Meg's Fall Fesival

Megan's school had its annual fall festival again this year. It didn't offer as much as last year but we still had a nice time. Pics below!

ZOO

For the past two years, I have been trying to obtain the library DVD that allows you to receive two adult and two children's admissions to Zoo Atlanta upon returning it.  As you can imagine, this is quite a popular item and the library does not offer a waiting list.  It is strictly first come, first serve.  I had grown accustomed to seeing the "You Just Missed the Zoo DVD" sign at the check-out desk and was somewhat sure I was just missing the sign when I looked for it the other day.  When I didn't see it, I walked over to the desk and asked about it.  I was told that it was on hold until 5pm.  The library will hold the DVD for one hour if you call and say that you are coming to get it.  If you don't show up within the hour, it is made available to anyone again.  I needed to go to a store that was right down the street so I went and then took a chance and drove back to the library.  I went in at 5:15pm and the DVD had not been picked up, so it was mine!  WOO HOO!  We watched the DVD which was a brief history of the zoo and then returned it for our passes.  We were very excited to take Caleigh again since she hadn't been since she was two!

Nonnie had gone with us the first time we took her and she wanted to go again this time, so we gladly took her along.

Caleigh loved the smell of the flamingos that hits you before you even enter into the zoo!

Caleigh hadn't been feeling well due to her asthma so I wasn't sure how she would behave.  She seemed very disinterested in most of the animals.  But she did like the birds and the giraffes, both of which she got to feed! 

I couldn't get enough of the awesome giraffes!

The elephants were pretty cool to watch as well.

                              

The gorillas were very active this day and even the babies put on quite a show.

Caleigh always loves the pandas!

And their bamboo!

I really enjoyed the orangutan cognitive demonstration.  They interact with a touch screen computer inside an artificial tree.  They answer questions and if they get the answer right, Mr. Burns from the tv show, The Simpsons, says "Excellent" and they get a treat.  If they get it wrong, Homer, from the show, says "DOH" and they get no treat.  We heard lots of "DOH"s. 

Around the time we were watching this demonstration, Caleigh got very tired.  She wanted me to hold her, but she is so big now that it is hard to hold her while standing.  Chad attempted.

Even though she was tired and not feeling so hot, she still was ready to pet animals and play!

We all rode the train this time because last time we were there, it wasn't working!

Caleigh decided that she wanted to climb the rock wall instead of riding the carousel.  I didn't think it was the greatest idea and figured she would get scared and not want to do it.  And, sometimes I hate being right.  After just a few attempts, she didn't want to do it anymore, even with her daddy's help.

After a few trips down the slide on the playground, we called it a day.  We headed home for a quick change and then we were off to soccer practice. : )

Mountain Day

Chad's father lives in the North Georgia mountains and during this time of year, it is beautiful there.  The trees are a spectacular assortment of color that make for very dramatic displays of nature.  He invited us up to spend the day with him.  We picnicked at Amicalola State Park, picked pumpkins at Burt's Farm, tried to pick apples at an apple farm, and then ended the day with delicious Mexican food.

"Y" for Yarbrough



Throwing leaves over the falls





What you get when you ask Caleigh to open her eyes more for pictures!

After the falls, we headed to Burt's Farm where we picked pumpkins, played on farm equipment, and went on a hayride.



Caleigh took our photo for us

 This was the first hayride I have ever taken in hay that was not baled.  We literally sank into loose hay and went for a 20 minute ride.

When we left the farm, we went to another farm, an apple farm.  We were hoping to get to pick our own apples but unfortunately, we were a little too late.  The trees were all picked out.  The nice owners let us roam the fields and even let us go back to the petting zoo and pet the animals through the fence.  Caleigh hated the smell of all the rotting apples but loved getting to see the friendly animals. 



Running through the orchards

This guy was huge!

When the day was done, we headed for some Mexican food.  We ate and then hit the road for the long drive home.  It was a very pleasant day in the mountains.