Grape Grazer

After our apple picking trip, Natalie suggested we take the boys to the vineyard where her husband makes wine for some more photos. They were picking the fruit Monday and Tuesday, so we decided to try to snap a few shots Monday while some of the grapes were still on the vines.

When we first arrived, the boys explored the grounds at the winery and were particularly interested in the equipment used. Max loves tractors and Caleb loves tires; they were definitely in their domains. They also found a dog which was a good source of entertainment for a few minutes.


The main attraction was the vineyard itself of course. Caleb enjoyed having space to roam but mostly he loved eating grapes! He ate so many I was afraid the kid was going to have a bellyache, but thankfully his tummy held up fine to all that yummy fruit.

The adventure begins...

Caleb: What are these things?

After his mommy assured him these were something to eat,
the child never stopped munching until it was time to leave.

Pick one...

...and eat it.

Grab a few more...

...snack a little.

Pick, pick, pick

Savor

I love these things, Mom!

In his grape glory...

While Caleb was blissfully plopping sweet purple grapes in his mouth as we went down the rows, poor Max was feeling a bit agitated and unhappy about this part of our adventure. The gnats, who also were after the delicious fruit, were enough to drive us all nuts and I think they were a bit too much for the little guy. Luckily, he has lots of opportunities to visit the winery on other occasions so hopefully he'll find another day that's not so hot and buggy to enjoy it.

Max: If I never see another gnat, it will be too soon!
Let's go back and play on the tractor, Mom.

Thanks for inviting us, Natalie and Max. We had a unique experience and a fun day!

Marker Miller Orchards

I haven't posted much about Caleb's adventures with Max lately - and for good reason. Max spent most of the summer visiting his grandparents in Moldova. Since Natalia and Max have returned to the states, we've had trouble getting the boys together for playdates because their nap schedules have been at different times. This week we finally found time to play twice - Wednesday at Max's house and today at Marker Miller Orchards.

First, we let the kids explore the pumpkin patch. You were able to "pick your own" pumpkin and lug it back to the barn to be weighed in the wagons they provided. The pumpkins were actually already cut off the vines so it was easy to just pick one out of the patch and haul it away.

Caleb found a special pumpkin for Mommy.
I think it was the first one he saw.

Caleb: Help me, Max!

After he licked this one, of course we had to buy it. :)

On the way back to the barn, the boys spotted a tractor. Needless to say, we had to stop and check it out.


Our pumpkin weighed in at about 23 lbs on the scales in the barn - only a few pounds lighter than Caleb. While we were there we also bought a bag to pick apples.

Caleb was pleasantly surprised to find this goose while we waited
to checkout. He has been in to watching "The Aristocats" at my
parents' house and loves the old geese on the movie. He started saying,
"Goose, goose," and I had to explain to Dave what he was trying to tell him.

Before apple picking, the kids spotted the playground so we detoured for a few minutes.


Finally, the five of us began exploring the orchard in search of some good looking apples. First, we looked for Crispin apples; however, we soon switched to Golden Delicious which seemed to be more plentiful and were on the lower limbs so the little ones could reach them easily. Eventually, we topped our bags off with a few Red Delicious and headed back for another quick adventure on the playground before we had to leave.

Caleb: I found one!

Max: It's on the ground, Caleb. Leave it there!

Caleb: Yum
Max: If you get a bellyache, I warned you.

The National Zoo

Another trip we started planning several months ago was a visit to The National Zoo. Dave and I decided not to go during the spring months because the animals are shedding their coats and look pretty scruffy - a lesson we learned on a date to the zoo before we were married. After visiting the St. Louis Zoo in the ridiculous heat this past July, we decided summer wasn't the best option either. Finally, the cooler weather arrived so yesterday was set aside for some long awaited animal fun.

Caleb played with his toy tiger on the way to the zoo.
He also took a good nap on our hour and a half drive,
so he was raring to go once we got there.

The weather was perfect and we were thankful we'd waited. After eating a quick bite, we headed to see the tigers and lions. I read on the zoo website that some cubs had been born recently but we never saw them. Caleb actually had a hard time seeing the tiger at all because it was tucked away in a cave relaxing. The lions were a bit difficult to see as well but some of them did get up to shift positions which helped us point them out. On the other hand, he did notice the wooden tiger cut-outs and growled at them several times. (He must get his love of statues, animal pictures, and wooden cut-outs from his cousins Luke and Lydia who are always infatuated with the animal statues at their zoo.)

The next stop on the tour after looking at the wild cats was the invertebrate house. Outside of this building was a komodo dragon Caleb found entertaining. Inside, he found sea anemones, a lobster, crabs, jellyfish, an octopus, and all kinds of bugs. This seemed to be his favorite place out of all we saw that day which may be in part to his love of bugs. Because he could easily see most of the animals and they were active, I think it held his attention more.

Next were the orangutans and the ape house, which I was disappoint didn't have any of the giant gorillas anymore. We did get to see some smaller gorillas though including a baby with its mother.

I was also let down to find out that the giraffes, hippos, and rhinos that used to be near or in the elephant house (if I remember correctly) were no longer there and the elephant house was being renovated. Luckily, there was one elephant out and about that we watched quite a bit from different lookout points around the zoo.

I'm not sure what happened to most of the bears that I remember seeing before either. However, The National Zoo definitely kept their claim to fame - the pandas! They were inside eating bamboo when we toured the exhibit so we found a spot to watch for a bit. Caleb seemed more interested though with an interactive panda thingamajig and the large rocks for people to sit on than the bears.

We finished the excursion with a trip to the bird house and headed out of the park. Our wore out boy was asleep before we even got to the car.