It's been a while, I know. We've had lots going on this fall and I have a few posts in draft that I have been working on but haven't gotten around to finishing. One project I finally got done was to get the yearbook from 2010 finished and printed in book form. I had lots to re-create because I didn't post as much on the blog as I wanted to have recorded. It was a matter of going through all my photos for the year and thinking back and basically filling in the missing pieces. It took about a month, but it is finally done. My goal is to get 2011 done during the first quarter of 2012, instead of waiting a year and a half, since I have plenty of filling in the pieces-type work to do for this year as well!
So while the yearbook thing was going on, we did get out and had a good time on occasion! Two weekends ago, we went to Blooms and Berries to enjoy Fall On The Farm. http://www.bloomsandberries.com/
We'd come to the farm in the summertime (previous summer) to pick strawberries. They had a corn maze, pumpkins and gourds, a sunflower trail, fun games, and lots of activities for kids. You can see Miss Lydia pondering pumpkins here.
This was just below a large black plastic pipe that they turned into a very fun slide. Lawrence was checking his height and felt a little unsure about this pumpkin here. Looking at the picture now, I can see why he might be wary. The thing is a couple of feet taller than he is!
I liked looking at the big pile of warty and funky gourds that you could buy.
There was a seven-acre field of sunflowers with a trail meandering throughout. They weren't quite in peak bloom, but the ones that were out looked cheerful.
This was in the corn maze. It was cut in the shape of a train. I would've really enjoyed it, but the little kids mostly complained which lessened the fun factor for the grown-ups. This is how Phillip walked through the vast majority of the maze. When he is home, the kids don't let him out of their sight!
There was a little cubby-hole in one part of the maze. I asked Lawrence if he'd get in there so I'd get his picture. He was a little scared, so thankfully, big brother Darchie got in there to have his picture made with him!
Me and Baby near the sunflower field. She found a stray ear of corn and clutched it the whole time we were at the farm. She nibbled on it occasionally.
Archie is so goofy. My boys have a knack for filling my life with a steady stream of poop and fart jokes! It didn't take any coaxing at all to get him to make a 'pooping grimace'. He assumed the position immediately!
I bought some nice raw honey, some cinnamon-pear jam and a caramel apple and we were on our way to Indianapolis, Indiana for part two of our day out!
The National Muscle Car Association (I think that's how the acronym is written out) was having a drag racing event at the track in Indianapolis on that particular Saturday. Swap meet, car part vendors, car show, racing and, as it turns out, a burn-out competition, which is something to which I had not previously been introduced, oddly enough.
An interesting revelation I had while in the vendor area...I had Baby on my back and Lawrence was in the stroller. I was trying to give Phillip some time to browse without little kids bugging him. We were perusing all the stuff when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Phillip walk up nearby. I was in the middle of asking him a question about the race car we were looking at, when I suddenly realized that it wasn't him that I was talking to. It was a guy who wore very similar clothes as him and who looked at me like I was loony. He had dark hair, was wearing faded jeans, a car-themed shirt and a cap. Exactly what Phillip was wearing! And as I looked around, the vast majority of the guys walking around looked exactly the same! It was like everyone was wearing a uniform! Apparently I didn't get the memo.
Here we are in the grandstands enjoying a little racing action!
This is a new Camaro about to go down the track. There were lots of them in the pit area too.
We even saw a car with a jet engine make a pass down the track. It was loud and made the ground shake! And was super fast!
There was a break in the racing and the burn-out competition was announced. Phillip shook his head and began to walk out of the stands. Since I had somehow missed out on this phenomena in all the previous car events I had ever attended, I told him I wanted to see what it was all about. It was as dumb as Phillip had indicated. Essentially, the track personnel sprays a bit of the track with water and someone guns their engine as hard as possible so the wheels spin and spin, enough to create lots of smoke. The goal is to smoke out the audience and ultimately go and go until the motor quits and you have totally shredded your tires. Yeah. Must be a guy thing. This guy had somehow engineered pink smoke. I guess you get extra points for coloured smoke.
It was a great day, one of the best in a while. We had a great day at the farm and being outside, and we got to the track late enough that it was very uncrowded and easy to get around with our passel of kids.
We left in early evening and headed to a Pizza Hut. Lawrence decided that, for this evening, Pizza was yucky. Except when the waitress brought out the cinnamon breadsticks. Those, miraculously, were most definitely NOT yucky.
