Familypaloza

The month of October has been one big family reunion for Molly and I. We have traveled to TN, MD and VA to see all her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins and a few other family members. We started out with a trip to Gatlinburg where we got to stay in an amazing cabin with my whole family and we got together with my uncle's family for dinners. We had 16 in our cabin and it was so much fun!! Then we drove up and visited my friend Dory for AK who now lives in VA and hung out with her family and dog Zeus the world's biggest gentle giant of a dog. Molly and I made a pit stop in MD and then headed to the McPherson's where we celebrated the upcoming birth of Molly's cousin Baby Roten (aka they don't know what they are having yet).
Molly and Taylor sharing the best way to make a mess while eating spagetti.
The girl kid table - we didn't have one of those when I was little since I was the only girl (I am a little jealous)
Granny, BertBurt and the 8 grandkids at Parrot Mountain
Grandmommy, Grandaddy and Aunt Jenn at Cox Farm - If you live in VA you should go there 20 acres of slides, corn mazes, animals and FREE apples and cold apple cider while there. You can pay $2 for warm cider but why??
Molly feeding the goat with Aunt Jenn
Apple break - Molly ate almost the entire thing even the seeds.
One of the many slides we went down that day - it was awesome!!

Potty Time

We are not in serious potty training mode but Molly has shown a little interest so I bought her a seat goes on the big toilet. The biggest treat for her is getting to touch toilet paper and "wipe" herself. She also loves taking the seat off the toilet and using it as her personal chair in the bathroom when I am not watching. There has been no real action while sitting on it but there is no real loss, I figure once she has doubled her life she will for sure know how to use the bathroom. Also the benefit of a diaper while traveling - I don't have to stop when she needs to go so it is totally worth delaying serious training!!

Molly is a GIRL!

I know we found this out 2 years ago in an ultrasound but Molly is making it clear to us everyday how much of a girl she is. She has started to show an opinion in what she wears, throws and occasional tantrum, has her daddy wrapped around her finger and of course loves to apply chapstick.
The outfit she chose today with her white shoes but at least they are a matching pair.
Sunday once we got home I took off her Sunday shoes which she had no choice in what she wore and she had these on in a matter of minutes. At least later in life if she can't dance we have proof she has two left feet??
Daddy couldn't handle her tears after her nap Sunday so he took her on a bike ride.
Do you think she liked it?
A new nightly routine - once daddy gets home she plays in the truck for about an hour. Driving, climbing in the seats and her favorite the playpen (aka bed of the truck)
Watch out world crazy driver.
Peek-a-boo
OK I'm done.

Our Last Week

This past week Jon got to go to Gettysburg for some military training and my mom came down to visit. My mom and I drove to Augusta, GA to visit her sister and family (all the pictures are on her camera and I forgot to download them before she left so no pictures in this blog - sorry). We met my aunt, uncle and cousin Stephanie at Cracker Barrel. After lunch we went back and Molly got to play with my cousins Little People while I took a nap. That night most of the family got together just to hang out and eat , Molly enjoyed eating and playing with Lanie her second cousin. The next day we got to see Stephanie's house and Molly decided to raid her pantry and has a new favorite - Townhouse Fliptz which is 1/2 cracker 1/2 pretzel.
This weekend Jon and I have seen the power of 4 days influence with Granny. While at a picnic Molly picked up napkin and started wiping down the benches and ground and at home she found a onesie and started to clean the bathtub. Not that I don't clean but she was a little more exposed to continuous cleaning with Granny around and I guess she likes it. Let's hope it sticks because I would gladly give her chores if I thought it would make her happy:)
Since Jon got home it has been picnic central here. We had his brigade picnic, chaplain picnic and Rock the Fort. We have spent more time outdoors in the past 2 days than most of the summer and boy was it HOT. We have brought home a very dirty, tired and cranky girl each night too.

Oh Crap

We have been working with Molly to increase her vocabulary. We point to things and ask her to repeat which she doesn't. My mom came into town and while I was at bible study she tried for hours to get Molly to say Granny with little luck. This morning however my mom was trying to get a stain out of one of my shirts and was pouring boiling water over it and burned her self and said Oh Crap. Guess who repeated her?? Molly sitting in her highchair eating her breakfast casually repeated Granny's Oh Crap.
At least I know she can hear and is capable of repeating us when she wants to right??

Corn Maze

Sunday we went to Hubb's Corn Maze in Clinton, NC for a family fun day. Jon, Molly and I crammed a Taco Bell lunch in after chapel and drove 40 miles to experience the maze of all mazes!! It had 2 different courses (the 1.5 and 2.5 mile), toddler town, pony rides, silo slides and corn nuggets. We enjoyed the day out there and completed both courses. In my last post I said I wouldn't trust Jon with land navigation and our family and after Sunday, well let's just say I am a little better at finding checkpoints in a timely manner. On Jon's behalf I will have to say that it is hard to navigate and hold a kid but every time I tried to hold her it was like having a siren in the maze - FIND US, SAVE ME, I WANT MY DADDY!!! I think that is what she was shouting but all I heard was WHAAAAAAAAAA dada, WHAAAAAAAA dada. So needless to say Jon carried Molly 90% of the time in the mazes.
Here are the pictures of the fun!!

This is the aerial shot of the maze. Crazy I know, the tank maze is 2.5 miles and the helicopter is 1.5 miles. I bet you will never guess who the sponsor was this year?? If you guessed the US Army MWR (Morale, Welfare and Recreation) you win!!
The Toyota one at the top is the haunted maze that is open at night in October.
Molly and Jon enjoying a barrel ride.
The silo slide - actually a lot of fun. Molly was brave enough to go down one time on her own and smiled even.
The hay ride - Molly is pretty much dying of heat at this point and Jon and I were not far behind.
Molly loved touching the ponies.
Checkpoint 11 in the maze. At this point we had completed the helicopter maze, taken a break and were almost done with the tank maze.
Molly's favorite part I think - toddler town with play equipment her size and of course a swing!
What a great way to finish the day - corn nuggets - which is basically Cheetos but instead of cheese a molasses coating. Can you say sugar high??

Adventure Race

Jon and his assistant (Sgt Gregory) participated in an Adventure Race Saturday. The race consisted of a 5k run, orienteering (more details later), 10k mountain bike ride, mystery even and canoe. The race started at 7:30 and I intended to sleep in and then come out later with Molly - that plan was not accepted by Molly who at 6:15 started crying bloody murder and looking all over the house for Jon. I guess she knew it was Saturday and he should be home, so I showered with her screaming and then loaded her into the car screaming and drove to the race, with her screaming and saw Jon start the race. Guess who turned all smiles when she saw her daddy??

EVENT 1 - The Run
Look fast because this is probably the last time they had the lead. Jon's goal when he came home from the briefing was to beat at least one team and preferably a girl. There were Special Forces, Green Beret and some other stud teams out there who probably do this kind of stuff in their sleep but the chaplain/assistant team were determined to show them all!!


EVENT 2 - Orienteering
This is like geocaching but with a map, protractor and compass (not GPS or modern technology). They were given 3 points on a map they had to find. One team had to start from the beginning of this twice b/c they couldn't get the points to add up. Let's just say I hope I am never lost in the woods with Jon and Sgt Gregory without a GPS b/c if we are dependent on their orienteering it could take a few hours. Without this section of the race they stood a chance but it took them 3 hours and miles and miles of walking - the fastest team finished the entire race in 2 hours 26 minutes. Don't worry though a few others teams were slower and one team even got so mad at each other after a few choice words with each other they quit the race. I am proud that the 2 of them didn't give up even though I am sure they were both a little frustrated at the length of time and miles it took to find their points. The picture above is them finally finishing!
EVENT 3 - Mountain Biking
From what I understand it was more hills and sand which was not quite the mountains they were thinking but they made some pretty good pace on this part of the race and made sure to keep the few teams behind them - well still behind them.
EVENT 4 - Mystery Event
One team member was blindfolded and lead by the other teammate to a ball pit where they had to find~
the 2 balls that were different from the rest. This event was a nice rest for each team. Most of them enjoyed catching their breath after the previous events.
EVENT 5 - The Canoe
They ran down to the beach got in a canoe and paddled out to the marker turned around came in and sprinted to the finish! A few teams flipped their boat but not Jon and Sgt Gregory they made it and after a few minutes they made it in a straight line even!
Almost there!!
Finishing the race!!! It only took 5 hours 25 minutes but they finished and I am proud of them for sticking through it even after event #2!!!
What a happy team!! I know Molly was happy! They did beat a few teams and even a girl or two.