Purple Minion Scarecrow

Sean's school held a scarecrow-making contest this week and I asked Sean if he wanted to make a scarecrow and he said Yes!  After brainstorming for a few minutes, we decided to make a Purple Minion!!!!  The PTA provided a bale of hay, and after "shopping" around our house for supplies and a quick trip to the craft store for what we didn't have, we got busy!

First, we set out our supplies:  a purple table cover (leftover from a birthday party), an extra-big purple t-shirt, Mommy's old yoga pants, purple yarn, several colors of felt, scotch tape, rubber bands, hot glue, and scissors. 

And don't forget to have an eager little helper at the ready!

First, we prepped the big purple t-shirt and Mommy's old yoga pants for stuffing, and then we got to stuffing.  And stuffing.  And stuffing.  There is A LOT of hay in there!

Next, we got to work on the arms.  Mommy cut rectangles from the purple table covers and Sean helped make them into tube shapes by taping them.

Then we stuffed the arms, closed them up, and attached them to the purple t-shirt with a little sewing by Mommy like so...

Alright, so now the "big stuff" was done which meant it was time to work on the details, like the hair!  Mommy unrolled a length of yarn and Sean made a cut, then we repeated that many many many times over with both the light purple and dark purple yarn...

Seany gathered up all the strands and Mommy made a knot to keep  the hair together.  Next, Sean helped to cut shapes to make up the eye and the mouth of the minion.  At this point, we took a break for lunch and for a nap (yes, we all took naps!!!) and when we woke up...

...we put all the pieces together to make Dave, our Purple Minion Scarecrow!!!

Fresh Air

We stopped for some "fresh air" after school one day last week...

Two Races Two Lighthouses

Earlier this season, Thom John ran a half marathon in Philly and I ran a half marathon at Sandy Hook.                                                                                                  

After the Sandy Hook race (which was good, but WINDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), we went around Sandy Hook to see what we could see...

A different view of the New York skyline:

While Mommy and Daddy read all the information we could about the area, the kids took turns looking through this "spy glass"

And then they ran up and down and all over the ramps in the dunes.

Sandy Hook lighthouse in the distance:

The kids played in the sand, too.

And then we drove over to the lighthouse but the kids were sleeping so we just looked around the outside of the lighthouse.

Thom John grabbed a snap of this sign at Gunnison Beach - New Jersey's only legal nude beach :-)

The kids slept on... and they kept sleeping while Thom John toured the Nike Missile Radar Site.

The following Sunday, Thom John and I ran the LBI 18-miler, a race that starts at the Southern end of the island and finishes at the Northern end in the parking lot of Barnegat Lighthouse.  The best part of the race is that it starts at 10:30 am, which gives a runner plenty of time to cuddle with her little alarm clock... Until this cuddle-bug heard her Pop Pop's voice downstairs and leapt out of bed so fast it made this runner's head spin :-)

Thom John and I registered for the race and then got on a shuttle bus to go down to the start at Holgate.  We had a lot of time to get ready for the race and snap a few pictures:

And about 3 hours later, we arrived at the parking lot of Barnegat Lighthouse:

After enjoying post-race snacks - pretzels, orange slices, and copious amounts of birch beer - we boarded another shuttle bus to take us back to our car.

Maize Maze

We took the kids to Lancaster, PA for some fall fun a few weekends ago.  Seany has been to Cherry Crest Adventure Farm two times before, but it was Clare's first time!  The weather was kind of strange that day - the afternoon was warm-ish with threatening skies but soon those clouds were chased out by clear skies and chilly air.

The kids played on the wooden train out front while we got our bearings...

Then we checked the kids' heights relative to the farm's scale:

After a quick potty break, we checked out some of the activities - there was rubber duckie racing:

And a "left-turn only" maze to warm up in.  I asked Sean to give me a "serious" face so that I could match up a current picture of him...

...with a picture of Seanybear at almost 6 months old!!!

Soon, it was time for the "stalk talk" - which is when we are given our instructions for the maze. 

Family selfie!

And then it was time to get lost! I snapped this picture of the kids a couple of minutes into our adventure - I feel like I should have a caption contest for this one:

Inside the maze, we took little breaks to try out different obstacles and play equipment.

We made sure to take a break to refuel our energy stores with kettle corn:

Say "haybale!"  "Haybaby!!!"

And then we were finished!  We found and collected all of the puzzle pieces that make up the map and soon we were on our way out of the maze!  Hooray!

We celebrated by checking out the barnyard - the kids looked at and/or pet baby goats, sheep, llamas, piggies, and the biggest bunny I've ever seen.  And the main attraction of course, was the baby chicks:

After we'd had enough of the animals, we headed up to the pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins!!

 

Periodically throughout the day, the Strasburg train would chug by the farm and the kids loved hearing the whistle blow and then squeal about all the smoke coming out of the train.

The kids took a turn on the giant pillow bounce and then the big slides.

After the slides, we got one more snack and then headed home.  What a great way to kick off our fall!