Martha's Vineyard

 As the weather is starting to cool down, its fun to think of summer fun.  We had the opportunity to visit John's brother's place on Martha's Vineyard.  We had yet to go to the beach which made this a delight.  This is one of the places I had on my list to visit.

This little fella came out of the conch Izzy was blowing, much to our surprise. 

 With a bit of bait on the end of a stick & string, you can catch crabs.  We did let them go after oohing and aahing at them.

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 Free play on the beach = some very tired children at the end of the day.

We took the kayak out.  Amazingly we did not tip over.  Izzy then went with John's nephews, Daniel & Josh, to collect golf balls out of the water near the golf course and clams.  When they returned, Daniel dumped the both of them out.  When Izzy surfaces, she yelled smiling "I'm okay".  It made our section of the beach giggle.

 Later in the day, we took a boat ride out of the harbor for some fishing.  Daniel helped Izzy (he did the majority of the work).  They ended up catching a black sea bass.

 This is right were Micah stayed the entire boat ride.  This is when I also learned he gets motion sick.  There was no vomiting but I think we were close.  Our fishing trip was therefore cut short.

The oldest carousel in the U.S. is located on Martha's Vineyard.... Flying Horses.  It was manufactured in the 1870's and moved to Martha's Vineyard in 1884.  It is a platform carousel where you grab rings placing them on a spike atop the horses head.  The person who grabs the brass ring gets a free ride.  There are 2 arms that feed the rings, one for outside riders and one for inside riders.  To our disappointment, no one in our party got the brass ring.  The experience made up for it!

Happy 39th Birthday

 This week I turned 39... really!  To celebrate on my actual birthday, we had cake (expected).  The flavor was adult; almond with strawberry ganache for a middle layer.  Not a big hit with the twins.  Izzy however loved it.  The anteater was loved by the kids.  And, of course, there is a story behind the him.  The anteater is one of my favorite animals to observe at the zoo.  When Izzy was younger she understood that to mean it was my favorite animal.  This then lead to purchasing a stuffed anteater.  Try as I might, he always ends up back on my bed with Izzy asking why he was amongst her stuffed animals.  I have decided to embrace the anteater.  The cake received a few looks when I came to pick it up.

Apple Picking Attempt #2

 The following day after visiting Connors Farm, we headed out to complete our task of apple picking.  This time we took my friend Kerry to LookOut Farm.  A short train ride into the orchard was worth the wait in line.

In the center of the farm is a children's playground area.  Activities include a hay mound to climb, a mini maze, farm animals and a caterpillar train.

 One of the most fascinating features was grapes that hung down as cover over the train route.  These grapes are mostly out of reach.  However, put a child on your shoulders and you can reach them.  Both Izzy and Micah were successful in knabing a bunch.  A sweet and sour treat.

 It took us awhile to find trees that still had apples on them... but we were successful.  We rounded out our bags by filling them up at the U-Pick barn.  Here there were bins of apples we were looking for but never found including our favorite... Honeycrips.

It's Apple Picking Time!

 Fall time in New England equals Apple Picking!  This year we decided to change up where we went.  A quick internet search found a mommy blog with the 'Top 10 Apple Picking Farms' near Boston.  We took Izzy's BFF, Bonnie, with us to Connors Farm.  Cider donuts were on the list.  Boy were we in for a surprise!

One of the first things you encounter is the mechanical bull.  John was a good sport for the munchkins.  He wasn't the only adult who tried though.

To view this video, please go to the main blog - 3goofballs.blogspot.com

 A cow train... who knew.  We only found out after the fact that there were spooky sightings in the corn field - smoking house, skull, skeletons.

 This was one of my favorite.  John made the bell ring on his second attempt.  He made it look quite easy.  All the kids tried on the smaller one.  Izzy made it to Farm Hand, Victoria to Lil' Fella and Micah to Granny.

 What could be more fun than a giant pit of corn to play in!  The kids had races, made 'corn angles' and at one point tried to bury John.  Though SUPER fun, it came at a price.  We were digging out loose pieces of corn from our shoes the rest of the day and covered in dust.

Hayrack ride.  See the corn dust all over?

 These pedal go carts were equally as fun; racing through a path in the corn field.

 This was the main draw for Connors Farm... the corn maze.  Each year they create a new maze.  This year it was in honor of The Peanuts.  No maps but armed with clues, we set off.  Clues could be answered at various numbered markers.  In addition there were clues that you could text.  We were doing amazing until we made it to Linus' pumpkin.  We kept making a circle by the bridge in his pumpkin.  When we finally made our way out, we quickly found the end.  All in all it took us 37 minutes to complete.  Not too bad for our group in which we all walked the course (Micah opted for a shoulder ride from John near the end).

 Jumping Pillows - 1) never heard of them and 2) I want one!

 Picking out our pumpkins.  Similar to last year... Victoria picked out a large one and Micah a tiny one.

The title of this blog was Apple Picking.  Did anyone see us actually pick any apples?  By the time we were done with these activities, we had spent 5 hours at Connors Farm.  The kids were so tired we called it a day... a very fulfilling day!

Quebec Weekend

This past weekend for an early birthday celebration, John and I headed to Quebec City.  

For a treat we stayed at Le Château Frontenac, also called a castle hotel.  It is a 600 bedroom hotel built in the 19th century with recent renovations keeping it's charm and up to date with technology.  This is the same hotel Diane and I took our mother for her 60th birthday celebration.

 One cannot pass up a hotel tour while staying here.  Frederick was our guide.  We toured the Rose Room where ladies had tea and the ballroom set for a wedding celebration.

An evening out.  We enjoyed amazing food including crepes, flambé, chocolates, desserts and poutine.  Poutine was recommended by one of my colleagues from Canada.  It is a dish of potatoes and cheese curds topped with a light brown gravy.

Beautiful European street in lower Quebec City - Rue de Petit Champlain

Montmorency Falls - a short 15 minute drive north of Quebec City.  John was a bit nervous about driving in a foreign country.  Good thing we drive on the same side of the road.  We learned many French words for North, South, East, West, Interstate.... that were very helpful in navigating back.

John twisted my arm to zipline across the falls.  Who really believes that???  Getting ready to head out.  Not really nervous at this point. 

To be honest, I was nervous when we were getting hooked up to the line.  But once we started the viewpoint was amazing.  The zipline is 300m (~1000 feet) across and 83m (270 feet) up.  A new adventure I can add to my list.