Pumpkin Patch Friday

Another post in our First on Friday series where we share a new activity from the week.

Despite the 90 degree weather here in wine country, we hear it’s actually fall in the rest of the United States. And fall means harvest activities! So we headed to a local pumpkin patch with our international play group. It was a hit!

By the way, Miss Leyba’s wearing a full-on hot pink outfit so that you can easily find her in the photos. ;)







Try getting a decent photo of ten toddlers. It’s a challenge, I tell you! (Anyone from the group have a better shot on their camera? I’ll post it!)

Wait, We Live in Wine Country?!

As often as I talk about living in wine country, I realize that I haven’t posted many photos showing you that we do, in fact, live in wine country.

Time to rectify the situation:


I snapped these photos about a mile from our house on the way to the grocery store. Not your typical sight near your local mom and pop store, I know.

The grapevine leaves are just starting to change colors despite the 80 degree weather as of late. In another few weeks the leaves will be yellow and then wither and drop off, as close as we get to the changing of the seasons here and the brilliance of fall.

And the view from our house:

Notice the flecks of green in the hills? More grapevines.

See?! We live in wine country. Love the beauty and open space that surrounds us.

We’re feeling West County to the core.

Little Bear and Birthday Soup

Someone’s obsessed with Elsa Holmelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak’s Little Bear books!

So obsessed that she pretends to make birthday soup in the kitchen sink during her daily water play:

So obsessed that she’s been calling her baby doll Lucy after the doll in the book Little Bear’s Friend.

So obsessed that she knows the story word for word:



Video: Reading Little Bear Book from Carrie on Vimeo.

Oh, that ending! We’re all about keeping it real over here. “I hate this book!” is what happens when I ask her to read it three times in a row so I can get a movie of her storytelling. I don’t blame her for being pissed at me. I’d hate it too after reading it three times.

Although if last night is an any indication, I’ll be reading it five times to her before bed tonight.

But that didn’t stop me from just adding the books to Miss Leyba’s book wishlist. That way we’ll get to read them over and over again for years.

More Great Art Books for Kids

A second post in my Art Appreciation for Toddlers series.

Our dear friend Alice found and sent us these phenomenal books by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York that teach the alphabet and numbers utilizing famous works of art from their collection:

Museum 123:

Museum ABC:

Both books do a great job of featuring prominent works from artists around the world and throughout the centuries, not just focusing on the last hundred years but showing ancient works as well from a variety of countries and cultures.
Continue reading More Great Art Books for Kids

Baby Doll Visits the Playground

We have two baby dolls: one that’s strictly an inside-the-house-girl and one that gets to see the world.

Wow is Miss Lebya’s doll dirty! Clearly this is NOT the house doll.

Miss Leyba loves to take baby doll everywhere. Before the doll stayed in the car when we went out, but then we realized that her friends were bringing their baby dolls to the park. We needed to join in the fun.

See, baby doll has a buddy! She needs social time just like we do.

The girls love taking care of their dolls and ensuring that they enjoy their trip to the playground. We don’t want anyone to feel left out.



The past few weeks have been all about going to the park. We’re trying to fit in as much outdoor time as we can before the winter rains set in.

This past week was no exception: we visited three different parks with three different sets of friends.



Oh, the fun! Oh, the giggles! (Oh, the exhaustion afterwards!)

How does the youngest one get to the top? (When she’s not busy directing her friends up the climbing wall that leads to the slide and taking her turn last. Really. My daughter, the field marshal.)



Climbing up the slide to the top is the more challenging, fun way!

There she goes again, running the show and directing everyone off! I can’t imagine where she inherited that sort of behavior. ;-)