farm Archives - Popcorn and Pandas

Fall Farm Birthday

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Earlier this fall, we celebrated my nephews 3rd Birthday on the farm down at Clark’s Elioak in the heart of Howard County, Maryland. If you live near this area, but haven’t taken a trip here yet, you absolutely MUST! What an amazing experience for the whole family! Starting with the horse/pony rides, petting the goats, seeing all the animals, the magical feel of Mother Goose and the Old Woman’s shoe, slides, tractor rides, hay rides, pizza, cake, + more. The kids had a blast, and not gonna lie…so did the parents! Coming from Brooklyn, it’s so nice to get outdoors and get down on a farm this time of year. Happy 3rd Birthday to my little nephew, and cheers to my bro and sis-in law for hosting a really fun event!

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Speaking of family…we are heading down to Maryland late tonight (as soon as I clean my house, do laundry, and pack for the whole family…whew!). It’s going to be a long day, but we are excited for another adventure down in Maryland this week to celebrate Thanksgiving and catch up with family and friends. Hoping to avoid traffic (and screaming children), so we plan to leave around bedtime. Wish us luck!

And Happy Thanksgiving Week to all! 🙂

XO,

Gina

Pumpkin Patch

This past Saturday, we celebrated the fall season by taking our first family day trip to the pumpkin patch. We trekked outside of the city to Alstede Farms in Chester, NJ where we found a sprawling PYO (pick-your-own) farm littered with TONS of people. The crowds were a bit overwhelming as we didn’t know what to expect, but once you got out to the fields for picking, it was a lot less crazy. There were tons of crops for the taking including pumpkins, apples, corn, lettuce, eggplant, tomatoes, raspberries, blackberries, and more. And these items were just currently what was in season. Other seasons of the year you could pick strawberries, peaches, black raspberries, and so much more. It was definitely a place for kids with a moon bounce, corn maze, hay ride, farm animals, etc, and even though Nico is still too small really remember the experience, you could tell he was enjoying himself. He was looking around and in a happy mood the entire day. This adventure was our first foray into sharing and experiencing the world with our little guy, and it only made us more excited for the future ahead.

Nico’s Pumpkin Outfit: Absorba via Gilt

My bff, Meg, is arriving today to hang out for a few days and meet little Nico. I am so excited to spend some quality time, since we rarely get the opportunity these days to hang out with just the two of us. We head down to Maryland on Thursday to meet our new nephew Nathan, and to celebrate the wedding weekend of another one of my best friends, Teri. It will be our first long weekend trip with Nico, and being the obsessive compulsive paranoid person that I am, I’m a little nervous about how it’s going to go. I’m crossing my fingers that I don’t forget anything and that it all goes smoothly. Either way, my new mantra is “just go with the flow!”

XO,

Gina

A Day on the Farm

While on holiday, we spent a day celebrating my mother-in-law’s birthday on the farm. Her friend owns a beautiful piece of property in Northern Maryland, and invited a crew over for a lovely housewarming at their newly renovated home. Along with my mother-in-law, my father-in-law, brother-in-law, and sister-in-law were also in attendance. It was great to catch up with everyone over delicious home cooked seafood chowder, decadent desserts, and a fantastic walk around the yard with all the goats and chickens. Thanks to Bill and Ellen for their hospitality.

Today is my first day back at the office in the new year. It’s strangely quiet so far today. This morning I was able to make it to the gym, and I actually made it there before it opened. What, you say? Yes, this is no joke. Weird things are happening in 2013.

Hope you all enjoy the end of our short week.

Cheers,

Gina