How do you like them apples?

We are knee deep in our activities involving our Fall traditions.  We managed to accomplish 3 (yes, 3!) of them all within the same week.  Right after Flu Shot Extravaganza we followed it with our annual pilgrimage to go apple picking. 

We had such a great experience last year that we returned to Marker-Miller Orchards in Winchester, VA.  While it was unseasonably hot to be apple picking (86 degrees!!), the orchard had tons of apples ready to pick and it was not overly crowded.  We arranged to go with our good friends who we go with each year and have our strategy mapped out perfectly.   Apple picking and then ice cream!  I am realizing that my kids don't lack opportunities for ice cream.  We seem to work it in most everything we do.

Jeff believes that the amount of time spent at our destination should be at least equal to if not longer than the amount of time it takes to get there and back in the car.  Unfortunately Apple Picking in Winchester (a 1 hour, 20 minute drive each way) does not fall into the equation of a worthy outing.  However, the apples are yummy and its a fun thing to do with the family. And did I mention that ice cream is involved?   So without questioning the amount of time sitting in the car, we do this and we enjoy it.

I think we've officially added buying apple cider cinnamon donuts as part of our apple picking outing.  A dozen of these way-too-yummy-to-stop-at-only-eating-one of the donuts found their way into our car as we headed home.  Just 24 hours later and we only have 4 left.  And, no, I can't even eat them.

I've been busy and already made 2 loaves of Apple Cinnamon Bread with the apples we brought back. Yum!   And we've put smiles on our neighbors faces and gave them some apples too.  Apples for everyone!

Quality control - it passed!

3 people stopped Samantha and told her they liked her shirt.  :)

Our apple picking crew

Girls with their dolls - Take 6

My friends and I have a plan!  We now know what we will do once our daughters have gotten older and no longer be available to go to the American Girl Store Restaurant for our annual back-to-school lunch.   We will go anyway!  We will take our daughter's dolls and show up at the restaurant ready to celebrate -- most likely it will be celebrating our friendship and not back-to-school, but it will occur at the American Girl Store nonetheless.  

We love this time of the year...kids going back to school, getting our routines in place, starting new activities, continuing some of our favorites and having a delicious, frilly, completely girly lunch at the American Girl Store.  We have a formula that works. This is our 6th year and we don't plan to stop.  It's simply awesome.  

It was getting pretty wild today at our table!  Even the dolls were drinking!

3 moms, 5 girls, 5 dolls = 1 fantastic group!

This picture of the girls looks like it should be in their catalog!

Revised schedule and Ice cream!

I love a good tradition.  And this is a GREAT one!  Every year on the first day of school, after dinner, we go for ice cream or frozen yogurt.  It makes going back to school just a little (or a lot!) bit sweeter!

This year found us at Sweet Frog.  Yum!

I jumped the gun too soon on posting our Fall schedule.  It has gotten a bit crazier, but I am so excited about the activities the kids are doing this year.

Our REVISED Fall schedule:

Kids are in school:  Monday thru Friday from 9:00am to 4:00pm.

Monday:   Biweekly Sam will be meeting with her therapist at 4:00pm.  Got to get her out of school 30 minutes early to make this appt.  Fun, fun, fun!

Tuesday: Sam is doing "Girls Run for Fun", a school sponsored running group from 4:00pm to 5:00pm.  Both kids in religious school from 4:45pm to 6:30pm.  Yes, there is a bit of an overlap here, but because of all the Jewish holidays in the month of October and therefore, no religious school meeting, the kids will only be late to religious school 2 Tuesdays during the whole running program.  Yay!

Wednesday:  Ian doing Cross Country from 6:00pm to 7:15pm

Thursday:  From 8:00am to 9:00am Sam has her "Girls Run for Fun" before school starts.

Friday:  Free!

Saturday: Ian in a drama program from 9:00am to 1:00pm. Sam horseback riding at 2:00pm.

Sunday:  Ian doing Cross Country from 8:00am to 9:15am.  Both kids religious school from 9:00am to 12:00pm.  Yes, I realize there is a bit of an overlap.  :)

Bring it on!  We're ready to go, go, go! 

Girls with their dolls - Take 5

The American Girl Store and its bistro seems to be popping up everywhere.  They even opened a location in Orlando this past year.  It's pretty neat how they seem to be taking over and giving girls a special experience.


 Each year my friends and I, along with our daughters go to the Tyson's location for a back to school tradition.  We've now celebrated 5 years in a row, taking along our favorite American Girl dolls with us.  We always have such a good time and enjoy celebrating the kids are back in school.  As long as American Girl Store is open in our area, I see us still celebrating each September, long after our girls are no longer into their dolls.

Our fun and festive group.

Sam and Caroline in matching outfits.

Sam took this picture of Caroline at the table.

Girls with their dolls - Take 4

Back to school means one thing.... a visit to the American Girl store in Tyson's Corner.  It's time for our annual lunch with our friends and the dolls.   This is our fourth year in a row.  Gosh, I love a good tradition.  And it is still as much fun for us as it was the first year. I am not sure who looks forward to this afternoon more; Sam or me. 

Each year we wonder out loud if our girls are ever going to stop wanting to do this.  At some point, they will outgrow the American Girl store, right?  And I am sure it will not be cool to be hanging with your mom. Or they will be too busy with other things and not have time for us.  When that time comes, my mommy friends and I plan to still come here for lunch.  We will just show up without them. :)

 

 

 

Caroline got to join us for lunch this year.

Sam and her signature shake. 

Girls with their dolls - Take 3

Our tradition of going to the American Girl Doll Store with our friends to celebrate the return of school is alive and kicking.  Sam's behavior this year was the best yet.  She earned her new outfit for McKenna and was very happy going shopping before sitting down to lunch.  And in a move that shows how smart Sam really is, she prepped me far in advance that she wanted a strawberry milkshake with lunch (just like she got last year).  The sun was shinning, the birds were singing, and I was happy Sam was in a great mood.  How could I say no?

I love our tradition.  I love traditions in general.  This was our third year in a row to go with our friends.  And there are no signs of stopping.  I am sure at some point the girls will be too old to want to do this and of course, do it with us, but I hope that's a long way off in the future.

All whining stopped when we got out of the car.

School is back in session = one happy group!

Sam and her milkshake!

Girls with their dolls - Take 2

It's back-to-school!   And with that our tradition continues celebrating at the American Girl Doll store.  Lunch with our friends and all the dolls happened this past Sunday.

I hit a small bump in the road with Sam, upon entering the store.  I had never dreamed that she would be expecting to purchase another Bitty Baby.  We got her one last year, right before we met for lunch, and she hadn't been back in the American Girl Doll store since.  So of course, she is under the impression that every time we go in there, she can pick out a new American Girl Doll.  Uh-oh!  This came as a surprise to me and I hadn't set her expectations before we walked in to meet our friends.  It should be noted, however, that when I explained the situation to Jeff as to why our outing wasn't 100% perfect, he said he thought the same thing.  Jeff also expected Sam would be getting another Bitty Baby.  Who are these people I am related too!?!?!   I thought quickly on my feet and explained to Sam that we would need to tell Daddy that she wants to get a new Bitty Baby.  I said that Daddy would want to be with her when she picks out the next one.  That sounded believable, right?   When that didn't seem to make her happy, I then told her she could get a Strawberry Milkshake with her lunch.  Once the milkshake arrived, talk of the new Bitty Baby quickly went by the wayside.

Oh what fun we had!   We will most definitely be back next September for a return visit.

Yes, she still managed to eat lunch, despite the gigantic milkshake.

All the girls with their dolls.

Sam giving her Bitty Baby a drink.

Ladies who lunch (with their dolls)

The week the American Girl Doll store opened in April at the Tyson's Corner Mall, I got an email from one of my mommy friends asking if Sam and I would like to join her and another mommy friend with their daughters for lunch.  Heck ya!  You can most definitely count us in.  Sam is finally getting to the age where we can do special things like this.

Our reservations were made for Sunday, August 28th at 12:30pm. Fortunately Hurricane Irene and the ensuing power outage didn't stop us from our American Girl lunch experience.  I knew going into this, we'd have to get to the store early and let Sam pick out a Bitty Baby for her to have.

We got through the store having only bought a bitty baby and a swing for bitty baby to hang out in.  It took a lot of will power to not also get matching outfits for the baby and Sam.  Also, Sam wanted the crib, but I had us show even more self-control and make her choose which she wanted more; the swing or the crib.

Now it was time for lunch!  We made our way upstairs and after about a 10 minute wait, we were shown our table.  Our table was back in the deluxe party room and it was very nice having our own, private little space.  Each Bitty Baby or American Girl Doll was given its own little chair that attached to the table.  It was very cute!

Right away the maternal instincts kicked in and
Sam fed her baby.

To my delight, they had a gluten-free menu.  The chef came out with the official allergy book and went over what the dishes were.  The food was delicious and we were all pleased with what we ordered.

We decided this was too much fun not to plan an annual trip.  Every August we will be back and celebrate the return to school.  I hope Sam enjoys it as much 15 years from now (when she goes to College)  as I enjoyed it today.



Home Sweet Home with our new Bitty Baby and swing



It's time for Shabbat

Usually by the time Friday evening comes, I am spent.  It's undoubtedly been a long week and I am ready for the swing shift (Jeff) to come in and help out during Saturday and Sunday.  Now that Sam is no longer napping in the afternoons, Friday evenings find me even more exhausted than usual.

Once a month, my Friday evenings have become fun again!  Amy, a fabulous mommy friend came up with a great idea.  She sent an email asking 4 other families if we would like to rotate to each of our houses and host a Shabbat dinner.  What an awesome idea!  I replied my Toppall team is in and I'll volunteer for us to go first.  I wanted to get it over with and not have anxiety waiting months and months for our turn.  However, any anxiety I was forgoing, became fraught with other worries --

1. How in the world would I fit 10 adults and 12 kids in my house for dinner?

2. What in the world could I make us all to eat?

3. Where is everyone going to sit?

4. Was I overscheduling myself because I also volunteered to bring dinner to a friend & her family for that same evening?

One by one, I tackled all the challenges and everything turned out great.  Fantastic, if I do say so myself.  It helped that I literally wrote out my Thursday and Friday schedule in one hour increments, starting at 6:00am and ending at 7:45pm.  I needed to make sure I could fit everything in and make the most of the time I had.   Many thanks are given to Kelly (does she come to my rescue weekly or what!?!?) for letting me borrow not one, but two kids-sized tables with chairs.  This gave all the kids a place to sit.  And, because one family ended up cancelling, I had enough spots for all 8 adults to sit at my dining room table. In the end we had a total of 8 adults and 9 kids.  I was very nervous when I got a text from one of the moms asking if they could bring anything.  And when the phone rang at 5:00pm with a similar question from another family, I thought both times that someone else was cancelling.  Fortunately this was not the case.

More thanks can also be given to Let's Dish.  It was this brilliant idea to get the Lemon Chicken with Asparagus and Rice and not need to order the pizzas I originally thought might be a good idea. (hahaha, just kidding).  The dish took 35 minutes to make and I think was a crowd pleaser.  I put a salad and of course, challah with the dinner and I felt pretty good about it all coming together.  I made the kids steamed broccoli, chicken nuggets and noodles with parmesan and butter.  Ding, ding, ding we had a winner.

I am in love with this tradition we've started.  Jeff and I aren't overly religious, but we want the kids to know they are Jewish and to celebrate the various holidays.  We did the prayer over the bread and candles.  All the kids chanted along.  It was a great way to end the crazy, busy week I call my life.  Be among good friends and have the kids learn a little more about what it is to be Jewish.  Every tradition has to start somewhere.  And I am glad we got this one going.

Jeff and I earlier in the day were trying to guess what time we thought everyone would leave.  He said 7:30pm and I said, "No way, 7:00pm.  All the kids go to bed in the 7:00pm hour and everyone still has to drive home."  To our delight, no one left before 8:30pm.  Wowee!  I'd say that alone showed the evening was a success.

So now I can breathe easy for the next 4 months until it is our turn again.  I feel like a full-fledged grown-up. I even had a tablecloth on the table!