I've been Pixied

People might argue against this but I'm actually a bit on the shy side. I'm usually behind the camera for the obvious reasons but also because I generally don't like to be pictured as well. I've learned that for a lot of photographers and visual artists, this type of thing holds true for them too.

I decided to come on the other side of the camera today though to document another part of my day with Miss A when we went to the farm and the Enchanted Forest though. After our trip there we took a jaunt over to the Baltimore area to visit the amazing stylist who I've been going to for over five years now!! I know how ridiculous it is to continually drive over an hour to get your haircut but any lady will tell you that when you find someone who does good hair it's well worth a long trip and when you find someone who does GREAT hair it's definitely worth driving even hours away.

Anyway, this past December you might remember that I took the plunge to get all of my hair chopped off with the intention of maybe eventually being brave enough to go even shorter. As it turned out I LOVED having short hair and was that much more encouraged and finally took the big plunge to go for the classic "pixie" cut that I've always envied on others. I'm not sure that I can completely pull it off the way some people can but I just like the cut and the ease of care so much that I almost don't even care...

It will require very regimented almost monthly trims to maintain it but I love it so much I feel like it's well worth the investment and the effort.

Into the woods

After hanging out with the animals and then drenching herself at the hand washing stations, Miss A was ready for lunch! And anyone who knows her well enough knows very well that she doesn't let a moment pass her by that might mean she can nibble on something!

I figured it would be hard to convince Miss A to sit nicely at a picnic table and eat her PB & J so I strapped her into her stroller and we headed into the "Enchanted Forest."

(A little history that I just learned today: The original Enchanted Forest used to be one of the only local area amusement parks that was really little more than a bunch of statuettes designed after classic storybook tales. When it officially closed it's doors, the Clark family was able to obtain the Cinderella pumpkin coach so that local families could still enjoy it. The original owners of all of the rest of the amusements of the Enchanted Forest were so impressed by the Clark family's commitment to preserving the spirit of the Enchanted Forest alive that it was agreed that all of the rest of the amusements would follow until the entire Enchanted Forest was moved completely to the Clark family's farm land. Thus, the Enchanted Forest found it's new home and families have been able to continue enjoying it and not have it be just another chapter of local history.)

Since it would have been mean of me to force Miss A to stay seated during the entire trip through the Enchanted Forest, we took our time and would walk a little, and then take a little interlude so that she could get out and walk around while nibbling on her sandwich. I wasn't able to take too many pictures of her with the incredible statues because that would have meant that she would have been able to just run wild and free like a crazy woman. I DID manage to get one really good shot of her with her favorite statues though and I'm sure if the Dish and the Spoon had been real, she surely would have run away with them (as I said before, wild and free like a crazy woman) right after the cow jumping over the moon...

It's hard to tell by the picture but she was actually standing there holding hands with the Dish. So cute because I think she really actually thought they were real by the way she just stood there holding onto the hand like it was going to take off and run away!

A lot of the amusements were a little big and intimidating to her because she's just a little too much of a shorty just yet to be able to see inside of the ones that are now closed off by plexiglass and meant to be enjoyed from the outside looking in. The bright colors intrigued her enough but since it was hard for her to see in any of the windows, she would basically just walk around them a little bit and then get bored and run off into the surrounding areas of grassy knolls. Here she is outside of the house of the Three Bears and Goldilocks...


She's such a little peanut that she was barely even tall enough to look into the extra-large keyhole that was meant just for peeking in!

After the Enchanted Forest I knew that she needed a little time to be able to play in areas sized closer to her. Luckily there were these tiny little playhouses that were by the lovely shaded picnic area and Miss A thought they were just about the best things EVER!!! I mean, seriously!!!! WHOLE houses?!!! And just the perfect size for her?!!! She was in pure and complete bliss and kept going in them and coming out of them over and over again like she couldn't believe that they existed.


This little primitive looking cabin was her favorite of all and watching her enjoy it as much as she did got the gears in my head going with thinking that "Hmmmm... maybe D and I should design and make one of these for her upcoming birthday!" *sigh* If she ends up being a spoiled little girl, it will end up being our fault alone because we always just want to give her the world to have absolutely for her own.

The other little playhouse was slightly bigger than the little cabin and I think it was a little too big for her because I was able to stand up inside of it comfortably. She did very much enjoy the REAL (but terribly out of tune) upright piano inside that was amazingly teeny-tiny and absolutely the perfect size for her. (This picture looks blurry because I had to take it through an old scratched up window pane.)


And before we finally had to leave, we were able to squeeze out just enough time to be able to eat a delicious strawberry shortcake bar...


And then play one last time at one of the amazingly huge playgrounds...




We definitely have plans to return to the farm and the forest sometime in the near future so that we can go on the hayride (the one thing we didn't do!) and we're hoping that next time D will be able to come along as well. Perhaps even YOU can come too! *wink*

Down on the farm

Yesterday I had the great joy of being able to take the day off just have a day to do something completely fun with Miss A. D and I trade off on who stays home on days when our daycare provider takes time off and this time around it was my turn.

At first I started thinking about literally staying home with Miss A and using the time to get household chores taken care of but then I realized how silly it would be to not take better advantage of the bonus time. I quickly got to brainstorming of where and what we could do that would be out of the ordinary and really fun. That's how I was able to come up with going to a local area farm, petting zoo, and "Enchanted Forest." The place where we went was Clark's Elioak Farm. What a ball that place was for us!

Miss A was honestly a little overwhelmed when we first got there. There are three parts of the farm and it was a lot to take in! There were giant sculptures and statues of classic storybooks (that's the Enchanted Forest part of it), tiny little playhouses scattered all about to play pretend, animals to pet, cuddle up to, and ride on, and a maze to scamper around in. To help Miss A ease into it all a little easier, we started out in a play area with toys that she was familiar enough with...

It helped tremendously and she began to feel right at home with it all. (Please note Miss A's sandals that show her freshly pedicured piggies done earlier that day! She's finally at the age where she enjoys such a thing much more and spent a good part of the day just looking down at her feet when she walked around.)

Since I couldn't wait to get her to the petting zoo that was our next stop. I thought she would be thrilled to see and touch all of the animals but surprisingly it wasn't "all that" to her.

We started out with the miniature goats that were so tiny they didn't even look real. Since Miss A has had limited exposure to live animals other than dogs, cats, and most recently rabbits, she was confused about the goats. She kept calling them dogs and puppies and barely took a moment to get to know them better. I encouraged her to sit down next to them because they really were that nice and gentle to be able to get closer to but she just wasn't impressed. I mean, it was a DOG just like her dog at home wasn't it? Why should she even care about seeing another dog?!!

After a lot of encouragement from me (and I think just to get me to be quiet already) she obliged my requests and did a "one-finger touch" like what she was taught at daycare. Eh. I'll take what I can get.


After being forced to touch the goat, she jumped up and ran away and straight for the wooden cut out cow and she had no issue walking right up to it and petting it like it was an old friend who she hadn't seen in years. Go figure.

Thankfully, the experience with the wooden cow seemed to be the gateway to her feeling much more confident with interacting with the rest of the animals by her own initiation.

She still wasn't inclined to touch them but at least she walked around and said "Hi" to all of them. Her favorite (by far) was the bunnies but I think it was only because of her recent introduction to the bunny at Grammy and Grandpap's house over Easter. She enjoyed the bunny so much (in fact) that she spent most of the time rattling the lock on the cage to try and open it and set it free.

After the petting zoo we stopped off at the handwashing stations and (not surprisingly) this was one of the highlights of the whole day. She just LOVES playing in water and never lets an opportunity pass her by to play, splash, and drench herself. It's a good thing it was close to 90 degrees otherwise I wouldn't have been able to let her get as wet as she did. Oh the joy of being almost two when your mama says it's OK to make a mess...

So that was the first half of our time on the farm. The rest (in the Enchanted Forest) is going to have to wait for the next time because I gotta get back to work now finishing up grades for third marking period. *Wooo!* I can hardly believe I've got only nine weeks of the school year left. Where did the time go?!!

Sneak Peek: Farmer girl

It's been an extraordinarily long day for me and I am exhausted. Amazingly I wasn't at work today during the day but all this evening instead!

I would love to post all of the pictures of the adventures had with Miss A today but it's going to have to wait until next time. In the meanwhile? Here's a snippet of what's in store for you if you keep coming back for more...

I don't know what you're talking about

What do you mean I have chocolate on my face?!!