Apple Picking 2010

We went a little late this year but we still fit in our annual apple orchard trip. Up to St. Joseph we went again. This year we picked Jonagold's, Jonathon's (Ainsley's favorite), and some unknown variety of very hard apples. Again, we had beautiful weather and so much fun!

Mom, I've never seen an apple on the tree! How do I get this thing off? Andrew pulled so hard a couple of times that he fell down on his rump. He didn't quite get the whole idea of twisting off the apple from the tree.

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Mom! Look, an apple apron.

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Ainsley with the apples. We were shocked at how full the trees were this year. There were plenty of apples to be had at all heights. No need to use mom as a ladder this year.

Once we got going, there wasn't a moment I can remember when Ainsley wasn't chomping on an apple. She tried each variety, each tree we picked from, and a few more.

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Picking and eating.

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Andrew had the most fun running in the aisles between the tress and in the treehouse at the end of our picking adventure!

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Mount Trashmore

We visited Mount Trashmore on our last day in town. It truly is a mountain of trash underneath the beautiful green lawns and play structures. they've transformed an old landfill into a great area with plenty of play space, kite flying, lake, and walking trails.

Me and our kiddos.

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Riding the tire bull.

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Getting the energy out before we start our plane ride home!

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We had a great lunch at a creperie! They had gellato too. Of course the crepes were a hit but not quite as much as the gellato.

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Oceana Air Show

We were able to catch the first day of the Oceana NAS Air Show. It was at night! We got there around 6:00 and enjoyed the show for a couple of hours. As night fell, the kids were amazed at the fireworks that the planes were equipped with. They had fireworks coming out of the planes, helicopters, and in the sky! It was a really cool sight, especially for Ainsley. She was so happy to see fireworks and not be afraid.

Check out that ear protection! Ainsley was styling with some pink ear plugs and Andrew got the big muffs!

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Some cool planes with smoke to show their flight path! They did some loops! Andrew liked these planes because he had a lot to look at in the sky.

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Virginia Beach - Day 2

Here we are Day 2. We went to the Virginia Beach aquarium.

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The kids loved the dolphins, sea turtles, sharks, and komono dragons! One of the biggest highlights though was the cattle nose rays that were in the petting tank! Here's Ainsley reaching in to say hi.

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The beach was our afternoon activity! Here are some great pictures. We couldn't have hit better weather. Especially since the coast got drenched a week or so after we left!

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Virginia Beach and More!

One of our first trips was to the Children's Museum of Portsmouth. They had a lot of hands on activities and a great dragon to crawl on outside. We got a great picture of the kids together.

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When we left there, we were off to the beach. We drove out to a military base and had a picnic lunch and the met some friends of our friends at the beach. Ainsley and Andrew were so excited to see the ocean again! We had long sleeve sun shirts on and it was just right!

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We went for a walk at the end of the day and saw Poseidon. (Ainsley informed me that it was not Poseidon but King Triton, the little mermaids dad.) Andrew was more interested in the turtle than the title of the statue.

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The kids were exhausted on the way home. A sure sign of a extremely fun day!

First Airplane Ride!

We are on our way out of town again! This time it's just mom, me, and Andrew. We are flying to Portsmouth, Virginia. We are going to visit some friends of ours who moved there in June. I can't wait to see new places and fly with Andrew on his first flight!

Here we are waiting for the plane.

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Ooooooh, here comes the plane.

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It was a rainy morning and Andrew was mesmerized watching the plane pull in.

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Of course, Bolt had to come with us on the plane. It was his first flight also!

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Bubble Blower Extraordinaire

Andrew is really getting the hang of blowing. He's gotten great at bubbles, blowing on his hot dinner food, and blowing bubbles in the bath tub!

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