Picking Apples

It's fall, and that means apples and pumpkins. There are lots of farms in the area where you can take a hay ride and pick a pumpkin. The one we picked, Homestead Farm in Maryland, has some pretty large apple orchards, which yeild apples from September through the end of October, and several pumpkin patches. They also have a few sheep, some goats, pigs and a super cute young steer.

Anastasia was very excited about going to the farm. She was even more excited when she spied the barns and chicken coops. So, before heading to the apple orchard, we made a trip around the animal enclosures.



Then it was time to head over to the trees for some fruit. The farm has 12 varieties of apple, but only three are still on the trees now: Cameo, Pink Lady, and Braeburn. First up was Cameo, and we all fell in love with it, sweet, crisp, and very large.



Anastasia really liked pulling the apples off the trees, and helping daddy pull the wheel barrow. We walked around the orchard picking the apples that were ripe, trying all the varieties that were still on trees, and overall enjoying the cool morning. Stasia also enjoyed riding in the wheel barrow.





Once we had two large baskets of apples, we headed to the pumpkin patch. There were several different varieties of pumpkin and squash growing in the one field, so we had lots to choose from. Big and small, blue, orange and green, even some that looked like giant tomatoes. Back up by the farm house, Anastasia wondered why there were so many pumpkins that weren't in the field.



Anastasia was very intent on taking the hayride, so when our wheel barrow was full, we headed back up to the farm to climb onto the tractor. This was Myney's favorite part of the trip.





When we got back from the ride, it was time to load up the car and head home. Predictably, Annie fell asleep within 5 minutes of leaving the farm.

A Stroll Through the Gardens and Down Memory Lane

Near when Orlando and Myney grew up is Ladew Gardens, an estate on more than 20 acres with beautiful topiary gardens. Myney and Orlando hadn't been to the estate for quite some time, and Myney had never been in the Manor House on the estate before, so when we won 4 tickets in a silent auction earlier this year, it was just a matter of time before we'd get back up to their old stomping grounds. We started by driving through the neighborhood that now sits on the farm where Myney grew up. Seems the old house is still there, still owned by the family that Myney's parents sold it to. Somehow, the neighborhood isn't nearly as pretty as the fields would have been. Then, it was on to the gardens.



Apparently, Harvey Ladew was very fond of English formal gardens, and brought back the art of topiary with him when he purchased the acerage in the 1930s. He was also an avid fox hunter, so it's not suprising that the first thing you see when you come on to the estate is a hunt scene with a fox being chased by 5 hounds and riders on horseback, all done in shrubbery. Anastasia loved the dogs and counted them several times.



After taking the house tour, not overly exciting, but it did include a beautiful library room, we started our walk of the grounds. We stuck to the formal gardens, which made seeing Annie as she ran across the fields a lot easier. I think her favorite part of the gardens were all the water features, but it also could have been the Yellow Garden.





When we'd finished walking around the gardens (Anastasia could have run around the grounds all day, but the rest of us were ready for something else), we decided to take a drive around Orlando's old stomping grounds. We drove by the house he grew up in and to both Myney and Orlando's surprise, much of the landscaping was bigger, but otherwise unchanged. Then it was on to Orlando's highschool for a quick look to see if they'd expanded it at all in the 20 years since Orlando went there. They haven't.

After the tour, someone mentioned dropping in to see the Parkers, family friends who still live in the area. After a little debate, we decided to stop by for a few minutes just to say hi. Dowel, who's real name is Robert, is most well known for publishing "The Wine Advocate" and Pat, his wife works with him on the magazine and is an avid gardener. We were welcomed warmly, with a glass of champagne and given a brief tour of their property, though I forgot the camera, so you'll just have to trust me, it was lovely. A wonderful end to the day.

I Pledge Allegiance

Anastasia is learning a lot at school. She's come home with lots of new jems, including Hickory Dickory Dock, which Orlando and I don't remember ever having recited to her before. The other day, when they were walking home Anastasia pointed out an American flag and told Orlando that when you see the flag you put your hand on your heart. He asked what you do next and she surprised him again.

So, over the weekend, we got out the little flag so she could show off. Then, at the end of Sunday, I asked her what her favorite part of the weekend was, and she showed off one more time.



Every day, we get more evidence of all that she's learning at her new school.

My Favorite Part of School

Almost every day, I ask Anastasia about her favorite part of the day. Sometimes the answer comes from a story that was read during school, other days, it's playing with her friends on the playground. The other day, she gave such a fun answer that I had to get it on video.

Sedation and Recovery

Anastasia has a history of urinary tract infections, which means that she occasionally has to undergo some tests to make sure that there isn't more to be concerned about. Today's test was a scan of her kidneys which looks for scarring or areas that aren't functioning properly. Once she'd gotten the dye injected, we were back to the waiting room to wait for it to make it's way to her kidneys.



The scan took approximately 30 minutes, and she had to be perfectly still for the whole time, so she needed sedation. The staff and Children's were great with her and helped her to take it easy with stickers, bubbles and even a Dora video.



Once she was asleep, the waiting began. About 2 hours later, she woke up. The nurses said she had to eat a whole Popsicle before they would remove her IV, so we got down to trying to encourage her to do that, but she was still feeling the effects of the sedation. The result was pretty humorous. The sound isn't great, but turn the volume up, it's worth it.



A few minutes later, Anastasia began directing Orlando and me in the singing of Hickory Dickory Dock. Once again, thankful for the new iPhone, we captured a quick video of the funniness.



After a visit to the urologist to confirm that the test results were the same as last year, it was time to eat some lunch, visit with uncle Mark and head home for a very relaxing afternoon.