Almost Time

It's almost baby time around here. I've been pretty "nest-y" lately, insisting J get the stuff down from the attic, washing what few baby things we have, etc. It's not all done and we may still have a few weeks yet but I'm anxious to get it all situated. We just found out the church is having a joint shower for me and the other new priest's wife (who is due 3 weeks after I am), so we went and registered some things we don't have anymore. I was amazed at how many new products there are out there since we last did this baby thing almost 5 years ago. We are experienced enough to know most of the new things aren't necessary, but some of them are pretty cool.

We registered the kids for a Sibling Tour of the hospital a few weeks ago and it was better than we expected! They got to bring a favorite stuffed animal or baby and practice diapering and they were able to tour the rooms and see what to expect. I knew A would be into it, but I was surprised at how into it H was, he listened to every word the nurse said and was eager to answer her questions.
So sweet!
They both got big brother and big sister hats to wear when the time comes to visit their new sister in the hospital.

Ren Fest

A few weekends ago we went to the Renaissance Festival in a town just north of Charlotte. We'd been to the one in Atlanta pre-kids and it was fun, but this one is pretty amazing! It's located on old farm land, open for 2 months, and the buildings are permanent structures including 7 stages, counter service food places, medieval rides/games, and more retail shops than you can imagine. There were actually so many things to see and do that we didn't get to see everything we wanted in one day.
(H) was over the moon with the jousting, pirates, and various places to buy swords (he of course had to add a wooden one to his collection). A loved the ladies in fancy dresses, places to get your hair elaborately (and expensively) braided, and this great fairy named Twig who played a double penny whistle thing and gave glass trinkets to her "favorites". She chose a tiny bottle of fairy dust on a necklace as her souvenir.

Apples!

Last weekend we went to the mountains and went apple picking. This is the first time we've been to a pick-your-own apple orchard and it was such fun!

The kids were able to run with abandon and play among the trees and we could taste as we went along if we found an unusual variety. Some of us thought it would be a good time to practice our juggling too!

It was quite cool that day and we were happy to visit the bakery on site for some warm apple cider and a new-to-us delicacy, apple cider donuts!

Oh my gosh, so good! Apparently something about replacing the milk in the donut recipe with cider makes it extra tasty and a bit more crunchy than regular donuts. I'm anxious to try to make them at home now.

After our snack, we went on a horse-drawn hay ride. All the other hay rides we've been on have been pulled by a tractor and watching the driver manipulate the horses was pretty amazing. They liked to run up the hills (to get them over with I'm guessing), so we really had to hold on at these parts!

It was a pretty perfect way to spend a Saturday in October!

Animal Blessing

Here are a few pictures from the Blessing of the Animals on Saturday. It was a beautiful morning and the animals were so fun to watch! Most of them behaved well, a few barked through the service. There was only 1 cat and we brought the only hamsters, but there was a guinea pig. No scratches or injuries and we received tags with the church's info saying "I've been blessed". Oh and there were treats for the animals and people afterwards, this church thinks of everything!