Lily Chooses a Pumpkin Bigger than her Head

Lily Chooses a Pumpkin Bigger than her Head
Originally uploaded by oldforest

I think I wrote last week that I was "nearly ready" to organize into a set, photos Heather had taken of the girls trip to Butler's Orchard last Fall. Who was I kidding? It took more than a few of hours(including about 45 minutes of uploading time) to choose and fiddle with the forty plus pictures that make up the "Pumpkin Festival Fun at Butler's Orchard" set:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kudukhsu/sets/72157605306552996/

Granted, it wasn't like my undivided attention was devoted to the task. Even with Lily gone with Heather on a school field trip to Philly, Zoe and Asa(who was still napping when I started the project) provide plenty of distractions -- and like many of the sets I've uploaded, captions(and tags) for each individual photo for the most part will have to be added at a later date(if ever).

Anyway, if my memory serves me, the calender said it was time to pick pumpkins for Halloween, but the weather was hot as if it were August. Yet, regardless of the weather, the girls(and Lily's friend Holly), judging by the pictures Heather took and by all reports, had a blast. I think I had another commitment that afternoon and didn't arrive with Asa until about half an hour before closing, just in time for the hay wagon ride to the pumpkin patch.

A Krispy Kreme "Field Trip" 5/4/08

Asa at Krispy Kreme
Originally uploaded by oldforest

How is it, that there's so many more Dunkin' Donuts than Krispy Kremes? We ended up at the location in Gaithersburg by chance actually, we just needed to kill some time -- our intended destination was Creative Playthings to look at "swing sets" for the yard. Nevertheless, our visit to Krispy Kreme kind of turned into a mini field trip.

Zoe at Krispy Kreme
Originally uploaded by oldforest

There's a large viewing area to watch as the donuts are being made, and of course there's these cool paper hats that the kids are wearing. For some reason, I'm reminded of the times as a kid when I went to Shakey's Pizza(which long ago inhabited the corner of East West Highway and Old Georgetown Road) and could watch them make pizza. It was all quite a big hit.

Lily at Krispy Kreme, 5/4/08
Originally uploaded by oldforest

To top it off, as if they didn't have enough of a sugar high, the kids were given piping hot samples of what they had just seen being made. They probably had as much fun there as they did later testing out the swing sets at Creative Playthings, which are swing sets in name only, and can cost as much as my first car -- which was a 1983 Dodge Colt.

Zoe with Angelina Ballerina, 5/3/08

Zoe with Angelina Ballerina, 5/3/08
Originally uploaded by oldforest

I'm not sure any further explanation is needed...

Asa and Zoe Gymboree, 5/2/08

Asa and Zoe Gymboree, 5/2/08
Originally uploaded by oldforest

Like I said, sometimes Asa has more fun at Gymboree than Zoe.

Asa with Alina Rosenfeld in Georgetown, 4/26/08

Asa with Alina Rosenfeld in Georgetown, 4/26/08
Originally uploaded by oldforest

Next to the computer, there's a frame with several photos in it, including one of Alina at ballet. She couldn't be much older than Lily is now in that picture. Heather was the Rosenfeld's nanny then. Now, Alina's almost all grown-up, a sophomore in High School(at GDS) and a member of the crew team(GDS has a crew team, who knew?).

Who was I kidding?

Grandma Kuduk and Zoe at New Fortune, 4/20/08
Originally uploaded by oldforest

Clearly last week, I was exceedingly optimistic in thinking that I could compose a dozen posts while I the kids were napping. Hopefully, I will succeed in finishing-up. While we had made no plans this holiday weekend, other than today we have kept busy. At the moment, Heather is outside reading a book while the girls play in one of those cheap plastic kiddie pools from Bruce Variety. Meanwhile, the boy is upstairs sleeping.

As for the photo, Heather's mom put in for a "voluntary lay-off" at work last month, and used the time to come out for a visit. While I think she had a good time, I think the kids got the best of her...she kept saying something about the the springs in her head had sprung.

Zoe and Lily on the Slide at Norwood Park, 4/18/08

Zoe and Lily on the Slide at Norwood Park, 4/18/08
Originally uploaded by oldforest

Going Down the Slide Together, 4/18/08
Originally uploaded by oldforest

Lily Riding Her Bicycle into Bethesda, 4/17/08

Lily Riding Her Bicycle, 4/17/08
Originally uploaded by oldforest

Lily, more or less, made it from our house to Freeland Park(next to the Bethesda Library) while I walked Zoe and Asa in the double Baby Jogger. She still has trouble on hills and had to walk the bike on the dirt path, but all things considered, I was quite impressed.

Asa @ 16 months

Asa @ 16 months
Originally uploaded by oldforest

Not really a little baby anymore...

Asa at Gymboree, 4/11/08

Asa at Gymboree, 4/11/08
Originally uploaded by oldforest

Officially, Asa is still just tagging along for Zoe's Gymboree class, but to be truthful he has just as much fun as she does, sometimes more...

Lily Shows off her John Deere Bicycle

Lily Shows off her John Deere Bicycle
Originally uploaded by oldforest

We ended up buying Lily this bike(Zoe got a green one to match) at the Pole Tavern John Deere store in Elmer, New Jersey. We were on our way home from Cape May over the Easter holiday weekend. What had really amounted to pit stop, ended up taking a couple of hours when we decided to buy Zoe a bicycle. Unfortunately, the store didn't have a bike on display in Zoe's size(we wanted to make sure she fit on it), so we had to wait around while the clerk assembled one, which we did end up buying. Lily ended up with hers, even though she already has a Barbie bicycle, because she seemed so much more capable on the John Deere -- which she rode around and around the store while we waited.

Asa and Zoe Go for a Wagon Ride, 4/10/08

Asa and Zoe Go for a Wagon Ride, 4/10/08
Originally uploaded by oldforest

Heather has taken them for a walk around the neighborhood in their spiffy Radio Flyer several times, and to be honest I don't know how she does it. I was barely a block from the house before they were climbing out and refusing to stay put. It turned out to be a very short walk.

Zoe Swings at Candy Cane City, 3/26/08

Zoe Swings at Candy Cane City, 3/26/08
Originally uploaded by oldforest

Okay, as anyone who has checked this blog or the Flickr site knows, I am over 6 months behind in uploading photos. I literally have hundreds of photos that I'd like to post and organize into sets. For some time now, I've been putting them up in chronological order, which at the moment has me current through Zoe's second birthday. For months now I have been "nearly ready" to post some very cute pics of everyone at the pumpkin patch at Butler's Orchard from last Fall...anyway, with that said, assuming that all 3 kids remain napping, I'm going to post more recent stuff, maybe a dozen of the better pictures I just downloaded to the computer taken last month.