyyyyy!  Nooooooo fair!!!!"

Last was the petting zoo.  Owen wanted to go in, but was overwhelmed by the number of kids once he got in and sulked.  Chloe didn't mind one bit and took to chasing the chickens and goats.

I think she was a little surprised when she finally caught a chicken.  

She brought it over for me to see and pet.  I was surprised at how large and thick the feet were and also how cold and rubbery they felt.  Chicken feet now give me the creeps.

Owen really wanted to hold a chick, but he thought the line of two kids to the incubator in front of him was too long.  Chloe didn't mind waiting her turn to grab a chick and then took off running to show me her little catch.

Beanarina was a good sister and handed her chick to Owen to hold and then dove back into the incubator to pull out another one for herself.  Do you see her in the background leaning into the warmer?

After she was done with chicks, she found herself a puppy to scoop up.  My girl was in seventh heaven where she was allowed to pick up, hold, squeeze, pet and kiss any animal she could catch!

An Afternoon at the Park

Chloe was dangling from my door while Owen was running around getting things he wanted to take to the park.

Once we got to the park, both kids wanted to play in the sand volley ball court.

These are most of the balls Owensk was running around to get into a big beach bag before we left the house.  Can we say prepared?

The beach ball kept blowing away, which was great for exercise.  Every few minutes, we'd see Owen dart off to go retrieve it.  :)

Chloe had more fun just marching around in the sand than playing with balls like her brother.

Another beach ball escape attempt...

Chloe did get into a little competition with her brother and was trying hard to toss balls over the volley ball net.

Before we cleaned up the balls and walked over to the playground, Owen had fun balancing on the basketball in the sand.  He did great and managed to stay on top of it for over a minute!

Annual Check Up at the Pediatrician's

We scheduled the kids appointments together for their annual check-ups.  The ride to the pediatrician's office was filled with questions about whether or not there would be any shots.

It was still worrying the kids very much, even through the measuring process.  Fear is such a bad thing. :(

Owen is inching closer to that 50 pound mark and will soon get to move that bottom weight one notch to the right.

Owen's pulse was getting checked and he was still a little subdued.

After height, weight, and pulse checks, both kids got to pee in a cup and they thought that was pretty cool.  This was the first successful year for both.  Last year, Owen immediately poured it out into the toilet because he didn't understand that it would be tested and Chloe was empty last year.  Both were totally intrigued by the little door into the wall where we placed their pee cups and asked questions about how people on the other side would know to look for their pee.  :)

Then Owen had a quick vision test.

Owen liked the little dixie cup for covering one eye.

Chloe wanted to say the names of letters and resorted to chewing on her fingers when she was told to stop and let Owen read the letter names.

Once in the exam room, the nurse measured their blood pressure.

Dr. Landis told us he could see Owen's brains when looking in his ears.

He told Chloe that he could see Mommy when looking in one ear and out the other.  She missed his humor, but I was a little amused.

Chloe did a good job at opening wide to show off her tonsils.

I think this is the last year we will schedule their check ups together.  Their fear played off the other and escalated to howling, screaming and fighting over getting their fingers pricked for a little blood test.  It was not fun for any of us involved.  We were all thankful that the flu vaccines could be given as a mist to the nose.  

Discussions on the ride home revolved around the dislike of shots and how they don't like going to the doctor's office, but like going to the dentist.