American West Heritage Center

While my mum was here, we took a trip to the American West Heritage Center, which is right here in Logan. They have various different activities at different times of year; our intention was to enjoy a walk through the corn maze.

We obviously picked a good time to go because we were the only people there. I'm not lying- there was no one else in sight and we had everything to ourselves! Perfect for a trip with toddler and baby :-)

A kind employee started up the 'train' just for us and we went around the spooky track several times.

Then Luke got to have his first solo pony ride. The little pony was so cute and just his size. He seemed slightly bewildered at first but he loved it!

Then on to the corn maze. It was a perfect day for it. Nice and warm but not too hot. A beautiful blue sky as a backdrop to the beautiful, tall, green stalks of corn. The maze was a little longer than expected but we had a pushchair (stroller) for each of the kids so it was okay. (Just working up an appetite for our yummy dinner at Sizzler later that night)

Mum wondering which way to go.

Map reader Trev feels confident in his navigational skills. Actually he was quite impressive.

Lainey being her usual adorable self.

After we completed the maze, we decided to have a quick look at the super slide. I couldn't resist- it looked so fun! I probably should have tested it by myself before going down with Luke because you do get very buried under the hay at the end, but he didn't seem to care. He became a super slide junkie and went down with each of us in turn.



Mum took a little extra persuasion, as she was wearing a skirt. But I knew she really wanted to try it out :-)


Before we left, we checked out the little goats in the petting area. They were just adorable!

All in all, we had a really fun afternoon. Thanks for treating us, mum!

playgrounds with nanna!

At the end of September, we were blessed with a visit from my mum. She flew from Kansas, where she had been visiting my step-sister Jane and family. We were so excited to have her here and tried to make the most of it by getting out and doing some fun things.

We visited Logan's little zoo, which is one of Luke's favourite places. They have some little monkeys near the entrance, and as soon as Luke saw them he got a huge smile on his face and walked around clapping and laughing for a few minutes! Here you can see Luke and nanna trying to spot the turtles in the water-



There is a playground attached to the zoo, so we played there for a while.

In fact, the weather was so lovely that week, we spent quite some time on various playgrounds.

I will be posting more about my mum's visit, I am just breaking it down into smaller chunks. Both of the kids are poorly this week, so they need me more.

PS. The kids have quite a few 'grandmas' (Trev's grandmas and great-grandma are called their grandma as well) so that is why we chose to use the name 'nanna' for my mum. It's kind of an english term, so it fits perfectly, don't you think?

London!

Many of you know that Trev, Luke and I had the wonderful opportunity of travelling to England for Christmas. (I'm getting to my Christmas post, I promise!) Anyway, a few days before Christmas, my mum and John offered to take us to London for the day, along with my sister Sophie. I've been to London quite a few times before, but never as a 'tourist'! It was actually very fun to go round taking pictures of all the buildings and landmarks. They really are beautiful and historic and I should have taken more notice of them in the past.



Here's us in front of Big Ben (the clock tower), which adjoins the Houses of Parliament.



Us on a bridge spanning the Thames river (the main river upon which London is built) In the background you can see the London Eye, which is a very tall ferris wheel type ride. I think it's about 450 ft tall, and is designed for the purpose of observing London.

We were treated to a ride on it, by mum and John (thanks!). They looked after Luke while we had a 30 minute date :-) Each capsule holds up to 32 people, but we had just 4 in ours. Lucky!

Trev got double rides that day, as a pursuaded him that it was time for Luke to have his first carousel ride...

After hours of walking around, and navigating the London underground train system, we were ready to sit down and relax (while mum, John and Sophie continued shopping- I have to admire their stamina!) We all decided to go to Harrods, a massive, upmarket department store. After studying the map of its 5 floors, Trev and I selected a family friendly cafe, and went for a bite to eat. We quicky discovered, however, that the prices were a little higher than anticipated, so we bought a couple of fruit smoothies instead!

Altogether we had a brilliant day, and created some more lovely memories. That is what we were hoping for in our trip to England.

I love, love, love autumn!

Oh how I love this time of year! The leaves are changing colour, the weather is getting cooler (finally!) and the future months are filled with exciting things to look forward to. Usually, I see my birthday at the end of September as a marker for the beginning of this wonderful season. This year, I had the special treat of having my mum come and visit me for a couple of days.

It was lovely to have her here, and to share some laughs and memories together as we spent my birthday evening making pea and ham soup and fresh crusty bread. (Trev was working) Mum enjoyed spending time with Luke and watching him navigate himself around the living room, clutching onto the furniture. I know that she wishes she could spend more time with her grandson, and he wishes he could spend more time with her!

We played outside some of the time, too.

And here's the pumpkin pie I made, to celebrate the beginning of a lovely season. I made it from a real pumpkin!

It was actually quite yummy, and Trev has requested another one! That is always a good sign.