Fall, finally

Some fun fall pics...

Can never get enough horsie rides, this one at our local greenhouse.

In the hay bale maze.  Helaina loved wandering through this thing.

Face painting - another must.

A necessary Fall activity - apple picking.  We picked golden delicious and honeycrisp on this final weekend for picking.  I was the first to pluck a honeycrisp off of the tree for a taste.  My initial thought:  OMG, this is the sweetest apple I EVER had in my life.  Jim and Helaina agreed.  Best apple ever.  We'll return to Mexico next year for these sweet treats.

While waiting for the tractor to take us back, Helaina headed over to this giant tree for a "queen of the world" moment.

Surrounded by candy to decorate our ginergread house with, Helaina could hardly contain herself.  One for the house, one for her tummy was the general rule.


The house came our totally cute.

The annual "squishing of the squash" at the zoo.  It's always fun to see the animals attack their meat-filled pumpkins.  The baby snow leopards are always a treat to watch.

The bear had carrots, apples and sweet potato in his pumpkin.

The lions look totally thrilled with theirs.

The elephants had fun.  Their giant squash was 480 pounds and it was crushed with one stomp of Siri's foot.  They ate lots of it but also played too.  They would pick up pieces with their trunks and toss them in the air.

I plan on sending this picture to the zoo and also submitting it to our local TV station for picture of the day.  Talk about perfect timing.  I was able to get the monkey's reflection as he (or she) was gazing into the mirror.

The donkey wanted nothing to do with his bale of hay but loved the tall green pieces of grass that Helaina was picking and feeding him.    Next post, Halloween!

Spring and Fall Soccer

Helaina had a blast playing soccer again this year for her second season.  She was a bit more agressive on the field and was definately an improved player over last year.  She's yet to accomplish her goal of making a goal, but there's always next season.  She came close a few times but was usually outrun by her more swift-footed team mates.

Picture day.  I snapped a few pictures myself while the photographer was doing his thing.

Whenever Helaina had the ball she was ALWAYS smiling and laughing.  She was the only kid on the field who smiled constantly while she was making a run.  Happy, happy little soccer gal.

She always tried so hard.

At the end of the summer session they had a parents vs. kids game.  Fun for the most part - except for the idiot parents who took it a bit too seriously and played to win, forgetting they were playing for fun with their kids.  One father kicked the ball so hard that it hit his own kid hard in the face, knocked the poor kid down and sent him out of the game crying.  I yelled from the sidelines "Hey!  Remember you're playing with 6-year olds out there!"  Good thing it wasn't Helaina who got a hard ball in the face.  Then the same guy played goalie for a while and wouldn't let any of the kids score a goal.  He blocked everything they tried to kick in.  Gee, what talent - an adult blocking shots from 6-year olds.  Finally when a quarter ended I made Jim go in and take over as goalie.  He let the kids score some goals while "missing" the blocks.  The first little boy who scored yelled out "Yah!  I scored against a grown-up!" 

Having fun on the field with her Daddy.  I was sad that I couldn't play but I was awaiting my knee surgery and there was no way soccer was going to happen for me.

Finishing up summer - in winter

Ok, so far so good with the new blog.  Since there has already been snow on the ground and our Christmas tree is up, guess it's a good time to finally finish up summer pics.  I know I should just forget about it but some of the photos are just too darn cute (as always).

Yearly trip to Ft. Rickey.  Since Helaina's snake obsession was in full force during the summer, she was thrilled to hear the announcement about the snake demonstration.  She watched intently as the handler spoke, correctly answered questions, and was first to raise her hand when asked "Who want's to hold the snake?"  Check out that smile.

Petting the snake while it stared her down.

 

She thought it was a riot when this baby goat jumped on the rock she was sitting on and started chewing her hair.

By the look on her face, I think someone tooted but I'm not sure if it was Helaina or the donkey.

 

State Fair, take 1.

Loves those super slides.

Asleep in her carseat holding the piggie Joshua won for her.

State Fair, take 2 (yah, we're nuts - we always go twice)

The butterfly garden in the Horticulture Bldg.  They were very friendly butterflies.

With her face painted as a princess crown, she held the baby chick so softly - phew!

Just like the first fair trip ended, asleep on the way home in her car seat.

 

Second day of school in September.  She looks so grown up for a 6-year old.

She chose Barbie glitz this year for backpack, lunchbox and thermos.

 

Lost her 3rd tooth in school.  Neither of us thought it was loose enough to come out when she brushed her teeth that morning, but apparently one bite of the cafeteria's chicken patty sandwich twisted it enough so that it fell out later that day in class.  She was totally thrilled to lose it in school (I, however, was sad that I missed it).  She got to go to the nurse and she's holding the plastic tooth that the nurse put her tooth in for safekeeping.

 

Anywhere there's facepainting, Helaina's first in line.  This was at our town's historical event one weekend.  Sounds boring, I know, but it was fun.  Balloon guy, apple fritters, crafts, horse drawn wagon ride - what more could we want.

 

Daddy's birthday in September.  Three curly candles.  As my mother always used to say, "One for the past, one for the present and one for the future."

 

It was the first time we attended the mooncake baking event with FCC.  What a blast.

Mix up the ingredients (notice the flour half way up my arm from the crazed mixing girl).

Fill the mold with dough and fillings then whack it as hard as you can on the table to plop the mooncake out.

Proudly displaying our first 2 mooncakes with my adorable little helpers.

Not too bad for our first attempt.  They were yummy, filled with chocolate chips, marshmallows, m&ms, jelly or sweet bean paste - which was my favorite.

 

Next post will be Helaina's soccer adventures then I think I'll be up to Fall fun.