Cute Kid Pix July 2020

Here's some more pictures that didn't make their own blog post...

Our youngest was the first to have a summer camp. Terrapin Adventures, the local high ropes course and so much more place, had a camp for 5-8 year olds. Our son loved it.

Getting his gear to go

I started taking pictures of the Community Supported Agriculture pick up board because I can't remember all the items. Even so, I wasn't sure after I got home which was the arugula and which was the salanova lettuce.

And that's just a medium share!

We biked from the library to our local Ninja Warrior course in Blandair Park. The kids had a fun time climbing the obstacles...until other kids started showing up. Crowds are never as satisfying, even without the virus.

Youngest on the ropes

Oldest crossing in a new way

Middle child in the middle of a bridge

We visited other playgrounds too.

Too many options to choose from!

We had a bunch of apples and used our Instant Pot to make apple crisp, which I was surprised to discover didn't include any crust or pie shell. We mixed the apple crisp with vanilla ice cream or plain yogurt. Yummy!

Apple crisp

Don't let the picture fool you--we ate a lot of the crisp before putting it into tupperware. The portion was much larger at the end of cooking than at the beginning of storing.

My daughter made a snowman in the middle of July!

Heat-proof snowman

Our anniversary falls in July and we got take out from a fancy restaurant, The King's Contrivance, that was quite delicious. We didn't remember till the last minute so we didn't get a babysitter for the kids. The at home ambiance was lovely.

Happy anniversary to us!

The kids went to a farm camp. The only pictures I got from there were of my daughter feeding some goats.

Relaxing in the shade and having a snack

I don't want anymore!

Feeding the other goat

Gaver Farm Kindergarten Trip

My youngest son's kindergarten class went on a field trip to Gaver Farm in Maryland. The day was overcast and started cold but warmed up nicely by the afternoon. We arrived with the admonitions to keep our groups together (each chaperone had three or four children) and not to buy anything at the gift shop. Sadly, that also included buying things at the Donut Hut, which looked like the most awesome shop ever.

No purchases today!

First we took a hay ride to pick out pumpkins. My son was a little disappointed that the cart that was not full of hay. The ride was fun nonetheless. We saw pumpkin fields and Christmas tree fields as we rode along.

Hayless hay ride

The big group split up. I had three boys to take around. The farm has all sorts of fun activities that my little cadre of boys enjoyed.

The shortest tunnel ever

A duck race had the boys hand pumping water to move rubber duckies down a rain gutter. The gutters were arranged so that pumps were on both sides. Thus the boys were constantly feeding ducks to each other.

Pumping for fun

Nearby, some goats and alpacas watched without much interest.

Animals on the farm!

My son enjoyed trying to toss rings onto various fruits. He was not very good but did have a good time.

Ring toss

A fire truck converted into slides sat at the bottom of the hill. The boys enjoyed climbing up and sliding down. One side had straight slides, the other corkscrew slides. The only real disappointment with the fire truck was that they couldn't get in and sit behind the steering wheel.

Straight slides

Corkscrew slides

Hose controls outside the cab

Another ring toss simulated lassoing a horse.

Hula hoops or horse wrangling?

They rode on a cow made out of metal containers. They needed boosts but also loved jumping down.

Simulated cow

Another set of slides was attached to a boat. The boys had fun playing captain and pretending the ship was attacked by monsters (aka chaperones like me).

Boat

We walked back up the hill to have lunch. After picnicking, we saw some goats who really wanted us to feed them. Luckily, the "no shopping" restriction was a good excuse not to buy any feed for the critters.

Not always hungry but always ready to eat something

A small graveyard, with tombs dating back to the 1800s, is in the middle of the farm. The kindergartners didn't notice, which was probably a good thing.

A small cemetery

One big attraction at the farm is the corn maze. We went in with enthusiasm. I soon had to establish a turn-based system for deciding which way to go. Every fork in the path was a chance for the next boy to choose a direction. After about ten minutes, the boys were less enthusiastic. In another two minutes, we were picking the path that led us toward the noise of kids playing. Eventually, we had to bushwhack out of the maze. We came across a path that wasn't the exit but that did get us out of the corn.

Paying no attention to the sign

Which way to go?

We did some more activities, including shooting some hoops and riding some tricycles.

That bike is too big!

The day went by quickly. We didn't have the chance to try the big slides because they were still too wet from the previous night's rain. We did make it back to the buses on time and even managed to pick up our pumpkins to take home.

The pumpkin

Watkins Regional Park, Maryland

We visited the Watkins Regional Park for two reasons. First, we wanted to get a second badge in the Agents of Discovery app. Second, we wanted to check out the fabulous Wizard of Oz playground.

Visiting the park

We started working on the Agents of Discovery app at the park's Nature Center. We answered one or two questions, then talked to the ranger inside to get more info. As I chatted with the ranger, the kids wandered off and looked at the exhibits.

Inside the nature center

A screech owl

Turtle

We went out back of the nature center and discovered a few more parts of the app challenge. The app had some Augmented Reality games that were easier for my children than for me. The app pointed us down a trail that led to the Wizard of Oz playground. As we approached, we saw the Gale's barn.

Barn playground

Other side of the barn

Toto's doghouse

We played on all sorts of equipment, including a Kansas State Fair balloon, a City of Oz playground, and some musical instruments. Since they were outside, the instruments were mostly bells or chimes.

One way to Oz

In the Oz playground

Climbing out of the city of Oz

Playing music

Playing bells

A small sign explained that in the book, Dorothy's magic shoes were silver. I guess ruby looks better in a film, so the ruby slippers are what everyone remembers. Slides were made of the shoes and of course they were red.

Slipper and slide

Going down the slide

Two wood sculptures represent the witch and the scarecrow.

Wicked Witch of the Watkins

Did the scarecrow lose his head?

We followed the Yellow Brick Road out of the playground and it led us to a carousel. The kids couldn't resist going for a ride.

Riding a pony

Riding on the inside track

My other kids on the carousel

The park's train was out of order, so we didn't get to ride around the park. They do have a mini-golf course but it was too hot for us to commit to eighteen holes.

Railroad crossing

We continued on to the Old Maryland Farm. On the way was a tree that was so easy to climb, I didn't want to stop the kids when they asked to try it out.

Climbing the tree

The farm had a bunch of locations for the app, so we got a few more questions answered.

We saw the sign

The farm was mostly livestock. Displays showed chickens, hogs, goats, horses, and many other animals. We saw one chicken walking around outside the coop, which was surprising. The chicken came toward us, I assume because she thought we had food. My youngest child was super-nervous about a free-range chicken. I kept between him and the bird.

Chickens in their yard

A shy hog

Turkey!

Goats relaxing in the heat

Horses having lunch

Even with all the sites we found, the app still only had 15 of 29 challenges completed. By that point, the heat was too hot and everyone was ready to go home. We did not get a badge for finishing the Agents of Discovery app in the park, but maybe we'll take mommy back to the park to show it off to her and get the other half of the locations completed.