Fun in North Carolina

These past few weeks have been very full and busy for our family, and I've been a bad blogger because of it! We were in Greenville, SC last week, visiting my family for a few days. We had not seen them since early in the summer, so we were glad to be able to spend a few days with them. One of our favorite days there was last Saturday, when we went to North Carolina for part of the day. Mom, Nora, Drew, and I went to a little farm - Lyda Farm - to get some produce and see the animals while the men golfed. Drew had fun looking through the bins of squash and pumpkins. He loves letters right now, and he enjoys spelling out the words he sees (although he starts at the wrong end).

Drew does not like to pose well, so Aunt Nora had to help him.

They had a wide variety of squash and gourds displayed beautifully!

Drew liked the different farm equipment around the farm.

They also had apples, and they gave us each one.

Drew loves apples, but he always wants me to cut them into slices for him. I was surprised at how well he ate his apple!

They also had some animals that we could look at - goats, turkeys, and chickens.

This goat was interested in Drew's apple!

Aunt Nora helped Drew share his apple with the goat.

Drew loved running between the bins. This is what he wants to do, no matter where we go right now, and it is not my favorite new habit! I'm afraid I'm going to lose him!

We had a lot of fun at the farm!

After we finished at the farm, we met the men and my sister-in-law, Katie, for barbecue at a little place in Flat Rock, NC called "Hubba Hubba." It was so good and was the perfect way to end our time in North Carolina!

Westview Orchard

Jim had a day off one day last week, and we decided to take a trip to the apple orchard. We started by walking through the little petting farm. Drew enjoyed looking at the donkey, but he was a little nervous to pet it. Jim tried to help him warm up to the animals. Here they are by the goats.

We bought some pellets and fed the goats.

Drew did a great job feeding the goats!

We also enjoyed the play area. They had some great tractor pedal cars.

Drew loved sitting on the tractor, but he had trouble making it go.

He really liked climbing on the wooden vehicles, too. He especially liked this big train!

A big ship with a slide.

Another big tractor.

We ended our afternoon with doughnuts and cider. Yum!

I made this layout about our afternoon at the orchard. I made it for my challenge at Let's Scrap this week. You can see the challenge here. There is one more day to finish the challenge if anyone wants to play along!

Some Scrapping

I have a few recent scrapbook pages to share today. This first one is about the trip Drew and I took with my parents to the dairy farm this summer. We had a fun time looking at the cows and eating ice cream! Drew loved looking at the tractors and other machinery. This page is about the Tiger game we went to in August. We had lots of fun watching the Tigers win!

This last page is about Drew playing Corn Hole in our yard. He loves to play this game!

All these pages were made using sketches from Let's Scrap.

Sweet Grilled Pork Chops

My mom and I were grocery shopping together when she was here visiting a year or two ago, and she was amazed at the low price of pork here, compared to what it costs in South Carolina. I had never really noticed, because I never really bought pork. A few months ago, I noticed that pork chops were on sale, and I decided to break up our normal rotation of chicken and beef and buy some pork. My next job was deciding on a way to cook them. I found this recipe on the Tasty Kitchen site, and I decided to try it. We really liked it, and Jim asks me to make this often now. Sweet Grilled Pork Chops
4 whole, thinly sliced, boneless pork chops
1/4 cup olive oil
2 T honey
2 T soy sauce
1 T Cajun seasoning
1/4 cup BBQ sauce
Combine pork chops, olive oil, honey, and soy sauce in a plastic bag. Marinate for at least 2 hours. Remove pork chops from bag and discard marinade. Season with Cajun seasoning.
Grill pork chops over medium heat until cooked through, 15-20 minutes. flipping every 3 to 4 minutes. A few minutes before removing pork chops, coat both sides with BBQ sauce.
These are very good and easy, and we've grilled them outside on our grill and inside on our grill pan. I usually just cook 2 or 3 pork chops at a time, so I half the marinade recipe, and I find that to be plenty.
When I made the pork chops this week, I tried this new potato recipe as a side dish. It is similar this potato recipe on my mom's blog. Both are good and faster than regular baked potatoes.

What's New With Drew

Drew is lots of fun these days! He is into many things these days. One new thing is playing Memory. He and I have played it a few times, and he is starting to understand it better. We played one day last week after his nap, and we had a little snack of carrot and dip.

Drew has always been a very, very picky eater. This past month, he has been branching out quite a bit and trying many new things. We have been so excited to see this new development!

Another favorite of his lately has been coloring. He loves to color, and will sit on the floor for long periods of time coloring. When his coloring books have stickers, he pulls them off and piles them on the floor.

He still loves his cars and trains and spends lots of time playing with those. He loves to read too. He is doing great with his potty training, and has graduated to wearing underwear to bed at nap time and at night, and he has started going on his own sometimes too! We can't believe how big and independent he is getting!

Putt-Putting (Again)

Jim had his first day off in two weeks yesterday (September is very busy for him at work), and Drew and I were excited to spend the day with him. The boys did "guy stuff" in the morning while I got my hair done - "guy stuff" ended up being a tricycle ride to the park and lunch at Taco Bell. After Drew's nap, we drove up to shop at Great Lakes Crossing and putt-putt. We did the outdoor putt-putt course this time. Drew had a little reminder from Jim about how to hit gently.

Drew kept making us laugh. He did not understand the concept of hitting the ball and leaving it where it was until everyone else had hit. He kept running ahead and picking up his ball. Then he would put it right by the hole and putt it in.

Learning to hold the flag for his golfing partners.

Hitting the ball.

Jim had to do a little fishing a few times. Drew's ball went in the water twice, and mine went in once.

Running down to putt into the hole.

Drew didn't want to put his ball in the last hole because he knew it wouldn't come back.

It was a fun day, and we are hoping for things to slow down a little for Jim at work soon!

Busy Weekend

We had a fun, but busy weekend at our house! Friday was my birthday, and it was a very happy one for me. We started celebrating Thursday night by going out for dinner with my mother-in-law. She took us out for dinner at Carrabba's. Jim's mom also gave me a Joann's gift card, which I used to buy some border punches for scrapbooking. (Punches were 50% off at Michael's last week, and Joann's matched the price for me, so I was able to get three punches and still have a little but of money left on my card!)
Jim took this picture of Drew and me right before we left for dinner Thursday night. Friday morning, Jim got up early and went to get us breakfast from Dunkin' Donuts. He got me a Pumpkin Spice Latte and a blueberry muffin.

He and Drew went birthday shopping about a month ago, and I had been banned from the trunk of Jim's car for a month because my presents were in there. They got me a hands-free kit for my Slice machine and a gift card to Archivers (a scrapbook store).

Drew and I spent a few hours on Friday shopping - Joann's, Target, and my favorite thrift store. That evening, Jim and I went out for dinner with our friends, Kristen and Kevin. We had a very nice evening. It was a great end to my birthday!

Saturday morning, we got up early. Jim had to be at work by 6 to run the Detroit Men's Amateur tournament (a big, two-day tournament at Rackham every September), and I was meeting Kristen at a mom-to-mom sale. Kevin (brave man that he is) offered to take Drew and his own three children out for breakfast while Kristen and I shopped, so I dropped Drew off and went to the sale. I found Drew 4 shirts for next winter and only spent $5, so I was pretty happy. I picked Drew up from Kevin and went home. Jim's mom came about an hour later to watch Drew for us, because Jim wanted me to come help him with the scoring at the tournament. I was there for several hours on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. We were all pretty tired by Sunday night, and we all went to bed early!

I had another great shopping trip yesterday that I wanted to share. I went to Rite Aid and Meijer. I got $83.66 worth of items for $21.29, and I got $16.00 back in rewards! I am not planning to make this a coupon blog, but I will share my really good shopping trips from time to time, since it is part of what is happening at our house!

I hope you all had a great weekend and that your week is getting off to a good start!