When Mom's Away . . .

. . . the boys will play!

Landon and Mike went to the Fall Festival celebrating the last day of our town's farmers market for the year. While the weather men predicted showers, we managed to avoid getting left out in the rain. Here's Landon all dressed in his Croc-and-sandal combo, Detroit jersey, and zoo cap, all ready to go!

Landon met some chicken and ducks before taking a ride on a pony. He jumped right on (the horse, that is) and seemed to enjoy its steady swaying gait.

Next, Landon tried getting the attention of the animals at a small petting zoo. Each time he sees small animals at a farm or other event, he heads right over. This time he met a lamb, a sheep, a miniature pony, and some goats.

We keep ending up at the same attractions where Farmer John and his Barnyard Express perform. We ran into Levi, Jackson, and Caden, and we all laughed as Smudge the dog and the other animals embarrassed -- er, "entertained" -- the kids and grownups.

Later on, we found Arika and Julie at the Grosse Pointe Mom's Club bake sale booth. Landon chose some dark chocolate brownies for the road.

We also stopped by the produce booths. Both Landon and Mike love grape tomatoes, and they eat the things like candy. Landon kept demanding that Papi open up the bag of tomatoes so Landon could sample some more.

One more sweet treat for the road. Julie's gourmet candy apples were amazing (and a bargain, too! $8 for an apple the size of Landon's head loaded with cookies, chocolate, and more!). Alas, we did not bring enough cash and had to stick to our pesky--yet important--budget, so we settled for a $2 caramel apple which Landon helped top with nuts and candy corn. Yummy flavors of fall!

As we wended our way back home, we stopped by the two fire engines on display, and a fire fighter explained to Landon and some other kids all about the different components of the trucks.

The department has a vintage truck that Landon got to climb aboard. He's enjoying a rice krispie treat on a stick. If you are keeping track, you will see that Mike did an excellent job of showing Landon a good time while making sure he ate well--antioxidant-rich dark chocolate, tomatoes (lycopene and more), apples with nuts, and breakfast cereal. He still can't figure out why the kid bounced off the walls after we got home . . . .

All in all, we had a grand boys' day out! We couldn't wait to share our adventures with Hallie and now with you too.