Down on the Farm

We love October in Kentucky! I truly believe that it is my new favorite month. Many farms and orchards open their door to throngs of visitors for food, hayrides, and playground fun. We called up our friends Mollie and little Anna Grace to go for our first visit of the year during fall break.

As you can see, the farm made a great impression on little Anna.  Ha!

Leah enjoyed herself, but wished she could have crawled around in the dirt a little more.  She is my wild child!

The hayride is always my favorite part of the day.

I think Sarah's favorite part was the apple cider slushy from the orchard cafe.  Yum!

What a beautiful day and a beautiful orchard. 

 This year we were given a treat when we were able return to this same local orchard on its' "off day" with Sarah's preschool.  This meant we had the whole place all to ourselves (no crowds).   What fun!

We got there a little early to eat some yummy food from the grill.  I love to sit on this porch and daydream that we live on a farm.  And then I get to leave and have no work to do!  It is the best of both worlds.  Chris came along to enjoy the scenery.

Sarah was chowing down on the yummy food we packed.

Here is Leah in a rare happy moment while being confined to a stroller.  It is all because of the food, I assure you!

Sarah was so happy to see her little "boyfriend", London was there.  I can sympathize with their teacher who says she can't keep them apart at school.  We couldn't tear them apart either.

Leah had fun with the love of her life, Daddy!

Pumpkin pickin' with London and his brother, Keaton.  We have lots of fun with this annual tradition. 

This is Sarah's first time truly getting to pick pumpkins.  We welcomed her to the world at the end of pumpkin season last year.

I just loved this photo of her getting dirty in n the falling leaves.  It so captures her personality.

Sarah loves her little sister so much.  Almost too much if you catch Leah's expression.  Usually the embraces end in cries of protest from our little one.

Being silly together.

Fun on the playground with the Providence kids.

Leah had her own fun on the hay bale.

Throwing hay.

All in all it was a great trip and a great fall season here in Kentucky.

Music and dance for the Coleman girls

Since we found out we would be a family of three females and one daddy, Chris dreamed of a little tomboy who would like to throw a football and shoot hoops. Our first child has made this pretty clear that this is not happening. The jury is still out on number 2. But one thing is for sure, both Coleman gals love the arts. See below.

Our good friend Dawn was so nice to give us this piano a couple of months ago.  Leah has loved this toy since she could stand.  She spends lots of time banging away on the keys.  So happy.

Sarah enrolled in her first kindergym class which combined ballet and gymnastics this semester.  This is the midterm show they put on for the parents. She was especially fond of the gymnastics portion.

There is my little one on the end showing off her "skills"

These preschoolers were so adorable.  She made some good friends in the 14 weeks.

At the end, we were allowed some private time with the girls for a mini photo shoot.  Of course, Sarah loved it!

She has learned many of the steps in ballet.  Unfortunately, I was never enrolled myself and when she gets them confused I am absolutely no help.

How sweet.  I love this photo especially.  I am so blessed to have such a sweet hearted daughter.

Now back to the other daughter....Although one pastime is music, the other is mischief.  She is sweet, but oh so dangerous.  She has spent many hours attempting to live with the dishes in the dishwasher.  She is a hoot!

What blessings.

Incredible Indianapolis

Those of you who are in close contact with me know how challenging this year has been for our family.  Chris was called to be on a job in March which has taken him away from home (most of that time) out of the country for around 15 weeks!  The girls ached for him to be home and so did I.  After one of his particularly long trips, we pleaded for a mini family vacation.  We wanted to do something fun, close, and kid oriented.  We had never been to Indianapolis and had heard wonderful things about it, so, it was settled!  Indy here we come!  We are so glad we made this choice.

Our first stop was the Indianapolis zoo.  Here is daddy holding his two precious girls.  They are eating it up!  Did I mention how much they missed him?

Next we got "up close and personal with the wildlife.

There were so many beautiful animals at the park

 In this exhibit, you could try to race a cheeta if you dare.

   

 

 Mommy and baby sharing a moment...

    Mommy and baby sharing a moment... :)

 Leah loved the train.  Check out that cute smiley face!

       And this one as well!

  On day 2 we visited the Indianapolis Children's Museum and guess who met us in the parking lot?  Jack Sparrow!  This guy was so good you would have thought Johnny Depp was in the house!  My big one loved it!

                                            Initially, she wasn't as thrilled about the dinosaur exhibit.

But all that changed when she was able to get dirty in the sand digging for bones.  She especially liked the goggles.

                          Any time Sarah has a chance to accessorize, she is all over it!  I love my girly girl!

                   She also got to talk with a paleontologist.  She was very interested in touching the bones.

              Next was the train exhibit.  I think the "jet lag" hit at this point.  No smiles from Sarah.

                          Until I played peek a boo with her from outside the train car.

                                     A wall of blown glass.  What beautiful art they have at the children's museum
 

                                                                        More sculptures

Now for the main event:   There was a travelling Barbie exhibit in the museum!  Sarah probably spent two hours in this area!  We were exhausted, but I think I could have dropped her off and came back the next day and she would never have noticed!

                                                      Trying on clothes and walking the catwalk.

 She has watched project runway with me before so she knows how to "make it work"  She is into any type of design.  She loves crafting, decorating, and she commonly designs her own clothing using craft paper.  I grew up as a tomboy, so this is definitely not from my genes.

                                                                    Smiling for the paparazzi.

                                          

       Next for the hair.  She waited patiently for some time to get to play with these mannequin heads.

Finally, her chance to design an outfit on a life size mannequin! She was so proud!

                         Racing was not so exciting for her, but she did like to sit inside and pretend.

Leah preferred to eat goldfish in her own "race car"

Here was our view from the hotel room.  We were right in the middle of downtown Indianapolis.  How cool!

Sarah enjoyed standing in a chair, looking out the window.  She loved the heights!  I think she is a big city girl at heart. What wonderful memories we created this weekend.  I am so glad for our Indy vacation as a reprieve from the norm this year!