The day before Halloween Andrina had two parties; one at her school and one at Gymboree. She was pretty overwhelmed during her school party. There were so many parents there and everyone was dressed up for the parade all the students made throughout every classroom. I had to carry Andrina during it and she took some time to calm down afterward.

One smile during the parade

Having fun at the Gymboree party

Painting Pumpkins

Andrina picked out some pumpkins that are too small to carve so I decided that she would enjoy it if she painted them instead. So we did that this afternoon and she did have fun with it. Here she is painting them:

4 Pumpkin Farms in 1 Week

Andrina and I are the busy bees this month, trying to take advantage of all the decent weather and fall fun we can. Over this past week we got lucky that we had good weather several days so we went to pumpkin farms! Here's an assortment of pictures:

Enjoying the Fall Weather as Much as Possible

This whole summer and fall as been a real bummer for weather. Our summer was much cooler than average and it rained a lot. Unfortunately this has continuted into fall. It rained literally all day yesterday, we got over 3 inches, and this morning it rained here again. I had plans to take Andrina to the same pumpkin farm with the carnival rides that we went to on Monday after her art classs at Gymboree. But it was still raining after her class so I took Andrina to the closest mall to enjoy their soft play area. Generic yes, but she enjoyed it. And a bonus for me, I got lots of spontaneous hugs and kisses from my little love during her art class and while at the mall! Another bonus was that it stopped raining and the sun even came out while we were eating lunch.

I told Andrina that after she finished lunch she needed to take a nap and that she needed to actually sleep during her nap and when she woke up, I would take her to a pumpkin farm and fair. Andrina talked about this while getting ready for her nap and, miracle of all miracles, she actually slept during her naptime! She was so adorable when she woke up from her nap, she was literally jumping up and down in her crib shouting, "pumpkin farm, fair"! So it worked out just great. We went to the fair again and rode more little kiddie rides. I didn't take my camera today, I was just so happy that it stopped raining and Andrina took a nap so she was able to enjoy an afternoon activity with the weather cooperating.

Bathtub Art

Andrina colored in the bath tub tonight like she does almost every night since she turned 2. However, tonight she named her drawings! I think this is a big deal developmentally. Andrina said that she drew, a "whale, fish, and snake". So cute!

Here she is pointing to her work

and posing with her work

Numerals

While reading a book with numbers on the pages tonight, Andrina was able to tell me which ones were the numerals 1 through 5. She also recognized the numeral 8. I am so proud of my little girl and so happy that she enjoys learning! And she's only 27 months old!

Fried Green Tomatoes

Last night Tom and I made fried green tomatoes out of our unripened ones. I didn't want the green ones to go to waste so we made this southern speciality. And they turned out pretty good too.

Tom cutting up the tomatoes

The final product!

Yummy!

Too Cold

As I sit and write this on Sunday morning, I see that it's a mere 33 degrees outside. Today is the last day of the Scarecrow Festival and Tom and I wanted to take Andrina so we could make a scarecrow and so she could enjoy the carnival rides again. But we just talked and agreed that it's too cold and Andrina's too young to brave it right now, especially since she's getting over a cold. We can't try in the afternoon because that's her nap time and she'd be too tired to enjoy it and it would end up not being any fun or worth it for anyone if she's tired and cranky. Next year we'll have to make it for sure! Now weather, cooperate with us!

Scarecrow Festival 2009

Andrina and I went to the Scarecrow fest today after her art class at Gymboree. She loved all the little rides of course and got a balloon. You can make your own scarecrow there but I thought it would be too difficult for just the two of us to do and manage with a stroller so hopefully we can go tomorrow with Tom if the weather isn't too bad.

Little train ride

Helicopter ride, can you tell she likes these?
Andrina called this a "dinosaur"

Mommy & Andrina

"Art Class" Projects

Andrina and I have gone to 2 art classes together so far. She really enjoys them and I am happy to do this with her every week now. Here's her little projects that we've made together so far:

From her first class, a self-portrait

A painted pumpkin and a stuffed pumpkin.

Music, Art, & Science

Here's pics from yet our latest trip to the children's museum:

Andrina had a great time as always. Everytime we go she's capable of more activites than she was the last time. Sigh, my little baby is so becoming a little girl...