Monthly Archives: October 2016

Apple Picking

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Apple picking has been on my long list of “fun things to do” for the last few years and finally Justin and I decided Saturday was the day. We started looking up orchards on Friday to find out that peak apple season for many of the orchards is in September (oops!).  We came across one Macintosh Fruit Farm in the Shenandoah Valley that still had a variety of apples in season and looked like it would capture the girl’s attention for a few hours. We arrived in time for a late lunch.  Justin and I had the BBQ sandwich, Emerson the cheese quesadilla, and Harper and Avery a hot dog.  I love how big Harper’s eyes get when she eats a hot dog!_mg_4315

The food was actually pretty good and reasonably priced.  After our bellies were full, we made our way to the orchards. The girls had fun looking for apples…._mg_4318and posing…._mg_4331 _mg_4329 _mg_4328

Justin had fun trying to get apples high up in the tree.img_4337

The girls enjoyed watching.img_4333

We enjoyed using the fruit picker as a prop.img_4349-1

Harper got tired and wanted to be held pretty quickly. We settled on some piggy back rides instead.img_4353img_4356

The girls played on the playground, checked out the ponies, and checked out the horses._mg_4369

We bought eight pounds of apples! Sunday we made homemade applesauce with some of the apples and we also decorated pumpkins with felt and stickers.  It was a great weekend and it was neat that the girls and Justin and I all got to experience our first time apple picking together!

Emerson’s Bang Trim

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Avery and Emerson LOVE art work! So when I found some scissors, cut up paper, and markers in their room, I was a little annoyed that they had taken those items into their room as they know art work activities are to occur only in the playroom.  And when I found a little snippet of hair on the ground in the room while I was cleaning it up solo, I assumed that they cut their dolls hair (not that I thought that was okay).  Fast forward a day later…I was looking at Emerson and noticed that her hair was looking as though she had bangs.  I took a closer look and realized the hair I found was HER hair!  I asked Emerson about it and with a straight face over and over she told me she didn’t do it.  She tried to blame it on Avery a few times so I asked Avery about it and it was clear to me that Avery had no involvement.  We took a break from discussing it again until later in the evening.  I told her we would talk just the two of us after she put on her pajamas.  Instead of going to her room to put on her pajamas, she came and found me in the laundry room and asked if we could talk now.  I got down to her level and said of course. It was then that she admitted what she had done.  When I asked her why she lied, she said she was afraid of getting in trouble.  I told her that I was proud of her for telling me the truth now and that she was being brave and I appreciated that.  I also made it clear that she is never to cut her own hair again.

Here is a picture of Emerson (fake smile) after she cut her bangs. emerson-hair-cut-10-16

Here is a picture of me at age 4 AFTER my mom took me to the salon to fix my long hair that I had cut myself!stefanie-haircut-age-4

Justin keeps telling me she is my child…you think?!?!

Reston Pumpkin Patch

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We went to the Reston Pumpkin Patch for the third year in a row. They added a third moon bounce combo and while the girls were excited when they saw it, it somehow took away from the pumpkin patch experience.  The choo-choo train wasn’t operational, the pumpkins seemed to be sparser than normal, the indoor fruit market was only half full, and there were minimal employees working there.  While it was disappointing for Justin and me, Avery and Emerson still had a good time playing in the moon bounce combos.  Harper had a good time looking at the baby pig and hanging out with Mommy and Daddy. Harper also enjoyed sitting in the wagon and Emerson enjoyed pulling her and picking out the large family pumpkin.

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While it was somewhat disappointing, the fact that we stayed for a lot less time than I anticipated meant Harper could have a nap at home and Avery and Emerson could have quiet time….which meant Justin got to watch the second half of the Nats Game and the end of the Redskins game and I had time to finish the laundry, do an arm workout, prep tomorrow night’s dinner, and even had a few minutes to watch some of the Nats Game!

Avery Eye Update

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It’s been a long while since I have posted an update about Avery’s vision, so here goes it. Avery has been wearing glasses for almost two years now and continues to do well with them.  She has a regular pair that is tinted and then a very dark pair that she uses as her sunglasses.  Avery’s vision hovers around 20/250 and 20/200 when using both eyes bilaterally.  About a year ago the eye pressure in Avery’s right up started to go up so we monitored it for a few months.  It continued to be high (mid 20’s) so we decided to start her on an eye drop once an evening to reduce the pressure.  The pressure immediately dropped to the low teens and has stayed in the teens since she has been on them. Avery is still patching…going on five years now, which is hard to believe!   She patches daily alternating daily between the right and left eyes for a total of 2 hours a day. Avery really likes her glasses and knows they help her to see.  She had purple frames up until August of this year, in which she switched to pink frames!

Since having glasses, Avery has fallen three times while outside and landed directly on her glasses…the glasses have protected her face for the most part but each time has sent us into panic mode as the process for getting new glasses has proven lengthy. However, it is improving as we continue to search and find optometrist with labs that have the capabilities and experience making lenses with her prescription.