Ganyard Hill Farm, 2010

Year 3 of Ganyard Hill Farm for the Herman Family!


Prepping for this post, I looked back at my blogs from the last 2 years (have I really been blogging that long?!?). The first year, 2008, you could tell that both 1) I had a newborn and 2) my blogging days were new. I only took a handful of pictures, and I uploaded them very small. I'd like to think I've gotten better at this (or more addicted to pictures, at least!). But it's pretty funny to see Ivie's head barely sticking above the hay maze that year, compared to how she ran through it this year.

Then, from 2009, the changes in Macie over the last year are incredible! I don't even really think she looks like the same kid! And I wish I could say that it was a "brisk fall day", like a year ago this weekend, but it wasn't. It was downright HOT. 85 degrees here today did not make the hay ride a comfortable experience.

Alright, from the top.

First came the "bumpy slide", as Ivie called it.



Then Ivie worked hard to de-cob (I know there must be a real word for this, but I'm too lazy to look it up) some corn kernels...


... so she and Macie could feed it to the goats.


Ivie was into it more than Mac, who preferred at first to just stand and watch from the distance...


... but she finally built up her courage.


Then we headed into the patch to find the very best four pumpkins to take home.



Then, while I took our pumpkins to the car (utilizing the stroller, of course!), Dale took the girls to the "corn crib". Ivie liked trudging through all the corn. Macie? Not so much. She just sat on the side rail and watched, plucking corn out from between her toes every so often.






After the corn crib, Ivie was off to run through the hay maze...




... while Macie climbed up the play set and went down the slide, again and again. (There's just something that I love about these close-ups with her looking through the slats of the ladder.)





The girls really weren't too excited about the hay ride, but when we suggested leaving instead, they suddenly changed their minds. Like I said earlier, it turned out to be really hot and not so thrilling. Macie was clearly tired. See?


After the hay ride, before we left for lunch at Subway, we stopped for a few photo opp's out front.




Stay tuned for Round #3 from Hill Ridge Farms next weekend with the Devers. Hopefully the weather cooperates!

Tar Heel Town 2010, Week 2

Back to Tar Heel Town at lunchtime again today, since another 3:30p game time was on tap. Dale returns later tonight from a 4-day work trip to Atlanta, so I took the girls solo. We were certainly sorry Daddy wasn't with us, but we managed just fine! And I didn't lose our car key, so that was a huge plus.

Our first stop, again, was the face painting station. And the little girl before Ivie got a full-face butterfly. Bet you can guess what Ivie wanted... Macie wouldn't have been able to sit still long enough, so we went with the basic Tar Heel foot again for her.


We then stumbled upon the Tar Heel Gymnastics team's tent. There, we got hand/face tattoos, and were even able to pose for a picture with the team! You never know, Iv, keep up those classes and you might be a Tar Heel gymnast some day!


I think my comment about the lack of jump houses last week got through to someone in charge, because this week, there was both a bounce house AND the big slide! The girls were ecstatic. In fact, they were bouncing away when the Old Well Walk began, so I had to watch the team from afar.



The mini-slide in the bounce house was Iv's favorite part. Here's why...






After the bounce house, we had to stand in line for the slide. It was conveniently located next to the blow-up jersey, so I took about 20 pictures in an attempt to get one good one (trying to find a picture to blow up and hang in my office). I think I MIGHT have gotten a winner. It's not perfect, by any stretch, but does anyone think I will actually get a perfect picture when dealing with a 4 and a 2 year old? Me neither. So I'm just aiming for a "real" shot with two smiling and looking-at-the-camera girls. This one fits the bill!


Didn't get any slide pictures, because, well, I was on the slide with Mac! Let me tell you. climbing up that thing while carrying a nearly 30-pounder and hoping like crazy you don't fall backward is no easy feat. It's a good thing I'm not any more than 11 weeks prego, or it might have been impossible! But we made it, and word has it that Macie had a pretty big smile on her face as we came down the slide. So, success.

So that was our day in pictures. Looks like our next (and maybe last?) opportunity for Tar Heel Town will be November 13th... Looking forward to it already!

Our Journey to Five (#2)

Sunday, October 3rd

I've been feeling great lately! I'm definitely starting to develop a little pooch, which has certainly happened earlier and earlier in my second and now third pregnancies. But I'm not going to complain about this, since I remember wishing with Ivie that I would start to SHOW ALREADY. Don't have to wish for that any more. Thankfully, since I wear my pants low on my hips anyway, I haven't had to dip into the maternity clothes bin yet. Although I doubt it's far in my future, at least for the elastic band dealies that will allow me to wear my normal pants (unbuttoned) for another couple of weeks.

But don't get me wrong. I am fired up about a winter of wearing maternity pants. I know that sounds odd. But for those of you that have never tried these things on, let me just tell you. Elastic waistbands ROCK. Doesn't matter if you go out for a big lunch in the middle of the work day. They stretch right along with you! It's like wearing sweatpants to the office! I've had conversations with several never-been-prego female co-workers who, by the end of it, were ready to go out and buy a pair, just because. And the style of maternity clothes has definitely improved over the years. Even between my pregnancies with Ivie and Macie, as I was, with Mac, able to find some adorable khaki pants that I really can't even tell are maternity. So, yeah. It's going to be a comfy winter!

But back to feeling great. I hate to even say it "out loud", but I feel like my nausea has almost entirely dissipated! Dale said to me this morning, "You haven't been complaining about feeling bad lately", like he was surprised. (Does that mean I complain a lot generally?!?) My response was, "I know! That's cuz I've been feeling pretty good, actually!". I think that a lot of it has to do with not having time at work to let myself think about feeling bad. But I have done a decent job of eating nearly every hour, at least through the morning, which has proven to help me fight off the sickness. (And also helps in the development of the pooch, given that the baby is a whopping 1 1/2 inches long and weighs 1/4 of an ounce!)

So here's to feeling "over" the nausea at least for the moment, at only 10 weeks, as opposed to struggling with it throughout the entire first trimester with the girls. I hope it's gone for good!


Friday, October 8th

Guess this will be a nausea-heavy post, since the first thing I have to say is that it turns out I had a pretty good week and the nausea was pretty much non-existent. Until today, that is, when I actually had to step out of a small meeting, telling the men in the room with me that I was sorry, but I was going to have to take a break to run to the kitchen and get my 9a yogurt snack. They just laughed, commenting that at least I had a good excuse for needing food immediately!

Another random thought for today. I'm putting it in the "Journey to Five" series because I think that at least part of the reason I react the way I do is because of pregnancy hormones. Or at least that's my story, and I'm stickin' to it...

I can't listen to the song "The Breath You Take" by George Strait without crying. I think it's for a lot of reasons, but I'll name 3 here.

First, I'm pregnant and it's an amazingly sweet song about a dad and his son. Nuff said.

Second, I can't listen to it without thinking about MY parents, and how, no matter the situation, they've ALWAYS been there. And it hasn't been easy, I know, with four kids. But they make it work. At the drop of a hat. Without being asked. When they've had to make personal sacrifices. And drive long distances. And I don't think a complaint has ever even entered their minds, much less made it to their lips.

It's unbelievable, really. They are living proof that God gives parents enough love to spread around. They are my role models for parenting, and I can't imagine there being any better. (Now I'm crying again.)

Third, and this one goes without saying, probably, but as I listen to the lyrics, I pray that someday MY children will hear this song and think about me the same way I do my parents. For that I strive.

So... Did you prefer the nausea story or the sappy one?!?

It's Pumpkin Time!!!

Well, it's that time of year again, folks! The Hermans are thinking that we might try to make it to THREE pumpkin patches this year. The first was last night, when we returned to Scott's Pumpkin Patch. This is always our first stop of the year, because it's convenient enough to fit it in after our Tuesday dinner with the Cherrys! So last night, after Moe's, we were off to Scott's.

One thing I've noticed after looking back at last year's fall/Halloween posts. I've sort of gotten out of the collage habit with my pictures. Wanna know why? Because I love them all too much to shrink them into a collage! I want to be able to see them BIG myself. So while it's fine for you to think that I'm doing it for you, my 19-plus-a-few-family-members dear readers, I'm sorry to say that it's not. It's all about me! But I hope you enjoy it a bit, too! (And even if you don't, PLEASE don't un-follow me. That's already happened once, and it tore me up.)

Anyway, back to Scott's. I'll let you click on the link to last year's post to get the description of the location of Scott's. No reason to dwell on the fact that, as we searched for the perfect "BIG" pumpkin (the only one we wanted to buy last night), the background noise was cars whizzing by on busy Highway 54.

The girls and Will didn't seem to notice. They had a blast. Their favorite game? Seeing which of the pumpkins they could actually lift and hold. Not surprising, Ivie was the strongest. But that didn't keep her from trying to hand them off to Macie. Nor did it keep Macie from trying to hold them. Thankfully, we came out with no smashed toes...






There were some really unique pumpkins this year. This was one of my favorites...


The girls found a few minutes to pose for the camera. I know. Shock.





And they played with (ahem, ate) the gourds.



After one more posed shot that I successfully landed with BOTH of them in the picture and even halfway smiling...


...they were back to playing with Will and pounding their Tootsie Rolls. The game this time? Simon Says, led by Will's mommy, Stuart.

(Simon Says, "Laugh as hard as you can!")


(Simon Says, "JUMP!")


(Simon Says, "Wiggle your ears!")


(Simon Says, well, I'm not sure. But Macie's face is hilarious, so I had to include this one.)

Thanks to the Cherrys for joining us on another fun night of pumpkin hunting. More pumpkin adventures to come, likely this weekend...

Wordless Wednesday (#32): Before Ivie's Gymnastics Class