The Bird is the Word

Last week I talked about how Myles and I got to go back home to Illinois for a surprise visit to see our family at the end of last month. So far I have shared our trip to the Apple Orchard and the Pumpkin Patch. Today I am sharing our adventure at the conservatory. A couple of years ago they did a total rehab on the conservatory in our city. It desperately needed to be done, but it is bittersweet because the place I used to go as a child is no longer there and even though it was a hot mess, I sort of miss it! Anyway, I have taken Myles there before (breakfast with Santa last year) but while we were in town they had a lorikeet exhibit that I knew Myles wouldn't want to miss. Plus my mom had free tickets.. so no-brainer! 

We bought a little cup of nectar and stepped into what felt like a scene out of Alfred Hitchcock's Birds! The birds were beautiful, but LOUD and not at all afraid to get in your face. (BTW please excuse the no make-up and mom hair.. this is me on a normal day!)

Myles was way more hesitant towards them than what I thought he would be. I think the noise level and abrasiveness of the birds freaked him out. He was cool for the first couple of minutes but then he wanted them to go away and kept telling them to 'get off mommy'!

Then a bird landed on Myles....

...starting biting his shirt, and he was over it!

After the birds we ventured out into the rest of the conservatory. I played a bit with my camera. I am still learning how to take pictures with it. I would love any recommendations for tutorials, etc. for the Cannon Rebel T3i. I really still have no idea what I am doing!

Then we happened upon the fish and Myles was the happiest boy alive.

With the help of dad's brilliant idea, Myles started bopping them on the head. He was barely touching them, but he thought it was the funniest thing in the world and the fish weren't the least bit scared. I am guessing they must feed them this way because they were all over Myles and let him touch them over and over. He followed them all around the conservatory and had a hard time saying goodbye!

Although it was a bit chilly outside, we couldn't pass up checking out the outdoor scenery as well. Myles' favorite part was asking "where'd the water go?" every 5 seconds even though water features all around us! 

Our last stop was to see the ducks: both real and fake :)

Have you ever been to a conservatory or bird exhibit?

{Fall Bucket List} Pumpkin Patch

You guys.. I posted twice last week!! And I have two posts scheduled for this week! Although I still haven't finished any old posts chillin out in my drafts, I feel like I am kind of getting back into my happy place! And today I am linking up again with two of my favorite blogging buddies: Elizabeth from Chasin' Mason and Desiree from Macke Monologues for their Fall Family Bucket List.

Last week I posted about our trip to the Apple Orchard with grandma and grandpa when we went back home to Illinois at the end of last month. On that same day, we also visited the pumpkin patch. I had to take Myles here because it is the same pumpkin patch I went to every year as a child and they have a lot of the same things there. It brings back tons of fond memories and hopefully it will for Myles now too!

Grandpa and Myles:

Trying (unsuccessfully) for a mommy and son picture:

Pumpkin man high-five:

Train inflatable obstacle course:

Tractor fun:

They have a dozen or so of these all around the patch and they are still the same ones they had when I went there as a kid. I even have some pictures with my cousins and I in them!

Myles loved this vampire tunnel. He wanted everyone to walk through it with him.. over and over and over!

They also had an exotic animal show with a turtle, bird, skunk, snake, porcupine, and more. Myles even touched the snake!

We ended with Myles' favorite part: animals! He, of course, thought the turkey was hungry and needed to eat sticks. This kid has a way with animals :)

And on our way out we had to give Oscar some love!

We didn't actually pick up any pumpkins because we wouldn't be carving there. We have since got up some back in California at the pumpkin patches here. 
I will be sharing that soon :)

Have you gotten your pumpkins and decorated for Halloween yet?

A Trip to the Apple Orchard

Since moving to California from Illinois a year and 3 months ago, Myles and I have been so fortunate to be able to go back every couple of months. I usually reach my limit at about 2 1/2 months and so desperately miss my momma that I convince my wonderfully supportive boyfriend to send us back! So far we have been back for Myles' 1st birthday, Christmas, Easter, and his 2nd birthday. Typically after his birthday visit in August, I would plan on waiting until Christmas for our next visit. In normal people's worlds, 4 months is not a long time, but for me and my ever-growing 2 year old, 4 months away from my family feels more like 4 years. So when I was offered a week long trip back at the end of last month, I didn't hesitate to join! I kept it a secret from my mother and step-dad and surprised them at their house. After all was said and done, I could not have been happier with the week we had back home. We got to spend some great quality time with our loved ones and we packed our days full of great fun! 

One of those days was spent at the Apple Orchard and Pumpkin Patch. Myles is currently obsessed with 'punkies' and 'pooky' Halloween stuff, so he was in heaven. Today I am sharing the time we spent at the Apple Orchard. Look out for the rest of our trip over the next weeks or so.

With grandma:

Inside the barn, they have shelves and shelves stocked with the yummiest foods with tons of samples all over! Feeding mommy:

They have samples of all the apples they pick and sell. I always go for the honey crisp.. best apple around; unfortunately it also has the highest price tag!

Of course Myles picked out sour gummy worms as his treat:

Myles' favorite part was animals. He talks about seeing animals all day long, so as soon as I told him there were animals, he wouldn't stop talking about them until he got to see them. It was so cute too because all of their animals were named after Toy Story characters.

My jive turkey momma:

After the animals, Myles went to play.

All was well until he had a head on collision with another little boy. It didn't seem to hurt him, but scared him a lot. After that, he turned into crappy pants. We were ready to leave anyway, except I really wanted to get a picture of him with the growth chart. I love having yearly pictures with things like this, so even though he was upset, I asked him to stand in front of it. He was crying, but stood still long enough for me to snap a pic! Sorry little man!

I am so happy I was able to take Myles back this year. We first went we he was about 5 weeks old, but didn't get to go last year. It means a lot to me to be able to bring Myles to places like this because I went when I was young. And being that we have moved away, it is special to still keep that tradition alive!

What Fall traditions do you have with your family?

{Fall Bucket List} First Professional Baseball Game

Hey there... I guess it's been a while. Somehow time is passing by so fast that I can't even post once a week now! I have a legitimate excuse though... one week out of the last two we spent back in Illinois visiting our family and friends. We jam packed our time full of fun, quality time with our loved ones and I didn't use one second of my time to blog! But now that I am back, I plan on trying to get back into this blog. I have tons I want to share from our trip back and updates on Myles as well. So stay tuned...
 For now I am sharing another activity we checked off of our Fall Family Bucket List. I am linking up with two of the beautiful hosts of this series, Elizabeth from Chasin' Mason and Desiree from Macke Monologues.

A few weeks ago, we took Myles to his first professional baseball game. My dad is a huge baseball fan and has already gotten Myles really into the game; teaching him to play and such. Since he moved out here a couple of months ago, we had been talking about taking Myles to see his first professional game out here. It wasn't until I noticed a super deal on Groupon for an Oakland A's game one day that we finally stepped up and purchased tickets. I chose the Sunday afternoon game against the Phillies. It turned out to be the perfect day: cloudy and 70 degrees.   

If you follow me on Instagram (@theeveryday_momma), you may have seen a couple of these! I wasn't sure how Myles was going to do, but at $14 a ticket, it was worth it to find out. 

When we first got into the stadium and to our seats, Myles was so into the game. He was clapping along with everyone and paying attention to the players. When he started to get a little antsy, we took a walk to pick out some food. Myles' first baseball game hotdog:

He cheered and clapped and was just all around excited to be there! I couldn't believe how much he sat in his seat and actually got into the game.

When he was ready to move around, we found the kids area and got to take home a balloon. This was his second balloon, the first one took a trip into the infinite sky when Myles accidentally let go of it. His grandpa had to go and find him another one.

Goofy faces entertained us into the third hour and we finally decided to call it a day when Myles was ready for his nap around 4pm (the game started at 1pm). I was so impressed that he lasted three hours and was a total champ! Within 10 minutes of the ride home he was passed out! So I would say it was a successful day!

I had more fun than I thought possible! It really made my heart so happy to experience this first with Myles! And for him to really enjoy it made it that much better. I even had a little tear in my eye when he sat down and started clapping and cheering for the first time!

What is on your Fall family bucket list to do over the next couple months?