Butterflies

When Owen was visiting with Mom & Dad back in September, he and Mom discovered some Monarch butterfly worms which Owen brought home and lovingly watched over. This was the first time he had seen metamorphosis in action... it was funny just hearing him try to pronounce it. :)

Nearing the time they would emerge, we kept a close eye on them as the cocoon's became clear and he could start to see the wing patterns. Right on time, the butterflies emerged. He was so excited to see them and help them get ready to fly!

Discovering the first one...

Owen reached in and the butterfly crawled right onto his hand.

He sat for several minutes watching the new creature dry out it's wings and get ready to fly.


Shortly after we took this picture, the butterfly took off and flew across the lawn. I thought he might be sad, but he was actually happy to see it fly away.

I think it was 2 days later that the second one emerged.... It was later in the evening, so here's the boy in his pajamas, enjoying the process. After awhile, he let the butterfly crawl onto one of the shrubs to get ready to fly.

Praying Mantis

Owen and I were playing on the swings a few weeks ago when we discovered a friend had joined us... Owen spent several minutes watching her move and walk around.

New Car!

Well, it's been 3 months now, but we traded Allison's Volvo on a slightly larger ride with seating for 6 back in July. We had the Volvo for almost 5 years having purchased it just before Owen was born. It was a great car that served us well, with the most comfortable seats... But alas, two little ones, the dog and luggage were getting to be a bit much for her to cart around for weekend trips. Also we thought it would be nice to have seats for at least 6 so friends/family could ride with us when we had the kids.


So we looked at some crossovers, SUV's... all the while dancing around the minivan idea. We drove a Mazda CX-9, and a Toyota Highlander Hybrid, both of which were nice vehicles... The Highlander 3rd row seats are made for midgets and it was just a little too small overall. The Mazda was nice, but the one we looked at just didn't suit our needs. After driving a 2007 Pacifica at a local dealer we were sold on the interior room, usable 3rd row seats, features and finally overall value.... it was significantly less $$ than anything else we looked at it. So here's the new addition...

Food...

Food from the garden and our local farm market Weaver's Orchard just can't be beat. We froze a lot of fresh white corn this year...


Allison's parents have a freakishly good producing apple tree that makes fantastic sauce. Can you smell it? mmmmmhhhmmm


Batch ready to freeze..


We used all the Roma tomatoes from the garden + some from Weavers for making sauce this year. Allison has a fantastic "un recipe" that is awesome.

Owen is the King of the food mill and loves mushing everything up.

Summer Family Time!

July 4th weekend ended up being our family get together this year to accommodate work schedules and everyone's crazy life. Being all back together again for a weekend is really a blessing now that we're all spread out over the country.

So as usual.... we ate too much food, talked late into the evening, then cursed ourselves for talking late into the evening when the wee ones were up at the crack of dawn... thank goodness for strong coffee :)

Dad made some corn hole boards and they were a huge hit with the kids and a source of bragging and maybe a little trash talking with the mom's & dad's. Sarah still can't hit the broad side of a barn, but that's another story....

Walks are part of the routine at Grandma & Grandpa's.. Owen the puddle jumper was in true form.


Aunt Sarah with Owen, Riley & Ellie.

The gang in all of our Old Navy glory

Grandpa's fireworks.


Owen's laugh is completely contagious and it doesn't take much...

The proudest Grandparents.


Reading books with Alyssa


Mary & Molly

Grandpa added a sandbox and climbing tubes to the playset this year and they were huge hits!

Nothing beats home-made ice-cream and licking off the stirrer is a little bit of a popular job.


The boys were even tuckered out and enjoyed a good snooze.

What month is it??!

Well, it's been a crazy few months here at the Horvath's.... I can't believe that the summer is gone and we're looking at October. I have several excuses for not posting for a while, but I won't bore you with them.

Anyway... excuse my speed posting to catch up to life in the present.

Pictures

We've been using Portrait Innovations for pictures for the kids recently and been very happy with the results. Here's a proof of Owen from April, then some from this past weekend. I can't believe how quickly they are growing up...

Mommy: Pretty as a pig driving a tractor

Owen does a lot of activities at day care, and he brought one home recently that had us rolling. The teachers said that a lot of the kids really don't get into it very much and they end up helping them fill in the blanks. Owen is a different story. They report that he really sits and thinks about his answers and always has a good reason for picking what he does. Enjoy!

Maytown Parade

Aunt Patsy & Uncle Donny host the family every year for a late picnic after the Maytown parade. It's a great community event and good entertainment for everyone.

Here's Allison, Grandpa & Owen waiting for the start...


Fire Trucks and more fire trucks...

After the picnic, Owen and I went with Aunt Shannon & cousin Madison down to the corner playground to play for a little bit.

Owen loves climbing the rock walls...

Strasburg

Over Memorial Day weekend, we wanted to do some fun things with Owen, so on Saturday, we packed up and went down to Strasburg to the railroad and Cherry Crest farms. It was a beautiful day, and early in the season, so it wasn't very crowded. Owen thoroughly enjoyed himself and talked about it for days.

Here's our little engineer right before he took a nap on the way over.

Me, Molly & Owen, riding the train.

I think if Owen could manage to see two trains every day, his world would be perfect.

Owen & Mommy with the engine!

At Cherry Crest farms, they have huge trampolines for the kids. Owen thought this was really cool, but the surface was hot, and he wore sandals, so he didn't have any socks to insulate his little feet. Needless to say, it was a short lived bounce time.

They have a gigantic bouncy ball court setup where you push it over one side and the other. The ball was heavy enough to knock kids Owens size right off their feet, so it became a little bit of a challenge for us parents in there to keep it in the air.

Allison & Owen on the tube slide..

And the burlap slide...

Wagon trains or barrel trains have to be one of Owen's favorite rides...

They had a bunch of small farm animals including a bunch of chicks that the kids could hold. Owen thought they were very soft....

The Circus!

On May 16th, we went down to the Spectrum in Philly with the Rossney's to see the Circus! Jacob and Owen had a blast seeing all the animals and activity. The tour in town was the Zing Zang Zoom group. Lots of high energy music and movement....

You can just make out Owen holding his circus light-up spinner.

The highlight of the show for me was when the zebra's and horses came into the rings for their routines, Owen shouted out... LOOK Dad!! They're just like Marty! (from Madagascar...) To which I had to reply... that's for crackalackin sure..

After the show we went over to Chickies & Pete's where Danielle & Mark introduced us to crab fries (very good)... they also had fantastic wings and a great lobster cheesesteak.