The Storch Family: Week 84

Oct 13-19

We have been busy little bees the past week. This was my off week for work (where I have 5 days in a row off) so we try to make the best of the quality family time. We only have 2 weekends off together in October so we have decided to pack in as much fun, fall festivities as possible. Unfortunately, the area we live in is not exactly filled with such things. At least not what we are used to.

Let me start off by saying that family traditions are VERY important to us. I can remember having lengthy discussions before we were even married about things we wanted to do with our kids as a family. Holidays are special to us and we take them seriously (hence the ridiculous quantity of pumpkin-themed items inside AND outside our home right now). It's all in good fun! We used to do this before we had kids so now that there's a little person to appreciate all of our efforts we have taken it to the next level.

So even with our limited options of fall fun, we decided to try out something called "Happy Hooves Farm Fall Festival" or something like that. It was supposed to be a family-owned petting farm that had fall festivities. For $12/child you get a pony ride, hay ride, the "pumpkin patch" and the chance to walk around and pet the animals. Of course it was extra for the food to feed the animals and for the itty-bitty pumpkins they had.

Despite all of that it was cute and Jack REALLY enjoyed the pony ride. That alone was worth the $12 to me because he was so adorable. I wasn't sure if he would hold on, but he was a champion! He took it very seriously and when it was all finished and Ed got him off he was grinning from ear to ear!

It was fun to feed the horses but FL just kind of ruins everything because you're looking at hay and pumpkins...but it's like 80+ degrees outside and you still see stupid palm trees on the horizon. I guess I am just ready to get out of here and sometimes I think a year can't go by fast enough. On the other hand, we have made some great friendships here and it makes me sad to leave everyone. :( Sigh.

Another fun tradition we like to keep is the tradition of a seasonal or festive food. I have been trying a bunch of new recipes lately to see which ones we like the best. This week I made pumpkin bread with cream cheese frosting and some chocolate chip pumpkin cookies. Both were very good!

Earlier in the week I took Jack to the zoo by myself. We were originally going to go with his little friend Mackenzie, but she wasn't feeling very well and her mom was gracious enough to not spread her germies to us! Thanks Angi...love you! Angi works in radiology at my hospital and that's how we met. If you guys read my blog you will remember Jack's first date with Kenzie at the pool way back in May. Both of our families have been busy over the summer and the babies hadn't seen each other for the whole 5 months. What a difference!

So anyways Jack and I went alone since I had already promised him and actually deep down I just really wanted to go to the zoo because I had been looking forward to it. We had a great time and as usual Jack was loving his giraffe friends! He just stared at them for the longest time! I like at our zoo how they have the giraffes set up. People can buy crackers to feed them so often they are right up close to you and you can even pet them.

We also stopped by the ever popular petting zoo so Jack could see his goat friends. He just followed them all around and brushed them. I think they all looked a little bit better after Jacks visit. :) Haha!

Ed and I managed to go on a date! :) Here is a picture!

Monday we kept our date with Angi and Kenzie and had another great visit! Honestly, if you live in Brevard County the zoo pass is the BEST investment ever for families with kids!!!! I think it pays for itself in 2.5 visits and we go probably 10 times a year. Definitely worth the money. We just renewed ours so we will have it for another year. The zoo is not high on the exotic/awesome animal spectrum...the biggest attractions are the giraffes, jaguars, and some cool monkeys...BUT it is very kid-friendly and the "Paws-on" area is AWESOME! There are so many things for them to do!