Our Annual Trip to the Elgin Pumpkin Patch: 2012 Edition

As you'll likely remember if you've been reading for any length of time, we are fortunate to be surrounded by pumpkin patches, corn mazes, farms and the like, which is funny, given we live in a major metropolitan area! As such, we've made it a tradition since Ava was born to take her to the Elgin Christmas Tree Farm to their Pumpkin Patch and Festival, and we LOVE it! There are many in this area (Sweet Berry Farm, church-owned pumpkin patches, and the newly opened Barton Hills Farms, but we just love the one in Elgin - more on that to come!).

As a comparison, here is Ava each year we've gone:

2010:

2011:

2012:

Oh my word, how she's grown up! I can't believe it!

Her supersonic growing aside, we had such a fun time this year. Last year she was old enough to enjoy it, but this year she was even more interactive, enjoying the "crazy maze" with us and favoring the hayride to anything else (she went on it two or three times!)! She didn't even want to get off at the playground stop!

Part of the hayride included a spooky, Halloween theme, but she wasn't scared (she's not afraid of ANYTHING!) at all, and enjoyed every second! 

And what would a post about a visit to the pumpkin patch be without the inclusion of the many photo ops provided?

Happy Autumn, everyone! We sure do love fall around here!!!

Wordless Wednesday: The Paci Fairy.

...coming, December 2012.

Ava's First (and Second!) Day of School!

So this post is extremely belated, but as I explained earlier this week, things have been a bit crazy around here. Anywho, at long last, here's a bit about Ava's first (and now, second) day of school!

Here's the big preschooler as we left the house:

She was so excited. So much so, that she couldn't even look at the camera. Whomp, whomp.

The entire drive there our car was abuzz with excitement. I can neither confirm nor deny that we sang "Call Me Maybe" and "Love You Like a Love Song" at the top of our lungs, but I can say for sure that we had an extremely fun time, high on nervous energy at the enormity of the milestone we were facing. As far back as her first year of life, Ava has had a desire to go to school like the big girls she spends her days with, and there was no denying the excitement she felt at getting to do just that. Even so, she's also still a two-year-old who is realllly attached to her mother, and so that inevitably factored into our morning when we arrived and her lip turned all trembly.

"I don't want to go to schoooooool. School is not fun place!"

Despite the slight hiccup, I knew better than to linger, and got her settled in quickly and left to make things easier on all of us: me, her and her lovely teacher, Ms. Elaine. I know firsthand how awful it is when a parent won't just head out and drags out the whole separation ordeal, and so instead the nice people at Plug & Play let me take up residence in the very front (out of sight, out of mind!) and checked on her for me, ensuring me she was recovered and ready to have a great day!

I will say, and this could potentially be attributed to how I spent my morning, I was surprised at how I felt driving off. On the toughest of mornings, I just knew that when Ava eventually went to preschool I would feel an overwhelming sense of joy and freedom. Instead, and maybe it's because we weren't having a tough morning by any stretch of the imagination, I felt alone for the first time in a long time. Heading out to face the unknown alone, I found myself wishing I had my baby girl beside me.

Thankfully, when I arrived back for pick-up, my baby girl was waiting for me with the type of smile that could make a mother forget the worst of mornings, leaping into my arms! Rather than focusing on how much she missed me, though, and how she had been sad at drop off, Ava instead told me how much fun she had, and when I asked, said, "I can't wait to go back to school!" WOOHOO! That's exactly the attitude I hoped she would have about it, but I'm so glad to know that she enjoyed it as much as I knew she would.

As for her day, it was chalked full of story time (Polar Bear, Polar Bear - who doesn't love Eric Carle?!), music and dancing (her personal favorite - she talked about it all day long!), circle time and art, where they practiced learning colors in Spanish ("azul!" she exclaimed proudly when asked about it) and made a collage of the letter "Q"!

When it came time for her second day of school, she held true to her previous excitement and exclaimed proudly when she woke up, "I can't wait to go to school today!"

She started to tear up slightly when I took her potty before I left, but she composed herself and didn't cry! Victory!

When I picked her up, she was playing happily with two other children (boys - go figure! she's definitely into the boys!), and was so excited to show me her awesome art project she made (an awesome R in the shape of raccoon - how cool!).

I can't wait to see what she makes this week!

For those following along, I have an appointment with my surgeon this week while Ava is at school, so we'll know more about what we're looking at (taking the mass out or not) then and I'll update :)

Ava Goes to Church.

I've made it a goal for myself and Ava to attend church more frequently. Our Sundays are notoriously busy, whether due to a late night at work the night before and the need to decompress from a packed week, or navigating the children's birthday party circuit (unfortunately the only party circuit I am familiar with these days!), and so we frequently sacrifice going to church - something I'm less than proud of. As we close out 2012, I've chosen to start my resolutions early, and am attempting to take Ava to church as often as we can. This past Sunday was one such Sunday.

We went to a new church, since the church I am a member at received a new Rector a couple of years back and my feelings towards the particular locale have been waning ever since. He's a lovely person, but he doesn't inspire me the way that the interim Rector who was there at the time of my baptism and joining the church took place did, and so I'm looking around so as not to neglect our spiritual education due to a poor fit between myself and the current Rector. Anyhow, this past Sunday we attended a different location. It went a little something like this:

Ava, once we were officially settled in and quiet for the service to begin: "But where's God?"

HA. I explained to her that he was with us, but that he was present above, watching and feeling proud from Heaven. This seemed to freak her out more than anything.

Ava, when I'd shushed her gently during the sermon, "Why is that man talking so loud?!"

Two things were wrong with this statement. The obvious: the Pastor/Vicar/Rector was talking so loud because she was delivering the sermon. Also, it was a woman with a short haircut, not a man. Thankfully her face did not give away that she heard Ava's question. Whew.

Ava, after I'd asked her to read quietly for the 129038120938th time: "SHHHHHHHHHH!!" to the man coughing a few rows behind us.

Awesome. She even put her finger to her lips. At least I knew she was getting the point?

The best part came, however, during communion (doesn't it always?). As the Rector blessed the bread and wine, Ava asked first, "What that? Yucky bread?" and then, "That your wine, mommy?"

Thankfully we Episcopalians aren't exactly known for our teetotaling, and so that got quite the laugh from the small congregation, as opposed to a look of shame. Whew!

Despite all the mishaps and laughs, everyone came up to us to introduce themselves afterwards and told me how wonderfully she behaved. Maybe she was speaking more softly than I thought.

And now, a beautiful quote I came across the other day, that sums up my choice to join the Episcopal church a few years back quite perfectly:

"The Episcopal Church is the perfect paradox: firmly based in tradition, but never afraid to change; deep and meaningful theology without the headaches; and a strong community of believers who don't all believe exactly the same thing, but love each other anyway. "

How I Spent Ava's First Day of School.

First and foremost, her first day was not today, but last Wednesday. Circumstances around here lately have been such to where I have wanted to unplug and hide under a rock, rather than put myself out there, but it always seems that when I have that reaction to life, I'm more in need of support and channeling my feelings through my writing than ever, and so here it goes.

I imagined myself spending Ava's first day of preschool in grand style: a relaxing pedicure, reading a book without interruption, blogging to the sounds of peace and quiet, coffee with friends, you name it. I planned to feel nothing short of elation. Instead, I spent the morning a way I never would have imagined: having a mass in my breast examined by my OB/GYN. 

When I realized that I would be spending my first morning childless that way, I thought for sure that my doctor would tell me I'm a hypochondriac and need to turn off Parenthood. As embarrassing as that surely would have been, I would have much preferred that to the look of alarm on his face and the calling in of two other associates to - ultimately - feel me up with the same look of alarm. Moreover, I was completely unprepared for the referral to get a mammogram and breast ultrasound STAT and for my doctor to call in a referral to a surgeon himself. Trembling, I took my handfuls of paperwork and instructions, and sat in my car attempting to breathe. And, equally unexpected, I felt lonely without Ava.

Since then, I'm happy to report a handful of things. 

-I've had my mammogram and ultrasound, and ladies, it wasn't nearly as bad as you think when you think of complete breast compression, Then again, I'm not working with the double D's I dreamed of as a pre-pubescent girl, so maybe that's why. Either way, when your time comes, relax. 

-Though the ultrasound and mammogram tech kept pretty mum on the results (why do they do that? What is your job if you can't tell me what you see?!), saying instead to wait to hear from my doctor, she did make it sound like it wasn't cancer. Fingers crossed. 

-I have an appointment with the surgeon next week (also while Ava is at preschool), so if it is a worse case scenario, we're being very proactive in taking care of it.

-Most importantly, Ava had a fabulous day at school. In fact, though she teared up a bit initially when I dropped her off and went to leave, she told me later that day that she "can't wait to go back to school" and has had us reading her My First Day of Nursery School book repeatedly in anticipation! Needless to say, she loved Plug & Play just as much as I do and knew she would, and I cannot say enough good things about the staff and the facility. A more detailed post to come about her school days, but in short, we're so happy with our decision to send her both to school and to school at Plug & Play!

I'll keep y'all posted on what we find out, but in the meantime, posts may be short and sweet while I attempt to navigate a myriad of doctors and take care of myself, too. 

Also? Don't neglect your self-exams, ladies. Being proactive in mine, and in tune with my body, very well could have brought this to our attention in plenty of time, and could easily save your life.

Things to Do in Austin: Texas Military Forces Museum at Camp Mabry.

Considering I've been living in Austin for over a decade, I'm ashamed to say that I've never been to Camp Mabry before! Sure, I drive past it more or less daily, but I've never actually been on base, and it was high time that we changed that!

Having recently decided to start working down a less-obvious-things-to-do-in-Austin bucket list, I knew that with the weather finally cooling off to the point of spending time outside, visiting the Texas Military Forces Museum at Camp Mabry was at the top of the list!

We were almost deterred when we saw the outside sign said that it was closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, but when I saw that the museum door was open, I decided to check before getting Ava out or disappointing her. Thankfully, the hours had changed, and it's open now Tuesday-Sunday! I'm so glad we checked :) I'm also glad the sign hadn't been changed yet, since we had the place entirely to ourselves!

Let me preface this by saying that I've been to a lot of museums, both in Austin and nationally/internationally, and still, I was impressed by this freebie in the heart of the capital. It was seriously well done, extremely educational and inclusive, and yet it seems to not be very well known - which is a huge shame!

Here are a few of our favorite exhibits in the main hall, where tanks, humvees, aircraft, weapons and artillery, medals and more were on display:

M135 Cooking Tent

Toy Soldiers 

Tanks - Ava was fascinated

Army Plane

Army Jeeps

L4-A Fighter Plane from WWII

Aside from the main room, there were several side rooms, including a State Hall of Honor and an Insignia Room:

There were also back rooms, where Civil War, the Origins of Texas Military History, Cold War, and 9/11 and Beyond were on display, and those were personally my favorite part. Check it out:

A re-creation of the Battle of the Alamo

Paratroopers!

You're allowed to try these on! Too bad they were too heavy for Ava...

Ava: "That's a holy moly!" HAHAHA!

The 9/11 section was one of the most significant, for obvious reasons. It was especially emotional when, holding Ava and looking at one of the most well-known pictures of the twin towers under attack, she asked, "Mommy, what's happening with that fire?" 

How do you explain that to a two-year-old?! I didn't want to play it down as not being important, so I told her that sometimes there are people in the world who aren't good people, and sometimes those people make bad choices, and this was one of those bad choices. I know, I know - so obviously understated, but she's too young to understand what I will one day tell her about the 9/11 attacks, so it'll work for now.

Another of the more amazing things that were on display at the museum - and another great conversation starter if you have older children - was this unimpressive looking slab of concrete:

I'm so glad I stopped to read the plaque: As it turns out, this is a piece of the Berlin Wall!!! When I read that, and the accompanying plaques, I felt chills all over my body. This once stood between East and West Berlin and was broken down as a symbol of both the end of the Cold War, and the end of the oppression in East Germany. How beautiful is that piece of concrete now?

And I know, I know, you're not supposed to touch the displays, but how can you stand inches away from a section of the Berlin Wall and not touch it?!? 

Feels like freedom.

At this point, we'd managed to go through the entire inside of the museum, so we took to the outside to see the rest of the artillery and armor display before heading home:

After that, we capped the afternoon off with an impromptu picnic (well, by picnic, I mean the working mom's version of a picnic - P. Terry's!) at Mayfield Park, where Ava proceeded to remind me "Mommy, that's where you were married!" Awww.

I highly, highly recommend paying this free and fabulous museum a visit. The Texas Military Forces Museum is located at 2200 W. 35th St. Austin, TX 78703, and is open and free to the public. Museum hours are Tuesday - Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., though check the site to confirm hours before you visit to be certain. Enjoy!