Stribling Orchard

Last week, Lucas and I took a trip out to the country to do some apple picking with our two best friends. We visited Stribling Orchard, which is a 200 year old farm out near the Blue Ridge Mountains. Little did we know, official apple picking season had ended. But this meant we had the whole orchard to ourselves! Lucas and Callie spent the morning stumbling through the orchard, picking apples and eating them as they went. Once our apple bags were full, we headed to the top of the orchard for lunch.

Who says apple season is over?

Eating as we go!

We love these two!

<3

The perfect picnic, thanks to Jeannie!

Finishing off the day with some tasty hot chocolate!

Not another person in site.

And we successfully wore these two out!

The Muffin Man

Anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE to bake. So today, I decided to let Lucas join in the fun. We attempted to make oatmeal muffins. It went as well as you would imagine baking with a two year old could. Half the flour ended up on the floor, the other half on Luke's shirt, things were not stirred very well and the batter barely made it into the pan. It was a messy process, but in the end Lucas tried the first muffin and described it as "Yummy!!!"

Mission accomplished. Messy or not :)

While Lucas napped, I prepared all of our ingredients
so he could pour them into our mixing bowl.

Hard at work.

This part got interesting.

Can you tell which muffin Lucas made?

They're done! And look like muffins... even without most of the flour.

My taste tester!

Mission accomplished.

"Flashback Friday"

Our most recent Gravelly Point visit inspired me to look back through my older Gravelly Point pictures (I'm a sucker for old photos... I could look at them all day long). Our first time at Gravelly Point, Lucas was only able to crawl and he spent the afternoon sitting on the picnic table, eating cheerios, watching the planes fly above him. It continues to amaze me how quickly children change.

Here are a few flashback pictures:

Nothing beats eating cheerios and watching planes take off!

Showing Dad our favorite spot!

Grandpa!

A chilly day at Gravelly Point!

"Woahhh!"

Gravelly Point Park

Gravelly Point Park is amazing. It's a small park along the Potomac River and is directly across the water from the Ronald Reagan National Airport. Our favorite thing about this park is getting to watch the planes take off. They fly directly over your head, it's incredible. We have spent a lot of time here over the past couple years.

This past weekend, Steve and I decided to take Lucas to Gravelly Point to kick around a soccer ball. It was an unusually warm fall day and the park was packed with people playing soccer, flying kites, biking and there were even about 20 sailboats out on the water. It was one of those fall days that sticks in your memory. 

Looks like Lucas takes after me when it comes to coordination. #sorrybuddy

Halloween!

We took full advantage of the Halloween season this year. Lucas and I visited an apple farm with our relatives in New York, took a great trip to Cox Farm with our friends, played at the Burke Pumpkin Playground, carved pumpkins and ended with the best Halloween party ever at our friend Katie's house. Quite possibly, my favorite Halloween to date.

On Halloween night, Steve and I dressed up our little fire chief and headed out to our friend's house. The kids ate "mummy dogs" while the parents drank "pina ghouladas" and then we headed out the door to trick-or-treat. Not even a little rain could stop these 6 toddlers. They trick-or-treated until their little legs couldn't carry them any further. Lucas had such a blast!

Introducing our Scottish relatives to an American pumpkin patch!

Cox Farm with our buddies! Our best attempt at a group shot... hysterically dysfunctional.

Burke Pumpkin Playground

Burke Pumpkin Playground last year/this year! That puppy costume still kills me...

The Halloween party at Katie's!

Treats for the adults... pina ghouladas!

Fired up for Luke's second birthday!

Living down the street from the firestation, Lucas has come to love firetrucks... or as he would call them, "firecars." We spend a lot of our time watching firetrucks out the window, visiting the local station, reading firetruck books, watching the show "Fireman Sam"... you get the point. So for his second birthday, we decided to do a firetruck themed party.

Our family and friends all joined us at a local park to celebrate Lucas' big day. The rain held off just long enough for us to BBQ, play on the playground, and eat some sweet treats. At the end of the party, our local firemen stopped by with one of their firetrucks for the kids. The look on Lucas' face when the truck pulled up to the park was absolutely priceless!

Thanks to our friends and family, this was definitely a birthday to remember!

"Fire Chief Lucas" and Aunt Heather!

Luke's best friend, Miss Callie