Anna Grows

Today was a lovely fall day. The leaves are about at their peak, the sun was shining....it seemed like the perfect day to head to the mountains for some apple picking. Mom packed some lunch and everyone loaded into the car to head back to McIntosh Fruit Farm in Berryville, VA. Since we had such a good time picking peaches, we thought we would have an even better time picking apples. Some of you are probably saying to yourself, "gee, isn't October 26 a little late to be picking apples?" This thought occurred to us; however, the brochure from the fruit farm clearly listed a couple of types of apples in October and November. When we got there, we found very few people and even fewer apples. It turned out that all the apples were picked, thus we resorted to "picking" apples out of the crates (hey, at least we could see the trees they came off of). The good news was that you could still pick pumpkins. We loaded Anna into the little red wagon and hiked across the farm...

Anna's 2nd birthday included the beginning of a major milestone - the move to a "big girl" bed. In this case, the bed is an antique rod iron twin bed which coincidently was found at an antique store in Columbus, Ohio. Of course it was not enough for Mom to simply remove the crib and install the bed. First, she got Dad to agree to repaint the green and white nursery to a cheerful buttercup yellow. With some help from Grandma, Anna's room was transformed with reds, yellows, greens, ladybugs, and flowers. There are still a few more things to do, but we are on our way. Anna took right to her bed. The downside for Mom and Dad is that now she can get out.

At long last, after months of phonecalls and packages, Grandma and Grandpa arrived for a long weekend visit. They came to visit Anna on Columbus Day weekend, which was just enough time to completely spoil her with non-stop attention. It was a busy weekend that included the Fairfax Fall Festival, a visit to the National Aquarium in Baltimore, a Columbus Day parade in Baltimore's Little Italy, Italian Food, and just some time playing with Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma enjoyed reading and coloring while Grandpa enjoyed building blocks and going down the slide. Anna also spent some time dispalying her new fashion sense. Mom and Dad enjoyed telling Anna to knock on Grandma's door when she got up at 6:30 AM so that they could go back to sleep. Grandma also assisted in putting the finishing touches on Anna's "big girl" room. It was a great visit. Anna will see Grandma and Grandpa in a few weeks when she goes to Ohio for an early Thanksgiving celebration.