Catching up!

Once again, I have waited almost two years before posting what was once a very up to date blog.  I have however been pretty up to date with my scrap book pages!

Peter has grown up.  Turning six somehow takes the toddler/baby away.  He has grown into a very independent son.  He loves school. loves soccer, loves running, and loves playing at home.

We have have put many miles on our vehicle exploring-Hanging out in Cape May when we could, visiting the Crayola Factory in Easton, PA, the National Zoo, and Luray Caverns are some of the day trips I can recall.  Last summer, 2011, We took a mini vacation to Lake George, NY and LOVED IT!  Peter got to visit the real Santa at the North Pole as well.

Luray Caverns, Virgina

Peter ran over four miles in one hour at his school fundraiser, and particpated in a track camp, and a 2 mile run, where he placed in his age group.  He attended a saftey camp with a good friend, and has played baseball.  It seems that baseball may be his chosen sport.

Peter got to ride in a fire truck for the homecoming parade, as well as marched in the Halloween and little league parade as well.

The right way to shovel snow

We had a snow storm last night. Jeff left work at 4:15 PM and didn't get home until 11:00. He chose not to go to to work today, as school was cancelled for me, and last night he had to be pushed passed the mailboxes by the farmer. Today we began to shovel out, with a little help!

Dinosaurs and Spaceships

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Peter and I went to work with Jeff. Peter was up at 5 AM because he was so excited to go to the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. We parked at the Green Line Metro in Beltsville, and Peter and I rode the Metro into DC. We arrived so early that the museums weren't even open yet. It was also bitter cold this day, so we found a food court at the Postal Museum, had a bagel and hung out for about 40 mins. We were first in line in the museum. Peter enjoyed seeing all the exhibits, not just dinosaurs. He learned about the gems, and the Big Bang Theory, and he learned about the great barrier reef. We left the natural history museum and went to the Air and Space. He was so excited to board a real space ship. We headed back to our car at the metro, picked Jeff up and headed back to Pennsylvania. It was an awesome day.

Hockey Night on Our Pond

It has been freezing here! When we look out our front windows we see the new ponds. During the weekend the ponds get a lot of use from our neighbors who like to scrimmage hockey games against the Amish. Peter and Jeff have the hockey bug. During this past week, Jeff made the effort to get home and race to the pond with Peter in full hockey gear. The gear came from Carrie for Peter's Christmas gift, and I am please to say it has paid for itself already. Kahlua joined in the fun one night. She chased the hockey ball across the ice, and had very stable footing, much to my surprise. I tried my hand too; I don't have skates, but have quite a wrist shot! Every night now, right after dinner Peter and Jeff go into the basement and play hockey! It has been too cold to go to the pond every evening.

Getting Caught Up

Christmas in Canada
Writing letter to Santa
Wendell and the 30 lb turkey
Decorating gingerbread with cousin
Trick or Treating as a Dragon
First Hockey Lesson in Lancaster
4th birthday train ride Strasburg RR
Fall fun at Cherry Crest Farm
Oxford Feed and Lumber Fall Festival
Cousins on a golf cart
Peter in Down Town Disney
Muddy Mud slide on the farm
Amazing golf follow through

As you are all aware, it has been six months since a recent blog. I partially blame Apple for that, since I am not proficient in the Mac Book ways, I blame myself, as I bought Jeff a new digital camera with lenses,(which I do not know how to use), and I have been lazy. Here we are now in 2011 still on the farm, and it is a new year's resolution to pick up the blog as if it never ceased to exist. In the last six months Peter has developed mad golfing skills, and one day could be wearing a green blazer, he engineered the Muddy Mud Slide at the stream on our farm, flew to Florida to visit with his cousin, went to Downtown Disney and ate at the Dinosaur restaurant, drove around in a Golf cart, went to the local lumber place and decorated pumpkins, did a straw maze and made a scarecrow (all for free), rode the Strasburg Train for his 4th birthday, visited the best farm ever-Cherry Crest Farm, started Hockey Lessons at the Lancaster Area Ice Rink, trick or treated as a Dragon, went to Canada for Christmas, decorated Gingerbread with his cousin, and so many other things I can't begin to post all the pictures. Now we are caught up, enjoy the current blog!

Summer pictures of our home

Just took a few pictures outside our home. My plants are a bit wilty, thanks to the heat and humidity here. It is really amazing to see the change in seasons on a farm.

Delaware Children's Museum

To get out of the heat, as we don't have central air conditioning, Peter and I went to eh Delaware Children's Museum on the waterfront in Wilmington. This is a new museum and I think they are still developing programs, it cannot compare to the museum we went to Pittsburgh, but it is in keeping with the science theme. Peter did love the place. He grew vegetables and harvested them, he learned about the water process, and changed tires and a muffler on a race car. You can certainly tell Peter's mom is a librarian as he grabs a book (about farm equipment) and sits in a bean bag to look at the pictures!

Fourth of July

This is the first time in Peter's life that we didn't participate in a patriotic day. Instead we used some really great coupons to go to the waterpark at Morey's Pier in Wildwood. We went to my mom's in Cape May on Thursday night, we went to the lighthouse, Cape May Point Nature Center, the beach, the boardwalk in Wildwood and the waterpark in the stretch of the 4th of July weekend. Jeff and I have agreed that Peter will not be unaccompanied to the boardwalk until he is 18 years old. Things have certainly changed at the Jersey shore! Peter went on some really big water slides, and of course splashed around the kids area.

Pool Fun!

My assistant gave us a "pop-up" pool. It is 30 inches deep and about 12 feet in diameter. It has been the greatest gift. Peter has been in it everyday and Jeff and I even enjoy cooling off in it as well. Peter has taken off swimming. I can thank the YMCA for teaching him. He swims well underwater and blows bubbles, and reaches and pulls to get across the pool. There is also something to say about the background for our pool, see for yourself.

Dutch Wonderland

Peter had a dentist appointment so Jeff took off from work to accompany us to the dentist, as this was his first real appointment. We capitalized on the day and made plans to visit Dutch Wonderland. It was a very affordable, family-friendly place. We didn't have to wait in any lines! We went on a very hot day, so most of the patrons were in the water park area. During our visit we got hit with some very severe thunderstorms. The policy at Dutch Wonderland is to issue rain passes. So we get to go back again this summer. When we arrived back home, we didn't have power. This lasted for almost 7 hours. Because of the heat, Jeff and Peter stayed in the pool unitl 9:00 PM, way past Peter's bedtime.

Long Pond Park

Peter and I initially were planning on heading to the Smithsonian for our first day of summer vacation. We had planned on going to see the Natural history museum, specifically the dinosaurs. However, hitching a ride to DC with Jeff requires going to bed before 9:00 PM. Since we didn't go, I arranged to go to a park. We went on a road trip to Lancaster County to Long Pond Park. It had a petting zoo, a pond, and of course several playgrounds. Peter had a great first day of summer.

BBQ

Jeff and I love where we live so much that we are anxious to share this amazing place with anyone who wants to visit. I organized a BBQ with my father's childhood friends, Eddie and Trish (Lauren's parents) and Rich and Jeanette, and their daughter Adrienne. It was a great time. Eddie and his dog Riley, enjoyed a relaxing time in the hammock. My parents had a great time too.