Halloween 2014

Early in September my mother in law texted me a picture of a Buzz Lightyear costume for Grayson, saying it would be cute if he wanted to be Buzz. Well at that time it was a lion, then a yellow bee, then a super guy. Fast forward to when they were in town for Grayson's birthday and we hit the costume store, where Grayson decided he wanted to be none other than Buzz Lightyear. 

 

Well the costume at the costume store was pretty chincy looking, so we trekked out to the Disney store and Gigi and Pap suited him up as Buzz. A few weeks later we hit the streets.

 

 

 

 

Of course, the weather was crappy. It was semi misting/raining. That wasn't going to stop this kid though, he was on a candy getting mission.

One of my favorite things about the neighborhood is the fact that the firefighters participate in the holidays. So obviously, we had to make that our first stop. 

 

It wasn't to infinity and beyond, it was more like once around the block, but we still had a blast! Grayson came home with two pumpkin buckets full of treats and a sugar high to last for days. Id call that Halloween success.

 



Pumpkin Patch- 2014

This year my father in law was in town to go get our pumpkin, and Grayson was so excited to take his Pappy to the Pumpkin Patch.

 

We've gone to Sorgels Orchard every year since Grayson was literally three weeks old. They have so much more than just pumpkin picking to offer, and I love that each year we get to do more and more there.

 

Its crazy when they're actually big enough to climb on the play things. Stop growing now, please?!

 

Hey Mom, Ima drive the tractor.

 

For the past two years they have also offered apple picking and someone was super excited to pull the apples from the trees.

 

It only took us about 20 minutes to fine the pumpkin this year, because Grayson was far too interested in checking out all of the boo boos on the pumpkins.

 

Waiting for Daddy to pay for the pumpkins, Grayson offered to take me on a little drive. I think this is how my future will look when he turns 16. Only then I may need valium.

 

Until next year, Sorgels!

 

Fathers Day Fun? Well, sort of!

**First let me start by saying if you are blogging about a June holiday in almost October, its official that you suck at life. I know this, Im just ignoring it and pretending that I don't suck as much as I officially know I do!**

This year for Fathers Day I did something I never thought I would ever do.

 

I went camping.

 

Goodness, I must love that man.

 

Cause the truth is? I don't camp. I'm not a girl to be at one with nature. Walking from the campsite to the bathroom, cooking your food over an open flame, sleeping in the dirt with the bugs and the creepy crawlies- its just not my thing. Id much rather stay at a nice hotel with indoor plumbing and room service. 

The hubs has been asking me to go camping for years. He spent time his senior year of high school backpacking along the Appalachian Trail and his dream is to take me back there one day.  I don't know if he forgets that he married a girl who doesn't camp, or he thinks he can wear me down one day and Ill give in and just LOVE it so much. Either way, he's fully crazy if he ever thinks I will not only sleep in the dirt but carry everything for a week on my back to sleep in the dirt.

 

 But for Fathers Day this year, I did decide I would take him camping for one night. In a cabin because that was adventurous as I was willing to be. I saw a list of great Pittsburgh camp sites on a local blog and decided this would be a great idea because I knew he'd love it.

 

Now of course I decided this the Thursday before Fathers Day, so I set out calling different camp grounds to see if anyone had a cabin available. After six different "no, sorry!  were booked" and one lady who laughed when I asked I was starting to get discouraged. Then I called the second to last place on the list, and they said they had two available. Maybe this should have been a sign since every place else was booked solid, but I eagerly said we'd take one and be there on Saturday.

 

So Saturday morning hubs woke up to two presents. I made a canvas out of the questions I had asked Grayson about his Daddy, and an envelope with the cabin reservation.

 

Now while I think that he loved the canvas, he really was too excited getting all of his gear together so we could head off for the weekend.  He did eventually hang the canvas after we got back, because its really funny to read the two year old answers to interview questions.

 

 

 

Once the gear was packed and loaded into the car, it was time to hit the road. PS- It was also only 9:45 AM which means you know hubs was super excited. He's not a morning person, so to dive out of bed at 6:30 AM and not try to get an extra nap in is very unusual.

 

Grayson even had a special shirt for the day.

 



 

Our camp for the night. Complete with two queen sized bunk beds, electricity and a table and chairs. It was super cute, even if I could totally see through the cracks in the boards.

 

Our cabin came with a fire ring, which was super cute.

They also boasted an Olympic sized swimming pool. Now they had a very nice pool, but I don't think they've ever watched they Olympics cause Michael Phelps could swim across it in two strokes.

 



Exploring the campground.

Choosing his bed for the evening.

Playing some play dough on the picnic table while Daddy made him some Mac N Cheese.

 



 

Sailing cars off of the porch was also fun.

 

We tried S'Mores, but all he wanted was the marshmellows.

 

Me like eating outside!

 

After dinner and s'mores and catching lightning bugs, it was time for bed.

 Now is when the downward spiral started. The temperature started dropping, it was around 55 degrees. The forecast said it was going down to about 45. Womp Womp. Remember when I mentioned that you could see the outside inside the cabin? Yeah, it got pretty chilly. Also, Grayson decided that he didn't like the air mattress because it was too noisy and pretty much begged to go home to his bed. Then the real noise started. The camp was home to a lot of oil field workers with their big diesel trucks, who all came off shift at 11 PM or started at 7 AM. Did I mention the cabin was right by the road? From 11:30-1 and from 4:30-6:30 all I heard was the growl of a diesel engine. Couple that with sleeping three in a queen sized bed and being cold? It wasn't the most stellar night sleep for any of us. 

 

As soon as he woke up around 8:30 Grayson asked to be put in his car seat and told us he would give us ten minutes to pack the car so he could go home to take a nap.

So not an epic fail, but no epic success either.

 

 

It was a really fun time (besides the sleeping thing).  The jury is still out on if I like camping. I think next time I'll let hubs choose a camp site and we'll go with friends when its warmer. That might make me like it.  Maybe.

 

Happy Fathers Day, Hubs! I would only sleep outside for you and I may very well never do it again, but I do love you to bits!

 

 

 



Fourth of July Fun

This year we packed up and headed South to visit the in-laws for the 4th. We were hoping for good weather and fun, and we got plenty of both. We packed up and headed out at 11 PM, hoping Grayson would sleep all night. He did, but much to this Momma's dismay so did everyone else. So thanks to more calories and caffeine from a big gulp and a bag of twizzlers than I think I have consumed in the past month- we managed to pull in the driveway around 8AM.  

 

And since its Gigi and Pap's house, we wasted no time getting down to buisness.

 

 

While Mr. Man played in the pool the hubs continued his nap time.

 

He's so lucky he's cute.

 

Since we don't get to see Gigi and Pap except for every few months we tend to pack in as much fun as we possibly can in one day.  

 

A water station, tree climbing, tire swinging and cookie making. All taking place in the span of a few hours. We also played diggers in the sand, ran around the acres of land, took wagon rides, swung in the swing, and ate 2 foot long ice pops. 

 

Sorry to tell you buddy, this lifestyle can not be sustained when we get home. Mommy gets tired just thinking of all of these things!

 

Then it was fireworks time! Now, it seems crazy but this would be Grayson's first time seeing fireworks as we have been rained out every year, so we've not had the chance to go.

 

 

On the car ride there, which was all of 10 minutes, Mr. Man just couldn't hang anymore.

 

Baby Cousin saying GET UP!

 

We did get him up for the show, because we didn't want him to freak out at the loud bangs.

 

He liked the colors, but asked me to hold his ears to make it not so loud. Welp, that didn't last long.

 

Of the twenty minute show? He maybe saw 5 minutes.

 

The next day we hit up a place called Lucky Ladd Farms. If you are ever in the Nashville Area, you MUST take your kids there. It really is that awesome. They have a petting zoo, tractor rides, TONS of play areas, a splash pad, a bubble zone, pony rides, mining for gold...and I could keep going. We spent hours there and we could have kept going.

 

It was a great way to spend the day, and I so wish we had something this awesome in Pittsburgh.

 

After a quick nap it was time to bust out the squirt guns and wait for it to get dark so we could catch lightning bugs and roast marshmellows!

 

 

Not too sure of his first sparkler experience.

 



 

Catching lightning bugs was much more his speed.

 

That's one toddler eating a marshmallow the size of a coffee mug.  He ate two. I was not anticipating bedtime to go well.

 

 

Sugar high in the bathtub! Even bath time is better at Gigi's.

 

Our last day was turtle hunting and river exploring...every boys dream.

 

 

Such a fun weekend, but the twelve hour drive home is for the birds!

 

See you at the Beach, Gigi and Pap!