Back to the Farm, but This Time Without Daddy...

So, as the men took up studying for the bar I quickly got frustrated and bored with being a single mother again, so I decided to take a somewhat impromptu trip back to the farm, but this time with out Daddy. So instead we brought along some of our best friends (Alyssa, James and Alice Hasler) who were also missing their daddy due to bar prep. We loaded up our car about as tight as it could get and drove off. 2 moms, 2 toddlers, 2 babies, and twelve hours... you do the calculations. What ever you came up with it wasn't that bad. We had a few tiffs between the older boys, but it went surprisingly well. Sure, it was a bit loud, but we do ok with loud, as long as it is a happy loud. :)

 About half way through we stopped at a park to rest our brains and run out the boys energy. It was a great park with all the old school fun things like a teeter totter, or merry go round.

Once we got to the farm the fun never ended. We explored, and went on tractor rides, wagon rides, and 4 wheeler rides. We helped in the garden, gathered eggs, fed cattle, and even got to see the other baby horse.

Aj gave the farm a thumbs-up!

One day we decided to leave the farm for a short bit and explore the Chautauqua Art Institution. It was a beautiful day for walking and there was so much to see!

Playing hide-n-seek

We took a short snack break...we had blueberries!

I believe an arranged marriage is in the future. 

 With such lovely weather we decided to do a mommy son date. We put the babies to bed, had jean listen for them, and then headed out with our boys for a cookout. We made s'mores once more and then stayed up just late enough to see all the bushes come to life with fireflies. It was so cool. I haven't spent much time around fireflies so I found it to be very magical too!

After such a fun and dirty day, a bath was a must!

 Our last afternoon Grandpa opened up the back gate so we could go play in the creek. Most of the kids had a blast. Aj was a little concerned that his clothes were wet...someday we will rid this boy of his OCD cleanliness (although some wife might really appreciate it)

 And of course we can't leave the farm in the summer without a trip to the ice cream shack. I believe this was Alice's first taste of ice cream.

These boys love each other so much, I just can't imagine them splitting up. I hope they can stay close and who knows, maybe they will be roomies somewhere down the road at college. 

The drive home was a little (and by a little I mean A LOT) more difficult. We had to thave one of us crawl into the back to keep the two boys from killing each other with nasty looks and harsh words. I think the novelty of a 24/7 best friend had worn off after a week. :)
Thank you Jean and Keith for letting us come play! We had a blast and will really miss getting to spend so much time there.