A great family day!

Yesterday we had a great family outing day!  It is nice that Liam is getting to an age were we can start to do things like this and he does more than just sit in the stroller and stare!

We started out day at Valleyview Little Animal Farm.  We had never been there before, but had heard good things about it, Liam LOVES animals and it was close, so we figured we couldn't go wrong!  First we went into the Little Animal Barn where we saw goats, sheep and a variety of chickens and other birds.

The goats were Liam's favorite.  He kept calling them dogs, but he enjoyed petting them and feeding them.  He even got head butted to the floor by a mommy with horns and wasn't deterred at all!

He liked the sheep too, but not quite as much as the goats.  I think that it is partly because the goats were more active.  

Once we got the munchkin away from the goats, we started to check out the outside animals.  There were rabbits, but those were boring, he can see rabbits any day!  We saw lots of other animals . . . numerous types of ducks, peacocks, alpacas, cows, pigs, deer, llamas and probably a few things that I am forgetting.

We took Liam's wagon for him, but he walked most of the time.  It is hard to believe how big and independent he has become!  Valleyview also has a huge playground area.  Liam got have his first experience with a slide.  We are still undecided on that.  It wasn't horrible, but he didn't seem to be overly excited by the experience either.

He was much happier to sit and play in the sand with a stick!

We had a great time at the farm and I totally recommend it to anyone with little ones in the Ottawa area!

When we were done at the farm, we headed to Richmond for a picnic lunch.  I wasn't sure how successful I picnic lunch after such a busy morning would be, but you don't know until you try!  Liam was dozing to sleep in the car as we looked for a park to picnic in, but got a second wind as soon as he got him out of the car!  We were a little disappointed in the park selection in Richmond, as we couldn't find anywhere with picnic table, but we made do with what we had.

Henry set up the little charcoal BBQ on the tailgate of the truck and Liam's seat went on the grass.  Liam wanted to help BBQ, but settled on having his peanut butter sandwich instead!

Surprisingly enough, Liam lasted for a trip to the hardware store to buy sand for his sandbox and the garden center for Mommy to buy some plants before he finally decided that he couldn't take anymore excitement and fell asleep in the car!  Once we got home, I took him out of the car seat, into the house, put him in bed and took off his shoes without him waking up!  He slept for three hours!!!  

I love days like this and wish that we had the time, money and energy to go on outings like this more often!!

Family Vacation . . .

We survived out first ever family vacation! Sure, it was only two nights away from home, but I feel that it was an accomplishment!

We hit the road Thursday morning, and with only one stop along the way, arrived at the hotel in Syracuse at around 12:30pm. We checked into the hotel, fed Liam the dreaded jarred infant food (which he ate eagerly, given that lunch was an hour later than usual, but as the vacation wore on, so did his patience for jarred food!) and then hit the NY State Fair.

Thursday was a great day, weather wise, and we all had fun wandering around the fair. Liam loved watching all the people!

He smiled at everyone and talked to anyone who would listen!

Thursday evening, we took in the FREE Sara Evans show. This was Liam's first ever concert! He looked adorable in his little ear protectors! But, an 8pm show was just a little too late for my little bear! He fell asleep before the show started.

He woke up for a little while in the middle to enjoy the show with his dad!

Liam slept amazingly well in his playpen in the hotel room. I was worried that he would have difficulty sleeping in a stange place, but I worried for nothing!

Friday was another day at the fair . . . Liam visited with a police horse, a K-9 blood hound, saw lots of bunnies and chickens, and just about every other kind of farm animal you can think of! We spent the entire day walking around, at the fair. Unfortunately, just before the Kenny Chesney show, it started to rain. And it rained for the rest of the evening. Jake Owen and Kenny Chesney both put on a great show, but the rain put a bit of a damper on it. Liam slept in my Moby wrap through most of it, which was probably a good thing, because was able to him wrapped in my coat. But even that wasn't enough . . . by the time we got to the car at the end of the night, EVERYTHING was soaked! Once we were back to the hotel and in dry clothes, everyone fell into bed and slept soundly until morning.

Saturday, we packed up and headed for home. We took our time coming home, stopping a few times to eat and shop. As much as it was a successful and fun vacation, I was glad to be home and able to sleep in my own bed last night!