·:[ David and Claire’s Blog ]:·
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We headed out to Ohio this weekend for the Villa Mir farm’s annual “Farm & Fun Party”. This is a big event that features lots of bluegrass musicians, a huge bonfire and even a fireworks show. We went last year and there were torrential rains all day so the whole farm was one big mud-patch and it was quite interesting trying to navigate that in the dark with a one-year old. This year the forecast looked much better so we decided to give it another shot. Although, of course, with two kids this time, it would be quite interesting in it’s own way.

The drive out is fairly arduous depending on traffic. Actual driving time is around eight hours but the one road there (Interstate 80) has two lanes and lots of construction zones where it’s down to a single lane. If you get stuck in a slow merge it can easily add on an hour or two to the travel time. We left around 3pm on Friday night and had to stop twice. There was a lot of traffic and the kids were pretty cranky so it was pretty sucky in general. We finally got in around midnight.

Brynn was so excited to see Grandma, Grandpa & Uncle Mike. She also saw Carol’s niece Helen and nephew Jack who are a few years older and refer to her as “Baby Brynn”. She got to go blueberry picking but it was mainly a case of blueberry eating on Brynn’s part.

Hundreds of people come to the party and they have a huge area that people camp for the night in tents. Everyone brings a dish and there is big potluck with tons of food. There are several groups of musicians set up at any given time having a little jam session with a rotating cast. There’s also a stage for a more formal concert in the late evening hours. Brynn sat with Grandma Carol watching the music until 11pm. She was so exhausted but still managed to keep herself awake. When I finally put her to bed she was so tired she crawled into bed in her jacket and boots and passed out. I managed to change her into PJs and then the fireworks started. She actually had a view out the window from her bed so she lay there and managed to keep her eyes half open to see the show.

With both kids asleep, my time at the party was over but David managed to stay up to see the big bonfire. It’s a truly amazing pile of firewood that they light around midnight. I heard that the heat was so intense you had to stand half a field away.

The next day Brynn got to spend some time in the pool they have there. We also visited Farm Park which is a farm with lots of animals. We saw a pig that had just given birth to a litter of piglets that morning. There was also an enormous, disgusting pig that was asleep and snoring really loudly. He smelt so bad too. Brynn was horrified and intrigued. She’s still talking about it now. It was apparently the highlight of the trip. We also saw sheep, llamas, alpacas, ponies, chickens & cows. There was a pony for the kids to ride but Brynn freaked out when we put her on his back. She was completely exhausted after missing her nap so it was to be expected.

On Monday we headed home and I drove the whole way, which was a big deal for me because I think the furthest I’ve ever driven before is up to Connecticut. This was 450 miles! I’ve also never driven that fast before. We made good time until the rain started coming down and the accidents began (we passed at least two). Then, of course, we hit heavy traffic in the last 20 miles that took almost an hour to get through. Despite that, we made it home in less than eight hours and the kids were really good the whole time. Evan is pretty reliable about sleeping as long as the speed of the car stays above 55mph. It’s amazing how quickly he wakes up whenever we slowed below that. (It’s like he’s the bomb on the bus in that movie Speed. Don’t slow down or the baby will scream!!)

So all in all, a fun weekend and Evan has now left the state of New Jersey for the first time. We can add Ohio and Pennsylvania to his resume.

This video is a little old but it pretty much sums up my day.

Not much in the way of updates lately. Evan is still growing and Brynn is still crazy. Actually, she’s been a lot better lately – far fewer tantrums. Our neighbor’s two year old grand-daughter is visiting, so Brynn has been spending a lot of time playing outside with her. Amazingly, the other girl is just as tantrum-prone as Brynn so it’s nice to see someone else on the toddler roller-coaster. The girls have a lot of issues with sharing toys. The pink chalk has caused problems as they are both very fond of that particular color. Also, the Dora ball is a favorite, plus a ride on bike that makes fancy noises. They both understand the concept of taking turns, but they don’t understand that a turn should last longer than two seconds. Brynn will reluctantly get off the bike to give her friend a turn but she’s instantly shrieking “my turn! my turn!”

It’s been very hot the last couple of days, and it will be tomorrow as well (upper 90s). Thankfully no power outages yet. We spent a lazy weekend at home, hanging out in the yard and doing some grilling. Unfortunately I’m now covered in bug bites.

(*Warning* This paragraph is for my Mum’s benefit. Everyone else can skip it.)

Evan is getting on a bit of a schedule. He wakes to eat around 5.30am (although sometimes earlier) and then goes back to sleep for another two hours or so. After that we get up for the day but he barely lasts an hour before he needs a cat nap. He takes another short nap mid-morning, then he goes down for a big nap in the early afternoon that is usually around 4 hours. This coincides with Brynn’s 2-3 hour nap so we get a nice break in the middle of the day. He wakes around 4 or 5pm and sometimes fits in yet another nap in the early evening, then it’s bath and final feeding time and he falls asleep around 9pm.

He’s quite content to hang out on a playmat or in a bouncy chair which is nice, especially as he spits up all over me every time I pick him up. If he is left to sit quietly then he keeps much more of his food down and my clothes stay slightly cleaner. I have no success with using a blanket to protect myself from his attacks. If I’m adjusting the blanket momentarily then he uses that opportunity to get me. If the blanket leaves one area of my clothes exposed, he manages to find it. If he does a small spit-up and I stand up to get a tissue, then he immediately unleashes a torrent of milk all over my, now unprotected, clothing. It’s a constant battle that involves many changes of clothes for us both. The other thing I never knew is how hard it is to get spit-up stains out of clothes. I spend a lot of time doing laundry.

I guess I never blogged about the time his spit up landed him in the ER. I’ll refrain from sharing the gory details, but I completely underestimated the power of a baby and some regurgitated milk. I think maybe he does it to get lots of baths. They really are his favorite thing and if we don’t give him one a day then he tends to get a bit smelly. Brynn and Evan took a bath tonight which was really cute. He was in his baby tub which was in the bath tub and Brynn was pointing at various places on Evan and saying “I love Evan’s knees”, “I love Evan’s eyes” etc. She’s such a cutie and very affectionate with him now. Lots of kisses and telling us that she loves him. I can’t wait until he’s a bit older and they play together.