Thanksgiving Adventures, Part II: Hello, Maine (and Rhode Island)!

After our stop in Massachusetts, it was a short trip to Maine where Rhys got to see his Grammy Ruby, Grandpa Works, Uncle Shawn and Aunt Tiff.  He also got to meet his Great Grammy Works for the first time.

Playing with Grammy Ruby and meeting Great Grammy Works:

Despite developing a cold while he was there, Rhys was a pretty good sport and, though we knew he wasn't feeling well because he wasn't eating much, he generally did pretty well during the days.  Unfortunately for Rhys, Jeremy, and me the nights were a different story.  :-/

Fortunately, Rhys regained a better appetite at least for the main event: Thanksgiving at Jeremy's uncle and aunt's restaurant in Rhode Island.  The trip to Rhode Island brought the total number of states that Rhys has visited to 12 (plus DC), and gave him an opportunity to meet two great uncles, a great aunt, and several cousins and see Great Grammy Works again. He particular enjoyed his six-year-old second cousin Sadie.  She seemed to really like him too and was very helpful and sweet with him.

Playing with Sadie and walking around the restaurant:

 Sadie, Great Grammy Works, Rhys and Jeremy:

 After dinner walk (Sadie pushing Rhys):

Four generations of Workses:

Thanksgiving Adventures, Part I

We went up to Maine to see Jeremy's family for Thanksgiving.  I was nervous about the length of the drive (Rhys's longest car trip prior to Thanksgiving was 3 1/2 hours), so in an effort to minimize Rhys's carseat time, we decided to break the trip up.  Luckily we have some great friends between here and Maine who were kind enough to let us come visit, so breaking up the trip also gave us and opportunity to see and introduce Rhys to a bunch of fun new people.

First Stop: Connecticut

In Connecticut, Rhys got to meet our friends, Alex and Kelly, and their daughter, Natalie. Always enraptured by "big kids," Rhys was very happy to hang out with 2 1/2 year old Natalie, and check out all her toys.  

To thank her for all her kind sharing, Rhys showed Natalie how to shake and knock down her baby gate (sorry, Alex and Kelly!):

The next day, before it was time to get back in the car, Natalie and Rhys had a lot more to do:

Fun times at breakfast followed by some silliness with their dads:

A little cooking (Natalie making ice cream and Rhys making coffee) followed by some outdoor adventures:

 And then it was time to hit the road ...

Second Stop: Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, we saw our friends, Dave and Cammy, and their daughter, Eliza.  Eliza very kindly showed Rhys all sorts of exciting things...

She took Rhys to one of her favorite playgrounds,





showed Rhys some of her books,



welcomed him into (and out of) her play area,                              shared her toys,

       








                     and invited Rhys to several tea parties!

And after all that, there was still time for dinner with their dads

and bath time!  (Rhys quite enjoyed Eliza's bath toys and was impressed that she even reads while bathing!)

Our trip was off to a good start!

A Dragon in his Wagon

Rhys was a dragon for Halloween this year. He got to wear his costume twice: once at a Halloween-themed birthday party the weekend before, and once at a party with our mom's group the evening of Halloween.  To allow room for his wings and tail, we took his wagon (a special gift from Nana and Grandpa Jeff for his birthday!).

 

Surprisingly, Rhys didn't seem to realize that he was in a costume and wore his full costume happily throughout both events.  Although he is not one to humor us with wearing a hat these days, since his costume was actually a hoodie, it was fine with him.

Speaking of which, although RhysOnTheRise has not previously made any endorsements, we now must endorse Old Navy Halloween costumes!  Although I didn't even realize they had costumes until a friend mentioned it to me this year, we got Rhys's costume there and I thought it was great!  It was well-made, easy to put on and take off, looked great, reasonably-priced, and perhaps most importantly, he didn't mind wearing it at all!

I thought it was interesting that Rhys and his friends also didn't seem to be aware of the fact they were all wearing costumes.  There didn't seem to be any surprise at entering a room with a veritable menagerie of adorable baby animals.  As far as they were concerned, it seemed like it was just another play date.

Here are a few more pictures of our little dragon and our Halloween festivities:

Rhys and me with our friends Angie and Drew,
who turned out to be Rhys's Halloween twin!

Rhys also met up with his friend Jack, another fellow
dragon.  They both enjoyed standing at the door
and watching the trick or treaters!

Rhys the Dragon meets Zaid the Cow

Rhys's friends, Nico, Athena, and Anara take a turn in the wagon.

One year later: ready to appreciate the pumpkin patch

Last Fall, I remember reading posts on my local parents' listserves discussing the best pumpkin patches for kids in the area. Parents were kvelling about how much fun their kids were having on these pumpkin outings and how they were taking all these super cute pics of their kids with the pumpkins.

I remember thinking that I simply HAD to take Rhys to a pumpkin patch.  And, as I explained to Jeremy, a local lot selling pumpkins just wouldn't do at all.  We needed to take him to a farm.  With pumpkins.  And take his picture there.  Never mind that he was literally just a month old.  Somehow it seemed to me that if we didn't appropriately mark (and document) his first Halloween/Autumn season with this essential right of passage, we wouldn't be fulfilling our parental duties.

So I googled pumpkin farms.  And read reviews.  And mapped distances, trying to figure out what farms would give us the most bang for our timing buck by being close enough so that we could hopefully get there and back without my needing to breastfeed him (recall that I had only been at this a month at this point as well), but still being nice enough to provide a quality backdrop for our essential photos.  I think I even googled tips on how to get the best pumpkin patch pictures.  (Strangely, no one mentioned that at a month old, infants might not really appreciate pumpkins patches or make the most interactive photo subjects.)

So we selected a farm and a day for the outing.  And even though it was pretty overcast that day, we set out to see some pumpkins.  And Rhys . . . slept.  And we took pictures of him sleeping all over the pumpkin patch.  (See evidence here: October 2011)

I am pleased to report that Rhys actually saw and seemed to quite enjoy the pumpkin patch this year.  We even got a beautiful sunny day!  (See photo evidence below.)  He particularly seemed to enjoy the "Korn Krib," an area of a barn filled with corn kernels that kids could play in like a sandbox (as an aside, I remain perplexed as to why corn and crib both need to be misspelled with 'k's); walking (and falling) around the pumpkins; and, after observing our friends' 3-year old doing it, rolling pumpkins down slopes in the pumpkin patch. This year, we actually got pictures of him with pumpkins with his eyes open.  :-)

As for me, I'm trying to learn from the perspective I think I've gained over the last year and to not be so hard on myself.  I laugh at the 1-year ago me, stressing over the pumpkin patch outing and worrying that Rhys was going to miss out if we didn't get there (or that I would miss out by not getting the perfect photos).  For the record, I think our photos probably would have been just fine at a local lot.  ;-) Hopefully, I'll remember that wisdom the next time I'm freaking out that our schedule just isn't cooperating and Rhys is going to miss some other "essential" experience.  I'm finding the reality is he's a pretty happy kid whatever we do.

But, having said that, I am glad we were able to fit the pumpkin patch in this year, I do think he really enjoyed it, and I do think we got some pretty cute pictures.  :-)