Yes, I am aware that I am writing this post on November 7th. And yes, I am aware that your birthday is in October. But give a mom a little slack, Bubba. Things have been wild and crazy busy around here. At least I am getting to it, right?! And this birthday sure was a memorable one, hence the two-parter blog post...
About two weeks before your birthday, I was sorta planning a Disney trip to celebrate you turning the big four. But the more I messed around with numbers, the more I realized that I needed to sell at least two body parts or organs to make what I wanted work. Then you said something that I will never forget: "Forget Disney, Mom. Let's go to Cohocton." That sentence blew me away. Really? I mean, I love going to New York, and I have never been there in the fall, but really? You want to turn down Disney? But then it got my wheels turning... I looked at Delta, and flights were crazy expensive - until I remembered the skymiles points Daddy and I accumulated throughout the years. Some quick math was done, and I discovered that you and I could fly out of Jacksonville to New York and back for only the cost of our checked bags! And since we'd be staying with Grandma and Papa, we'd save there too! This change of plans was actually working out to be kind of awesome!
The sad part was that Daddy didn't get to go with us, but we took tons of pictures that we sent to him, and you talked to him every night
I'm going to let the photos from the trip do the rest of the "talking" in this post. I had a great time watching you have a great time, and as far as birthday treats go, this one was pretty special!
First was our drive to the airport. We left for Jacksonville right after school, so nap time was in the car on the way. Smart Mommy move, for the most part. You woke up about 30 minutes outside of Jacksonville and only asked "are we there yet?" five times.
On our last flight of the night. We flew from JAX to Atlanta and from there to Rochester. It was bedtime when we took off from Atlanta, so I got you in your jammies for this flight. You slept most of the way up, too. Had to carry sleepy you, plus our two bags, off the plane.
When we arrived in Rochester, Grandma and Papa were there waiting for us, and they brought you birthday balloons!
Our first morning in Cohocton was sorta misty and wet, but that didn't stop us from having a ton of adventures. Here's the backyard...
And here's you with the fall decorations outside the barn
You and Papa starting up the Cub.
Getting the Cub cranked up.
The barn. I love this old building.
You, Grandma and Papa and I went on a long hike up the old easement where your Great-great-great (maybe one more; I need to ask Papa) Grandfather used to take his mules to plow the fields or drive the cattle. It was a long, steep walk up, but we made it. And you found plenty of things along the way to keep you interested. Like this awesome mud puddle, for example...
Here's you and Papa making it up the easement.
Eating one of the 500 apples we picked off the trees in the backyard. You'd pick two then eat one... over and over and over again.
Later that afternoon, you and I went fishing!
Here's one of the fish we caught!
We also went to Jenkins for lunch, and we had "barkers" (Papa's new name for hot dogs) and these mega ice cream cones. Yours is the kids size. I got a small and it had about a pint of ice cream on the cone.
Picking apples. Again. And again. We picked for hours and still didn't make a dent in the crop on the trees. And you must have eaten about 12 in two days...
My apple picker/eater.
Our wagon load of apples that we picked. Grand total of about 560 came home to Tallahassee.
The next day we were up and at 'em again. This time we went to Arcade and rode the Arcade-Attica Steam train. This was really cool! And it was freezing, too. It's the only running steam train in Western New York, and you got to ride it! We rode for about 45 minutes to Arcade, and when we got there, they were serving doughnuts and apple cider, and then we rode back. On the train there was a banjo player and an accordion player, and at one point, they played happy birthday for you. It was fun!
You and Papa on the train.
You and Grandma on the train.
Freezing your little tail off in Arcade as the train reversed to take us back home.
After our train ride, we were off to Perry to visit Silver Meadows Farm and the Klein family to get syrup and visit with them. You got to play in their barn again, and I took your picture in their hay loft. It was a lot of hay!
You and the Klein dairy cows.
After THAT, we headed to a pumpkin patch so you could pick out a Halloween pumpkin.
Picking out our pumpkins...
And then it was time to pump some awesome water out of the ground at Banarski's farm. You ended up getting SOAKED!
Our last stop of Day 2 was at Ms. Marlene Cowie's farm to see her prize winning Palomino horses (this was more for Mommy) and to see her McCormick Farmall "H." And of course we took pictures of you on the tractor.
You and Papa on the H.
Our day wrapped up with dinner with our New York neighbors, Ms. Mary and Mr. Steve. Here you are reading the paper. Actually I think this picture is from night one, but I cant remember. Either way, it was fun!
Saturday was your actual birthday and the day we had to come home. Here you are cheesing it up as a big four year old.
On our flights home, you wore a "birthday boy" ribbon" and the flight attendants took notice. They told the pilots, and the pilots let you come into the cockpit and even push a few buttons. It was a super neat way to end a great trip!
Happy 4th Birthday, Bear!
Love,
Mommy
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