Mountain Mom and Tots

Motherhood Moments: Naptime Anyone?

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Do you think little g is trying to tell me something? I was making lunch and she went into her room, got a blanket, baby and paci and made herself comfortable on the wood floor of the hallway.

Old McBigE Had a Farm

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Over the weekend I took the tots to to a very interesting Easter Egg hunt. Like every young child, my tots love running around, finding colorful orbs full of surprises. In that respect, this Easter Egg hunt was no different than others we’d been to. What made this experience so interesting was the location.

We spent Saturday at the family farm – specifically the family of my brother and sister-in-law. A few years ago they abandoned the suburban life in exchange for the wide, windy expanse of ten acres, a small orchard and a large garden. They wanted to be self sufficient, get close to the land and raise their kids in a more rural environment. Because of their life choices, we get to enjoy family gatherings surrounded by fields of corn and alfalfa instead of being closely packed in with suburban neighbors. With their house in the country and our house in the mountains, we’ve got a whole range of habitats represented.

We dyed eggs with natural dyes (think pots full of grape juice and red cabbage soup) before racing around the yard, chasing Big E and little g while they picked up their prizes.

After that, we went for a hay ride. Now I know hayrides are generally thought of as autumn activities, but it was the perfect activity for the day. Here we are sitting on the hay with E’s “orange shirt friend,” with whom E had played all afternoon. True to four year old etiquette, E had been digging, running, jumping and playing with this boy all day, but had neglected to ask the boy’s name. Hence “orange shirt friend” sitting by us and smiling for our photo.

I think the best part of the hayride for me was the spontaneous singing, courtesy of little g. As we drove around the farm, we came in sight of a pigpen. G busted out with her rendition of “Old McDonald Had a Farm.” It sounded something like, “AH baba da ahgaga, E I E I O.”

We finished the hayride and went to visit the chickens. I’m not sure why the sight of live animals made my tots smile so much, but even the stench of more than twenty pigs couldn’t dissuade their happiness. Big E and little g loved the farm, and I had a good time too.

Happy Easter!

Perfect Easter Photos of the Tots

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One of the best parts of having an adorable little girl is buying adorable little girl dresses. I know I’m not the only mom out there who melts at the sight of a rack of fluffy pastel colored dresses at the store. All month I’ve been telling myself that little g already had plenty of dresses, that I didn’t need to spoil her with yet another one. But when I saw the lavender tulle and the silky bow on this, I couldn’t help myself.

Naturally, I couldn’t get little g a new outfit and not get something for E. So this morning I got them dressed in coordinating purple outfits and set out to get the perfect Easter photo of the tots.

The problem with my brilliant attempt was the fact that I had also gotten matching pinwheels that were much more fun to play with than posing for perfect Easter photos would be.

I also forgot to take out little g’s pacifier, and apparently Big E forgot how to smile normally.

Big E wanted to play hide and seek. Here he is hiding.

And here’s little g hiding.

And so, my perfect Easter photo of the tots, turned into a series of imperfect shots, that more accurately reflect real life anyway. Sometimes a pretty dress or new shoes makes us feel fancy for a moment, but true joy comes from smelling the flowers anyway.

Photo Journal: Redwoods National Park

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Since this blog is about being outdoors with kids, on occasion I plan on sharing images of the great outdoors taken by my husband, Mountain Dad. For a time in his past he was a professional photographer with a special love and talent for taking breathtaking landscapes. I may be biased, but I’m also not blind. His photos are amazing.

This photograph is a black and white of Redwoods National Park, which we visited as a family in the spring of 2011. For more photos by Mountain Dad click here.

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