Picnic Plans

One late August Saturday night, we decided to go on a family picnic. The temperatures had relented and it was pleasant outside. We decided to go to the local park to picnic near the old train, but as we got close we remembered they were having a beer festival that day. The place was packed & probably not the right atmosphere for a family picnic. We were sort of at a loss as to where to have our picnic since the next closest park is about a 20 minute drive and we were hungry. We decided to visit Nana & Popa and picnic out near the garden. We had a great time!

Jeremiah had his first yogurt-covered pretzels (Daddy's favorite) that night and he decided it was a new favorite for him too!

See, he wanted to show everyone a mouthful of the good stuff!

Hmmm...Josh thinks he learned this look from me. He's probably right :)

Our best attempt at a family picture in front of the new garden shed/playhouse. 

Jeremiah has no desire to slow down if he's outside!

Enjoying Mimi's Deck Pool

While Daddy went to Brick Fair, Jeremiah & I stayed at Mimi's house for a few days. Jeremiah had a BLAST with the "deck-pool" at Mimi's house. 

So what is a "Deck Pool"? Toddler Slide + Plastic Pool on the deck = TODDLER HEAVEN!

Here's how it works...Climb up & get in position

 

Slide down & make a big splash!
 

These steps were repeated over & over & over again! 

They always resulted in this big smile.

Sometimes we'd take the time to change into a swim-diaper, but a PJ top & regular diaper worked just as well.

While we were visiting Raleigh, Granny & Popa came for a quick visit. The ladies made peach jam together and it was delicious! I just love this picture of the 3 generations.

Happy 2nd Birthday Jeremiah!!

Happy Birthday, Jeremiah!  You are pretty excited to be TWO!

On your birthday, we met Nana & Uncle Perry at McDonalds for breakfast. You had a big breakfast (not surprising), then had Perry walk with you all over the McDonalds and adjoining gas station. Perry even bought a ball and bat set for you - an instant favorite!

After breakfast, we headed to our local park to play because it was such a gorgeous summer morning - unseasonably cool & overcast. Perfect park weather! Unfortunately, I didn't get many good pictures of you. Pretty much all my pictures these days look like this...
 

or this...you're too busy having fun to slow down!

We had to cancel your birthday party due to unforeseen circumstance, but that just meant you got to spread it out...a morning with Anna & Ms. Nicole, an afternoon with Mimi & G-pa, an evening with Nana & Popa, some time with Granny & Popa G...just lots of birthday fun.

You are certainly loving life as a two year old!

Field Trip: Homeland Creamery

This past week, we had a little field trip to Homeland Creamery with the Koontz's. It was a perfect day since the weather was unseasonably cool. Here is a very pic-heavy post, but as you can see, we had a blast!

The Koontz Cows

The Hanes Cows & Anna

In the "barnyard", there were turkeys...

and chickens...

and even a baby calf come out!

Jeremiah was really excited to help bottle feed the calf.

Dylan practicing milking the pretend cow.

Anna got in on the milking action too.

Jeremiah wanted to just watch...not quite the same milking experience as the State Fair.

A big group of us hopped on the wagon for a hayride around the farm.

This sweet (muddy) dog herded us along the tour and waited in the middle of the road while we had our tour stops.

Here's the milking herd. These cows give about 8 gallons of milk a day!

Jeremiah was pretty excited to see the miniature donkeys in this field....reminded him of Leroy!

At the end of our tour, we were given a sample cup of their ice cream. DELICIOUS!!! Seriously, the best ice cream I've ever had. I might start searching out their products at the Whole Foods & Fresh Market in Winston.

This boy had a GREAT day on the farm!

Slip-n-Slide!

I dropped Jeremiah off at Nana & Popa's one day recently so I could grocery shop in peace =) When I returned, I found him in his (cloth) diaper, wet from head to toe, playing on the slip-n-slide with Tristan. He had a BLAST! 

He wasn't quite ready to slide on his belly, so sometimes he walked...

sometimes he crawled (to immitate Tristan's sliding)...

but his favorite way was to ride on Tristan's back!

It's GREAT to have older cousins!

Baby Pool

We visited Mimi & Gpa in Raleigh over Father's Day weekend. We had a great time catching up with Todd & Angie Friday night. Then Granny & Popa came in on Saturday and we grilled out with them and Grandpa Brannan on Saturday night. We had such a great time that I didn't take any pictures except when we were at the pool. Oh well...here are a few.

Jeremiah LOVED the Baby Pool because he could actually stand up and play without having to be held.

He enjoyed splashing around with Mimi...

and she had a great time too!

No better way to beat the NC summer heat than a trip to the pool!

Baby Deer Encounters

Uncle Perry came across a Baby Deer that he thought had been abandoned. So he rescued it and took it to the animal-loving neighbor. She contacted NC Wildlife to find out what to do. While waiting for a call back from Wildlife, Jeremiah got to see it up close and personal. He wasn't so sure at first, but then warmed up to it and even tried to feed it a goldfish cracker (we didn't let the deer eat it). 

Look how TINY that baby is! He couldn't even stand that morning when Perry picked him up. But within a few hours he was standing up and eventually able to run.

It turned out that we actually needed to put him back because his mom was most likely out gathering food or checking on another fawn. I hope he's living a happy little life now!

Cherry Picking Adventure!

Nana, Jeremiah, and I went up to Levering Orchard for our first Cherry Picking adventure....and what an adventure!! 

I thought this would be a fun, easy outing like picking strawberries or blueberries. I envisioned Jeremiah riding around in the wagon or playing at the base of the trees while we climbed the ladders to pick the cherries. I was WRONG! This orchard is on a mountain. The grade was steep and we were wearing flip-flops & birkenstocks! The wagon was definitely not making it up and Jeremiah did not like such a steep terrain with tall grasses/weeds. Thank GOD I had my Ergo in the car, so J (all 30lbs of him!) rode on my front or back almost the entire time. And those ladders I thought we'd climb...they were 12' wood ladders that I did not feel comfortable on. Thankfully we were able to find trees with lower branches full of cherries. We ended up having a great time and ate TONS of cherries. I'd definitely like to go back, but a bit more prepared (like tennis shoes!). There aren't many pictures because I forgot my camera in the car and I sure as heck wasn't going to climb back down to get it.

Here's how J rode while we picked cherries (for 2 hours!).

Nana was sure to pit PLENTY of cherries for Jeremiah. Can you see how stained his face is?

We ended up with 2 buckets that I canned. We've made a few cobblers and they were delicious!

Lake Lynn

Jeremiah & I visited Mimi & G-pa in Raleigh a few weekends ago. While we were there, we visited Lake Lynn twice and Jeremiah LOVED feeding the ducks (geese and turtles, too). Evidently I didn't take any other pictures that weekend, but I have plenty from one of our lake visits.

The geese kept scaring off the ducks, so one duck got really brave and jumped up to the rail beside Mom. Noticed she's a bit "surprised"! But she took pity on him and tossed him a piece of bread that he quickly gobbled up.

 

Jeremiah wanted to feed that duck, too.

Actually, he wanted to feed everyone!
 

These little babies and their mom were our favorite.
 

Jeremiah thought the turtles were really cool!

J loves his Mimi!