ok. today was the 3rd day in a row that we left the house at some ridiculously early hour and did not return until late afternoon. phew. it makes for a very tired mama. anyway:

1. laurie berkner was great. we drove to albany in the am, made it on time (!!), and she performed all the songs that ava knew. ava was frozen in her seat for about 2 songs, then decided that yes, she did want to get up and dance with the other kids in the aisle. and that was it. she periodically returned to her seat, but preferred the kid-zone. carter enjoyed it, but had more fun going bumpity bump down teh giant staircases of the concert hall than anything else. both kids got lollipops upon our return to the car, which carter promptly decorated himself with. he fell asleep and for a moment we thought he might have sealed his lips shut with lollipop goo. he was fine. the last 45 minutes of the drive were a bit rough, but we made it. carter asked to go poopy at the country store, and when he got performance anxiety, he transferred the effort to the little potty in the back of the car. he thought that was fun--sitting on the potty in the way back with the hatch open, gazing at long lake. i am sure it was a funny sight from the street view too.

2. sunday we returned to the corn maze (after hitting the grocery store). we solved the puzzle in under 2 hours, had a BLAST with the minor exception of some idiot's choice to chuck an ear of corn over the maze--blindly. guess whose head it nearly hit? yes, carter's. guess who soundly chewed out a few local teens in an explosion of mama-bear fury and remarkable verbal acumen? given that i cannot usually get 2 words out without stumbling upon them, i was surprised at my ability to quickly humble these kids into recognition of their stupidity. if i had not been so upset i would have walked away rubbing my knuckles on my collarbone, but i was still shaking. we returned to having fun and searching for the exit. when we got out, the local 4-h happened to have set up pony rides. hello, universe? thank you from the bottom of my heart. the kids nearly fell over with joy. after that and some more truck and big digger play in the sawdust pile we went to skating (covered in mud and sawdust), then finally got home at 6:30.

3. today, it was a day-o-agriculture. first banker's orchards. no apple picking, all gone. tears brimming in one 4-year-old's eyes. but, they had a petting zoo, a pile of sand with trucks and diggers, some little old-fashioned rides, and doughnuts. all was ok again. then we went to rulf's orchards. yes, picking, red delicious only. great, where do we go? the woman at teh counter told me to go down the road and turn left at the jamaican trailer. i started to ask, then thought to myself: given that this is an orchard with apple trees and apple trees only, anything called a jamaican trailer must be very obvious. turns out, that is exactly what it was. a large trailer home for the workers from jamaica. i had a bazillion questions about the practice of hiring jamaican workers as well as the experience of being a jamaican worker, but kept my nose out of it other than to learn that some stay, some go home, and they all work to prune the trees in the winter. after that, we got 2 hot dogs at the little stand at the orchard and ate them in the gazebo. ava looked at hers for a long time. it was in a bun, something that she has not had yet. then she looked up at me and said "i am going to eat this differently today!" with the sort of excitement that only a 4-year-old can bring to a novel endeavor. carter simply reached into the bun, grabbed the hot dog, ketchup and all, flung the bun on the floor, and ate his like a banana. then carter had a brief nap in the car, and we went to the pumpkin patch. they fired up the tractor and hay wagon for just us, and off we went to the muddiest pumpkin patch ever. we found our pumpkins, and rode back. both kids thought the tractor was pretty neat. ava spent a long time watching the ground go under the wheels. she was leaning out over the edge, staring at the ground for nearly the entire ride. i watcher her and wondered what could she be thinking? remember staring out the car window? how absorbing that could be? something about the wagon wheels and the dirt was equally fascinating. we finally came home at 4, and i managed to cook a roast with potatoes, broccoli and mushrooms AND get the kids in bed on time. and moreover, i managed to do that with a broken oven! just call me mrs. cleaver.