Breakfast With Santa

Today we went to Breakfast at the Salem Riverfront Carousel. This is a yearly event for kids who are served through the Early Childhood Special Education program with out local ESD. An employee of the WESD donates enough money each year to fund the event for about 35 families. We were lucky enough to be one of those families this year!

We started our visit by checking Santa's workshop to find Ben's name on the nice list

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Then we sat down to a great breakfast.

Ben was too excited to eat.

After breakfast, Santa brought the carousel tickets. They were frozen on a platter because they had just come in from the North Pole. So cute!

When the carousel first started the silly conductor got confused and made it go backwards.

Addilyn had a blast! Ben rode the 'biggest horse' of all!

After the ride, all the kids sat down to a story with Santa.

Ben and Addilyn also got to sit by Santa in his sleigh. (They both prefer Santa from a distance.)

Santa gave each of them a book about a carousel horse and a bell.

What a great morning all thanks to a very generous man and some wonderful volunteers!

Veteran's Day

In honor of Veteran's Day, a town close to ours hosted an exciting celebration- a Blackhawk Helicopter landing. Ben was super excited and certain he was going to be driving it. Addilyn, as usual, was just happy to go somewhere.
We arrived just in time to see the helicopter land in Riverview Park.

Excitement!!!

Ben pushed his way through the crowd of people and climbed inside. He sat in each one of the seats.

And the Pilots seat! He got to push all the buttons and move the controller.

He said, "Buckle me up Mom. I'm ready to go!"

Just giddy with excitement!

Ben also got to 'drive' a Firetruck. An actual Fireman climbed in while Ben was at the wheel. Ben turned to him pointed to the back and said, "You can just sit right there." Poor guy!

Watching the Helicopter take off was really cool. It took the pilots along time to get ready, even after starting the engine. In this video Ben is saying, "Say cheese pilots. Say cheese for Mommy." Pilots sounds like 'pirates'.

To top it all off, the local paper took a picture of Ben in the Pilot's seat. It was published the next day. You can see it here:http://www.statesmanjournal.com/article/20111111/UPDATE/111111025/Vets-honored-mid-Valley-events?odyssey=nav%7Chead

click the little 'more' button under the picture of the guy on the horse on the left hand side if you can't see Ben's cool picture.

The next morning, when I got Ben up, he said, "Ok. I'm ready to go fly my helicopter now."

It's so much fun to see my little boy that happy.

Pumpkin Patch

Last weekend we went to our favorite pumpkin patch. This was Addilyn's first trip and definitely Ben's most memorable.

We went through a corn maze, a dark maze, down a hay slide, rode trikes, and much more.

We were surprised how much Addilyn loved the tractor ride.

She also had fun crawling through the tubes

and playing in the wheat bin.

She sampled a few handfuls.

Ben examined LOTS of pumpkins looking for his favorite.

It was difficult to concentrate with straw down his pants.

He persevered and found the PERFECT pumpkin.

Once Ben found his pumpkin he tried eating it. He said it did not taste good at all. I told him pumpkins need to be cooked to be tasty. He cried, "No! Don't cook my pumpkin!"
After that, the pumpkin remained heavily guarded. He took it to daycare the whole next week and slept with it for the next two nights. When he left the room without the pumpkin he'd give me a warning look and say, "Don't cook dat pumpkin Mommy!"

Ben would have taken the slide home if were at all possible.

I think Daddy would have agreed to that one too!

Addilyn went down a few times on my lap and LOVED it. But, no pictures when the photographer plays!

After 4 hours of playing we were all exhausted!

What a great fall day!

Farm Boy

Ben is quite the little farm boy.

He loves to feed all the animals in the morning to help mom out.

Like every good farmer, he takes care of his animals before breakfast while still in his jammies.


Addilyn helps out a bit too.


Ben starts by giving the dogs water

and then some food.

Frank and Lilly get some apples.

The chickens get some corn.

Back to the horses for their grain.

A little in the buckets and a little on the ground. Gotta keep the mice happy too :)

The horses get some fly spray.

And he's done ready to enjoy an apple and a game of shape hop scotch

while Addilyn enjoys her apple too.Then we're off for toast and jam with Mickey Mouse!

Let the day begin.

The Great Oregon Stream Up

Today we went to the Great Oregon Steam Up in Brooks. We saw cars and motorcycles, trains and trolleys, tractors, trucks, a saw mill, a blacksmith, hot air engines, steam engines, and lots of heavy equipment. Most of it was running and working or being driven. Needles to say, Ben was in Heaven!

Just one of the many!

Ben and Mommy rode on a little train. It was fun!

Grandma Mary's friend Katie brought us a yummy lunch.

Addilyn enjoyed this part the most.

Ben got to drive a real firetruck.

The hoses were extra cool.

Ben and Daddy added to their Christmas wish lists.

We all rode on an antique trolley.

Ben loved lurching through the park.

Grandpa and Addilyn enjoyed the scenery too.

All in all it was a fantastic day!

The highlight of the day for Mommy was meeting a 24 year old man with a Cochlear implant. He got his at age 7 after losing his hearing at 5. He and his mother told me about his public schooling, how their whole family learned to sign, the controversy they encountered when they decided to implant, hearing in noisy places, and his balance issues. He still wakes up nearly every morning nauseous- what I think is happening to Ben, he just doesn't have the vocab to describe it. I learned so much in just 15 minutes. Ben loved seeing a guy with an 'ear' just like his!

We talked as the tractors sputtered and he listened with his 17 year old implant ( a real antique!) I asked if he thought about getting his second ear done. He said, "No. This is just the way I am. I do fine."

And on the way home, as Ben screamed with his ears off, taking them apart into tiny pieces to fling throughout the car, Grandpa and I said, "He'll do fine too. God help us all!!"

Oh, and that mom was a fighter. I could tell. Her kid is fine because she was his advocate. Hmmm....

Berries and Swings and Gators. Oh My!

Yesterday we went berry picking at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
Ben loved the blueberries.

Addilyn loved watching.

He carefully picked only the ripe berries for his bucket.

Grandpa gave Ben, Tanner and Mickey a Gator ride down to the cherry trees.

Ben picked and ate lots of cherries.

Grandpa made a special swing for Ben.

It was a great day.