Eleanor and Henry had a fun visit to a less urban pumpkin patch this week – and they had a blast. Henry loved the pony ride, and was especially excited about the fact that his pony’s name was Jack. He also loved the truck ride and the car/motorcycle ride. On the car ride, there was a button in each car that sounded a horn noise – once Mom showed Henry that button, his car didn’t stop honking until it was time to get out. He also enjoyed the giant slide, and checking out the resident pigs. Eleanor also enjoyed the rides, and was determined to try some rides meant for bigger kids. She decided she wanted to try the dragon roller coaster – and we talked about how it would be faster than any other ride she had been on, and se was determined to try it. I helped her up the stairs and the operator helped her into her car. She sat and waited for the ride to start with a determined look on her face. As the ride made its first circle, I waved and called to Eleanor and she spotted me and gave me a big smile. On the second cycle, she knew where to look and was all smiles again. By the fourth trip around, the smile had faded and she shouted out to me “Too fast Dada, too fast”. Thankfully, there was only one more trip around after that, and then she got off and ran into my arms, and told me that she would like to find some rides that weren’t as fast. I think part of the problem was that she was alone in her car, and so on the curves she slid across the seat. I was so proud of her for trying it, and for the determined way that she picked out the ride and wanted to try it even after my warnings. After that, she tried the funhouse (stationary) and went in all by herself. She did great for the first half, but got a little stuck on the moving platform. The operator helped her out and she said that she liked it inside. After all the excitement, the pumpkin and apple doughnuts were a hit for and after lunch treat. WE thought we would hit the bouncy house for a last bit of fun before leaving, but poor Henry got stuck on the other end with some bigger kids and Dad had to climb in and bring him out. He recovered quickly, and all in all it was a fun trip.
Eleanor had a great swimming class this week, she did both an “octopus” float and a “otter” float with her coach, and I think she is starting to trust him and get into the lesson. Henry added a bunch of new words this week, and is starting to put two or three words together. One notable new word was “Whole Foods” :) He also did some counting this week – counting out four trains, and then three trains when Mom took one away.
On the weekend we decorated the pumpkins that we picked out last week, and then had Henry and Eleanor decide what shape to carve the big pumpkin, and then Mom and Dad carved it up. They were both very into decorating the pumpkins, Eleanor loved drawing on it, and Henry loved the Scooby Doo stickers. Neither one was very fond of scooping out the pumpkin innards – I can related, I never liked that part as a kid either.
