Last weekend, the Philly Bargers drove out into the hills and mountains to see the fall foliage. Weather.com said it was peak season for leaf-watching in our area.
When we got out there, driving northwest, with no particular destination, we found the little town of Jim Thorpe -- named after the famous athlete. They had an historic, scenic train ride, which Jude really loved. After the train ride along a river, we played in the leaves in the park at the center of the town. We got some great photos.
This weekend, the Philly Bargers went on a hay ride tonight, with a group of people from our church, at an orchard in the Philly suburb of Media. It was a lot of fun, especially the bonfire afterward, where we toasted marshmallows and cooked hot dogs.
Jude loved the marshmallows and the apple juice. (It was at an apple orchard.) Ruby was really cute in her snug winter outfit. Maybe Charline can describe it on her blog. Jude like playing with the flashlights. He wanted to help cook the hot dogs, but the fire was too hot (or our stick was too short). Once he got some marshmallows and apple juice, he was really happy.
Ruby is doing a pretty good job of sitting up on her own lately, although we have to sit her in a good, safe spot and watch her. She's also "saying" her first word. Charline's been showing Ruby some sign language words, which worked really well for Jude when he was a baby. Ruby has starting "saying" the sign for "dog," which is done by patting one's leg, as if calling a dog.
Jude has been learning astronomy, with Charline's help. We had a conversation about the planets this morning, during breakfast. Jude's favorite planet is Neptune. He told me the biggest planet is Jupiter and the smallest is Pluto. He knows that Saturn has rings and Mars is red. He also knows that the sun is at the center of the solar system (yes, he even knows "solar system"). It really surprised me when he said Neptune "has two moons." (Maybe not technically correct, but it's likely Charline read something like that to him from an old astronomy book for kids.) In any case, he seems really curious about these things. He even knows a little about gravity. He said on the moon there's no gravity (of course, there is some), so you "bounce." Maybe he'll get to go there someday and try it for himself.
