More Fall Fun

After a trip to New York a few weeks ago we stayed with my parents in NJ to relax for the weekend. Unfortunately, that relaxing turned in to nasty colds for Lisa and Ryan and a case of walking pneumonia for my mom.

Before all of that set in, though, we made it to a great pumpkin patch and farm.

Ryan really wanted to pick up his own pumpkin but just wouldn't settle for one his own size...





The Farm was filled with all sorts of great animals. There were sheep and goats and cows, llamas and alpacas. There were even Zonkeys!! yes, a cross between a zebra and a donkey.







but for Ryan, the most entertaining thing around was the barn cat that he found wandering around the yard..




The trip to NY needs its own update - just imagine my 6.5 month pregnant wife taking the subway with our spirited toddler who has no problem yelling about the lady with a mole on her face. all this for a few hours at the Bronx Zoo; Or mornings in Central Park where Lisa was the only actual mom, as opposed to a nanny, there with her child....the hits just keep coming.

Fall Tradition

We made our now annual trip to Cox Farm a few weeks ago. Yes, I am that behind on the blogging. We actually went on opening day since we got free tickets as members. It was pretty remarkable - the lines to pick up free tickets were huge, but if you wanted to fork over $15 per person there was no waiting :)

The free apples and cider were great, but i think there was some false advertising going on with the cider barrels...






When it comes to slides, Cox Farm has everyone else beat. The twisty Barn slide, the long, slick volcano slide and even ones that Ryan can tackle on his own are all awesome. Speaking of the volcano slide, Ryan was so excited to go down again that at one point he got a little too far ahead of Lisa and ended up tumbling down by himself. He was sideways by the time he got to the bottom, and a little shocked, but ge got right back up and climbed the hill for more.






In one unfortunate turn of events, we found out the hard way that Ryan was not quite ready for his first pony ride. I rarely post pictures of him upset, but his fear, was actually kind of cute - in that two year old tantrum kind of way...



Kettle corn, pigs, goats, tractors and trains - that place keeps Ryan entertained for a really long time. As long as we stay in NoVa, I am sure we will be going back each year. Just watching him this year as opposed to last year was amazing. I can't wait to see what next year will have in store for him - and his baby brother.

check out the rest of the pictures here...

http://zolandzfamily.smugmug.com/Children/Cox-Farm-2009/9736226_vDWD4/1/#659117560_oYJMx-A-LB

The Other Camera

It is a very rare occasion that I look at Lisa's camera. And it is even rarer still that I find pictures of Ryan that I haven't seen in a while. Well, the stars aligned b/c of our trip to New York (more on that later) and these gems were uncovered.

These were taken a couple days after Ryan's second birthday. He was playing with his new easel and paints. The concept of using the paper hadn't quite set in yet, but it was still better than the walls....

Funnel Cakes and Police Cars

We knew that police cars were among Ryan's favorite things....funnel cakes were a wild card. Really though, can you go wrong with fried doug covered with sugar?




Ryan got to play cop and criminal sitting in both the front and back of the police car....





Even more impressive, though were the lights tucked behind the grill of the undercover cars...