Charlotte had a goat spit in her face today. She screamed and cried. I know its going to take a minute for what I just said to sink in. So I will give you some time.




Goat spit. Gross you say? Absolutely. Did she deserve it? Well that depends on who you ask. Mom and dad say no, she didn't deserve to be spit on, it's just rude. As for the goat, well he would say its fine to spit on a child who is tapping her little finger through the fence onto its nose. The goat would say it wasn't really spit it was a sneeze. Regardless the little girl screamed and cried and will probably never go near a goat again.



But pigs? She can't get enough of them.


Today we did our usual holy church duties, then decided to take a little drive to Beech Hill Farm in lovely Hopkinton NH. (Yes we do go to a lot of farms....remember we live in NH, there are a lot of farms here). Dad immediately smelled a conspiracy once we got close to the farm and both Charlotte and mom were asking for ice cream. Upon arrive he read the sign. Make Your Own Ice Cream Sundae and farm stand. Dad still thinks it was just a ploy to get him to buy ice cream sundaes for lunch. Luckily they also had pumpkins and one can never have enough pumpkins on the front porch or in your window boxes. $40 in pumpkins, one goat spitting, and 3 ice creams later we completed our lovely day at Beech Hill Farms.



The moral of today's story: Always call ahead to make sure the farm stand is not also an ice cream stand, avoid the wagons that can easily be loaded up with pumpkins, and never never stick your fingers in a goats nose unless you are looking away or wearing sunglasses.

My own car!

As if the trip to the hospital wasn't fun enough, we decided on Sunday to follow through on our plans of going to Vermont to Nanny and Grandpa's house (from now on known as BeeBa) in celebration of cousin Stephanie and Chad's Marriage Celebration.
We arrived before the guests and Charlotte was welcomed by a slightly used but brilliantly pink Barbie motorized 4-wheeler. It didn't take her long to learn to keep her feet on the pegs and thumb on the throttle to zip around the living room. Her own vehicle. She is so happy with extra freedom. She had better get used to it since this kid wont be driving her own car until dad says so. Maybe by the age of 20 she can turn in the barbie atv for the real thing. We will have to wait and see.

Charlotte had fun playing with all the kids and was actually very good with all the people in the house and outside. She would move from room to room playing and laughing with a trail of girls following her all wanting to pick her up to play with her. It kept her busy and by the end of the night she was exhausted. After dinner and her bath, we gave her a bottle and turned on Cinderella for her and she climbed up on to the couch with BeeBa, leaned against him and relaxed.

Then it was time for bed. Dad did his usual routine, putting her in her crib, reading a book. Charlotte wanted nothing to do with it. She just kept crying and saying BeeBa! BeeBa!
Dad asked, "Do you want to say goodnight again to Grandpa?"
Charlotte replied in a sad voice, "Yes"
Downstairs we went. Another kiss and another hug goodnight and she was good to go.






When we arrived back home Charlotte found pumpkins waiting for her on our front steps. They have actually been there a week or so but she just realized they were there. She tried moving them. When that didn't work she decided to give them a hug instead.

Rescue 911

Shelby had the pleasure of using our towns Emergency Response System on Thursday. Seems Miss Charlotte ate something in the house that threw her for a loop and had her high as a kite. What she had we are still not sure, but it was something bad enough that mom franticly called dad at worked at told him to meet her at the hospital.

Charlotte giggled and laughed at all of the firemen and police officers in our house prepping her for an ambulance ride. Dad of course flagged down a state trooper outside of work and had a escort all the way to the hospital. Top speed 100 mph. Red light? Straight threw them. Thank you officer for helping a frantic dad in need.

Charlotte was poked and prodded at the hospital, hooked up to a heart monitor, stabbed with an IV and kept overnight for "observation". Her blood and urine toxicologies came back normal and about 12 hours later she started acting her normal self. Again leading the doctors to believe she ingested something that she was not supposed to. So who knows? Lesson learned to get down on your hands and knees and search around your house for anything strange that a 2 year old might eat.

Gymnastics

Tonight Charlotte had her 2nd gymnastics class. She completely transforms into a little gymnast when she put on her tutu and leotard. Doing twirls around the house. Dad got to drop in on the class to see what these little kids are actually doing. It was organized chaos but they all had so much fun!

apple picking

Charlotte's latest sport of choice is bowling. She could have picked something a little cooler (no offense to those of you bowlers). If you do bowl please don't tell us, we really don't want to know and there is nothing you can say to convince us that it is a cool sport. Any sport where you rent shoes to play is a little strange. It ranks up there with rollerskating (again is that even a sport, again the renting of the skates?). Regardless Charlotte loved setting the pins (buckets) up in the hallway and loved knocking them down with the foam soccer ball. Ahh the games we play with our kids to keep them from watching television!


Saturday mom was supposed to go with Charlotte, Colin, and Lisa to see Justin Roberts at Copley in Boston. However it was pouring out. Instead of watching a rained out concert with thousands of wet crying kids, they went to some indoor playground in Haverhill MA. Dad was busy at home in the rain running truck loads of trash and brush to the dump. I case you didn't get it the first time, mom was at in indoor playground with Charlotte. Whats wrong with this picture? Mom dry, playing, laughing. Dad, wet, working, miserable.




Sunday morning we started our day by explaining to Charlotte that after church we would be going apple picking. "APP PULL PIK ING" she would repeat. "APP PULL PIK ING!" Over and over. As we walked to church she kept repeating it. It was the first day of Sunday School so there were tons of kids at the service. Charlotte kept herself busy playing in the nursery while mom and dad enjoyed the sermon. As soon as it was over we were off to do some apple picking. The sky was blue, the weather crisp and cool. A perfect fall day.

Charlotte was not happy in the drive to the apple orchard. She wanted her bottle. We decided not to give in. She cried and cried some more. In between crying she would say, "APP PULL PIK ING" then start crying again. It was so cute and it broke our hearts. The poor kid didn't even know what apple picking was but she was excited to do it.

We made it to the apple orchard and Charlotte loved walking up and down the rows of trees. She would pick an apple and then start eating it. Then pick another and start eating it. Sorry Kimbal Farms for the apples with just one bite out of them. We had fun trying all the apples and enjoyed our "family" time on such a beautiful day.







After our excursion at the orchard we hit Doc Davis for some home made ice cream (thanks Paul for a great idea). Dad tried cake batter flavored ice cream for the first time. It was like a piece of birthday cake mixed into ice cream. Mom now has a new favorite!

To finish off a perfect day, Dad and Charlotte played baseball and tag in the back yard while he grilled steak tips. Abigail and Oliver joined in the fun, grabbing the baseballs in their mouths, running around the yard, while we chased them. Charlotte laughed so hard running after them that she would just fall down. What a wonderful weekend (with the exception of going to the dump in the rain while mom played on Saturday, did I mention that yet? :)




Oh and those silly pictures above? Yes that is Charlotte on Sunday wearing her pajamas and a winter hat. She wanted to wear it so we let her.

Crabs, Baseball, and Dogs

It can't get any more American than that. It all started with Labor Day weekend. Saturday was spent with dad doing yard work. Lots and lots of yard work. Sunday, well that was the ultimate beach day. 80 degrees. No humidity. And sunny. We arrived at Wallis Sands Beach at low tide and it was virtually empty. A perfect time to explore the rocks with Charlotte to look for crabs. Much to our surprise, dad found lots of them and Charlotte LOVED searching the seaweed and rocks for the little critters.




Mason and Brodie joined us at the beach. The kids played for hours and everyone enjoyed a wonderful day at the beach.




On Monday we were invited to Jon and Traceys house for a little BBQ. We packed up the minivan and headed over for some good grub and to see Paul, Jena, & Marin, Kurt, and Chris & Laura. Charlotte loved their fish tanks especially the salt water tank that has a little clownfish in it. She kept saying "Nemo! Nemo!" over and over again. Thus begins our search for a fishtank. Dad actually got two of them at the dump a few weeks ago but mom doesnt want any leaks in the house. So now he is searching for a tank. Mom wants a whole new set up and of course dad being the cheap (BLANK) that he is has been looking on ebay and craigslist. He has seen too many people get rid of perfectly fine fish tanks because they dont have time to take care of them. (of course we have PLENTY of time for a fish tank). Mom wants small. Dad wants big. You know how it goes....just getting the ok to get one is only the first step!

Last week was quiet since dad was on a business trip to North Carolina for the week. Mom went to VT and spent some quality time with Nanny. Being away from Charlotte for a week really opened dads eyes to how fast she is growing. He got back and she was really using her words! She is starting to string multiple words together like "Nemo Please". She is even trying multiple syllable words like "Bumblebee". It still takes some deciphering to figure out but she is catching on.

Upon return from his business trip, he also found Charlotte out in the back yard hitting baseballs like Big Pappi. She loves baseball. Playing it and watching it. Just look at that swing! Just like David Ortiz!
Let us not forget our dogs. Poor Abigail and Oliver. They used to come first...unfortunately they now are at the back of the pack. At least Nanny knows how to make them nice and cozy when they go to visit her.