Bloomsburg Fair 2012

In addition to ballet classes and the start of another school year, September also brought one of my most favorite things.....the Bloomsburg Fair!!!  After missing it last year and I was really excited to go this year and passed that excitement to Annalise.  I think we were then all of the days but two.  We would only go for a few hours each evening with a specific agenda as to what we were there for.  That system worked well because it cut down on her asking for things if it was not the specified night for it.  For example, we had a "game night", a "ride night", an "animal night", etc.  This way, she didn't ask each day we were there to play games or other things and if she did I would just remind her that it wasn't the night for it.  Since Annalise is pretty good at following "rules", this system worked really well for her.  I didn't take a bunch of pictures but got a few of her with her favorites of the week.

 The butterfly house was a hit again this year.  The butterflies were attracted to her colorful hair tie.

 She loved the horse barn the best out of all the animals!

 She was very proud of herself for going through this fun house by herself.  Each time we passed it she would exclaim "See mama?  I'm not scared!  I'm big now!".

 I, on the other hand had a heart attack as she was crossing these bridges because they were really wobbly an well, it is the fair and all.

 Anna talked about wanting one of these all week!

 Princess carriage ride.

 On the sky ride.  Anna asked to go on all week long and we finally did on the last night.  I didn't know how she would react being so high in the air but she loved it!

View from the sky ride.

Gobble! Gooble! Gooooooooo!

Since the weather has started getting cooler and we have not been able to play outside as much at night, I have started trying to do little crafts with Anna.  I am very quickly running out of ideas since I have absolutely no creativity so I am going to have to purchase a book soon to get some new ideas.  Anna is pretty into it and especially likes anything that involves glue sticks.  She also currently LOVES to have her hands traced for some reason.  So, the other night, we made the classic "turkeys made out of traced hands" that adorn the houses of small children across the country at this time of the year.  While we were at it we also made a Native American headband for her to wear.  Obviously I did the cutting but Anna helped with color selecting (hence the blue and orange turkeys) and almost couldn't contain her excitement when helping with the gluing.  Here are our lovely masterpieces:

 Anna was flying her turkeys around the house saying "Gobble, Gobble, Goooooo!"

 I wanted her to show me both of them but she dropped the blue one and did this with the other one.  As almost all of you who read this know, such is picture taking with an almost 2 year old!

 "Hmmmm, needs a little adjusting...."

 "Ahhh, fits great!"

 More Native American turkey flying

This we made another night.  I asked her what she wanted to make and she said a "Halloween Pumpkin".  So, I cut out the pieces and had her glue it together.  I thought she did pretty good!

Annalise's First Trick or Treat!

I was undecided about whether or not I was going to take Anna trick-or-treating.  I mean she isn't interested in candy and she is so shy that I never thought that she would ever actually want to walk up to a house that she didn't know, much less say trick-or-treat or even look at the person when he/she answered.  But, I did get her a costume and I didn't want to feel like I wasted my money so we decided to give it a try.  We only went to a few houses in our development and she sure did surprise me!  I had told her throughout the week that if she wanted people to give her things to put in her beloved pumpkin that she would have to talk to them, etc., etc.  Well, she remembered and walked right up to the first house with me and loudly said to the woman "Trick or Treat!".  I was shocked.  I guess she really wanted something to put in her pumpkin!.  Anna thanked the woman and as we were walking away she said excitedly, "Wow!  I like that lady!".  She was so thrilled to get those pretzels.  So we went to a few more houses and then went home which Annalise didn't mind doing at all.  I just told her trick-or-treat was over and she was like, "OK, we go home now".  Love that girl!  When we got home I though for certain that she was going to want to try the candy, but all she cared about was the bag of pretzels.  So we found other uses for the candy.  We sorted it by color, type and size, we stacked it up, we counted it and talked about the letters on the wrappers and that was it!  I am really glad that we took her out because she was so excited the whole time and just wanted to run, run, run.  I am lucky that I got any pictures once I put that costume on her!

 Little ladybug

 "Here's my pumpkin and I'm ready to go!"

 And this was the view I of her the rest of the night.  She literally ran the whole time once that costume was on!

 She had absolutely no time for a picture with me.  Especially when we got to the first house!

 Anna wanted to walk right up and ring the door bell.

This was the very first house we stopped at.

 Trick-or-Treat!

 She then had slightly more patience for a picture after we got one house under our belts!

 Next house with Daddy!

 Love that costume!

Checking out her loot!

Catawissa Halloween Parade

This past Saturday, my mom and I took Anna to the parade in Catawissa.  I had not been there in more than 10 years but from what I could remember I knew it was going to be crowded....and it sure was!  It really is a nice parade though.  Annalise loved the parade and was very focused on picking up the candy and putting it in her pumpkin.  And again, I was prepared for her to finally ask for a piece of it and I was going to let her have one.....but........she never asked!  She got another little bag of animal crackers just like the other parade and that was all she cared about eating!  Too funny!  I really think it is because she is not really interested in trying new foods unless I coax her or tell her it is really good.  Since I have done neither with the candy I think that she just doesn't want to venture on what it might taste like.  Like I have said before, I will continue to take it while I can!  These are the only three pictures that I took because it was dark and there were a lot of spooky masks around (which ranks right up there with my feelings about birds) so I was focused on other things than picture taking. 

 Anna and I waiting for the parade to start

 I have no idea what is going on here.

Homecoming Parade

Last weekend after Anna's gym class we went to the Homecoming Parade in Bloomsburg.  Because of the timing of her class, we were not sure if we would make it or not, but we did with only a few minutes to spare!  We only have ever taken Annalise to one other parade about a year ago, so this was a whole new experience for her.  She loved it of course once she got over the "shock" of people throwing candy =).  I really wish I would've gotten a picture of the look on her face when the first people threw candy her way.  She was clearly startled and didn't understand at first why people were throwing things (yay for knowing this is something you normally shouldn't do).  Anna got the hang of picking up the candy and putting it in her little pumpkin and interestingly enough, she didn't even ask for one piece of it.  I have never discouraged her from candy, I have just purposefully never mentioned it to her and she doesn't see us eat it.  I guess that is why she wasn't really interested in eating it, she just wanted to pick it up and put it in her pumpkin.  I was ready and braced for her to ask for some and was going to let her because I don't want to turn it into a "forbidden fruit" but it never happened, which made my day.  The biggest hit for her was the strand of dice beads she got since it was a Las Vegas theme and a little bag of animal crackers.  Anyway, enough yapping and here are some pictures.

 Waiting for the parade to start with Daddy.

 A little snack while she waits.

 This was the first time Annalise used her camp chair outside and she thought she was really something else sitting in it =).

 Her little pumpkin that will be used for many Halloweens to come!

 As always since she was a tiny baby, even though she is shy, she still loves to know what EVERYONE is doing!

 Now something has her attention....

 ....it's the start of the parade.  Annalise had a lot of head boppin' going on!

 Getting braver to venture out to get the candy with Daddy.

The one (and probably only) advantage of having a shy toddler is that she doesn't even attempt to venture away from us once we tell to not to.

 Anna did a great job of just picking up the candy.....

 ....putting it in her pumpkin......

...and sitting back in her chair to happily wait for more!!

Annalise's First Jack-O-Lantern

Last week we carved a pumpkin with Anna for the first time.  We have always gotten pumpkins, but we just haven't taken the time to actually carve them in years!   Anna was interested in the carving but had to be coaxed to even touch the inside of the pumpkin.  I think she touched it twice and then just kept saying that it was too yucky.  She was also a little unsure of Stan's saw too, but nevertheless she liked watching us and helping with other parts of the process!

 Anna's pumpkin

 Anna said she needed to hug her pumpkin before we started.  She also gave it a few kisses too =).

 Watching Daddy with the saw.  She stayed that close until he turned it on.

 Then she ran over to me until he turned it off again.  Honestly, the little saw was so quiet that it sounded like a battery operated toothbrush but my oh my does this child ever have a mild personality!!!

 Not sure about touching the "guts".  Anna did give it one poke.

 I then convinced her to put her hand inside the pumpkin.  That only lasted about 2 seconds and then she decided that it was "too yucky".

 So, she watched me start to clean it out.  As you can tell by my face, I am not a real fan of touching the inside either.

 "Did you get it clean in there, Mommy?"

(Ok seriously, why do I have my arms like a praying mantis in this picture ?!?!)

 Daddy to the rescue to finish scraping it out!  When Annalise saw he had spoon to scrape with she needed one too.  When she had the spoon she didn't have to touch it so she was all about helping then!

 After a while though she was more interested in dancing around.....

 .....and climbing on her Daddy's back

 We took it outside and lit it.  She smiled at it and liked it, but would not get any closer to it than what you see in this picture unless I was holding her (it was also her bedtime by then so that might have had something to do with it too)!

 Back inside to clean up and get ready for bed.  Carving pumpkins must be hard work because she brought her blankets out to the kitchen to watch us clean up!