Saturday was a gorgeous day so I decided it would be nice to go down to the Farmer's Market and to the playground. Alex of course agreed so off we went. He loves playing outside but the park is at the top of his list.
Here he is at the top of a big slide at Big Spring Park:
Since daddy missed out on the park fun that morning due to a soccer meeting, he suggested going to another park after nap in Lexington. So off we went to Shilito Park for some more fun. This playground is much bigger, mostly wooden and has lots of good options for him. As to be expected, he had a blast.
After the park we attempted dinner at P.F. Changs. It wasn't one of his best outings because he wanted to play with the noodles more than eat them but I had to laugh when he tried to use chopsticks at first because daddy was using them.
He was concentrating so hard but never could quite get them figured out. Finally he gave up and just moved on with his hands and a fork for the chicken.
Alex is without a doubt mischievous and some times just straight up mean but the one good trait he has developed is good manners. He is quick to say please and thank you and it is noticed by a lot of people. So that makes a momma and daddy happy and proud.
One day Sandy sent us a message saying that Alex was the first to finish his lunch and without being prompted said, "Sanny, scuse peas" which is his way of asking if he could please be excused.
Sandy is without a doubt one of the main reasons he has such good manners. She does a great job teaching the kids manners and patience for which I am very grateful!
Another day she said they were sitting down to eat and Alex climbed into his chair, took a look at his plate full of food and popped a grape into his mouth (one of his favorite foods). Sandy quickly said, "Alex I need you to fold your hands for our prayer" and without missing a beat he took the grape back out of his mouth, laid it on his plate and folded his hands.
It's moments like those that give me hope he might turn out to be a good boy after all. Or when he runs up to Matt or I for a hug or kiss without being asked, it just melts your heart.
Yesterday we got to Sandy's and he was excited to go show Knox his ball so he started toward the playroom and before I could say anything he came back and said, "kiss mommy" so I got my hug and kiss before he went to play. He can be the sweetest little boy sometimes.
Since a camera was constantly in Alex's face since the minute he was born he developed quite an aversion to cameras and most of the time avoids them or stops doing whatever he is doing the minute I pull one out. So when I got the camera the other night and he actually smiled and said "cheese" I was thrilled! We were eating dinner and I was trying to get him to show me the tomato he was gobbling down.
After 2 good "cheese" pictures I thought I would press my luck and get a video. I wanted him to say tomato because it is really cute the way he says "mato" but when I asked him what daddy was giving him, he says thank you instead. At least we have good manners. And of course he loves to say no, so you will see when I ask him if the tomato is good, he says no despite the fact that he has eaten about half of a big tomato already.
I am sure I have mentioned how Alex loves to eat whatever I am eating but now he is taking it a step further and loves to eat whatever you tell him not to. Of course we use this to our advantage when he doesn't want to eat or drink something. Many times we have said, "Don't drink that medicine, it is mommy's!" And as soon as you sit it down, he grabs it and drinks it in one gulp. So you will hear things like that a lot during meal time at our house. He also likes to take a bite of something if you act like you are about to put it in your mouth. I caught this on video a couple of nights ago when Matt and Alex were having a snack before bed of pickles:
Well we are living on a farm officially for at least the next 6 months or so. We got everything moved into our rental home this weekend and spend our first 2 nights there Saturday night and last night. So far so good! The house itself isn't anything spectacular but the rent and lease is great and there is plenty of space for the 4 of us and the 2 cats.
The views and the "neighbors" are beyond fantastic and so far we have really enjoyed waking up with views like this:
Last night the kids saw the horses up by the fence near the house so we had to go say hi:
The horse that let Reagan pet her is named Rachel's Viva. They all had their names on their bridles but the other 2 didn't get close enough for me to see their name. They are such beautiful horses!
And of course there are the smaller four legged animals that reside on the farm as well. There are 3 dogs that run around but mainly stay up near the main house. Last weekend when we brought some stuff over, one of those four legged babies decided to come in and check us out and make her self at home in our office.
One last funny story for this post. I was at our old house boxing stuff up on Saturday when Matt and his brother Andy came back from dropping off some furniture at the rental. They both were laughing because while they were unloading the trailer they saw a Blue Glass Tours bus come down our drive and we discovered we are living on one of the farms included on the Horse Farms Tour. So this got me wondering why and I discovered a historical marker out by US 60 talking about the history of Buck Pond Farm:
Buck Pond was founded in 1783 by Col. Thomas
Marshall. Buck Pond farm has been the home of many legendary
racehorses, including two Kentucky Derby winners and countless other
champions. Col. Marshall is the father of US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall. A hero of the Battle of Brandywine, Marshall was appointed Surveyor
General of the lands of Fayette County by good friend and President
George Washington. The house at Buck Pond was completed in 1785 and
around 1800 the elder Marshall turned Buck Pond over to his youngest
son Dr. Louis Marshall and wife Agatha Smith. Six generations of the
Marshall family called Buck Pond home under the Revolutionary Grant to
Col. Thomas Marshall.
The first deed to the place was written after Dr. Louis
Marshall’s death when the estate was purchased by Major
Thomas C. McDowell. It was Major McDowell who first brought
thoroughbred horses to Buck Pond. The pride of the McDowell stable was
Alan-A-Dale, a son of 1895 Kentucky Derby winner Halma. Bred, owned and
trained by McDowell, Alan-A-Dale went on to win the 1902 Kentucky Derby.
Buck Pond was held by the McDowells until 1936 when the McDowell heirs
sold the property to Joseph Kaye Nelson, a native of Woodford County.
In 1952, it was then sold to Mr. and Mrs. Douglas M. Davis Jr. who
renamed the place High Hope Farm. Davis, a very successful horseman
bred and raised 1973 Travers Stakes winner Annihilate’Em at
Buck Pond.
In 1973, Davis sold the farm to the Proskauer family who again called
the farm Buck Pond. Susan Proskauer had escaped Nazi Germany by skiing
over the Swiss Alps and after obtaining a Visa into the United States
settled in New York. She began working as a dress designer designing
under the name Susan Garber in which she enjoyed widespread success
with her own line of ladies suits and dresses.Mrs. Proskauer took an avid interest in thoroughbreds and began
acquiring breeding stock when relocating to Buck Pond. The Proskauers
continued the rich history of breeding champion racehorses at Buck Pond
Farm, including Horse of the Year and three time divisional champion
Spectacular Bid as well as two-year-old champion Lord Avie. The great
grass filly, Drumtop, who set 4 course records, Manitoulin, a stakes
winner in Ireland and the U.S., and Group Plan, winner of nine races
including the Jockey Club and Hawthorne Gold Cup were all bred and
raised at Buck Pond. Other thoroughbred greats such as
Margaret’s Number, Gamacene, Reboboy, Laomedante and Ancient
Wisdom were bred and raised on the lush pastures of Buck Pond.
Doug and Karen Arnold purchased the magical 300 acres of Buck Pond in
1994 and the priority of breeding excellent racehorses continues with
great success. G2 winner March Magic, one of Evansville
Slew’s best sons along with Ruler’s Court, one of
the leading juveniles of 2003, were both bred and raised at Buck Pond.
Who knew we lived on such a cool place??
I am sure I will have many more stories during this adventure for the next 6 months and I also hope to be posting updates of the build very soon as well. We should see them breaking ground any day now!
I am pretty sure I have mentioned before how Alex is famous for making so many crazy facial expressions. Well, without meaning to, I caught him on camera making some of these faces. Matt was out of town about 2 weeks ago and I wanted to send him a "good morning" video from Alex. This is what I got:
Of course daddy loved it and we have laughed about it several times now. He may be a handful but at least he keeps us laughing!!
The end of the video you can hear him say "what is that red" which is of course the record button on the phone, which he pushed and ended my video. :)
I am sure I am not biased at all when I say our little man is extremely smart. Of course I really have no idea what to compare him to and where he should be at this point but I am pretty impressed with how much he talks, the thoughts he comes up with on his own, and everything he has learned and retained. It usually only takes him hearing or seeing something once for him to remember it.
He knows all his colors, he can count to 14 and usually only leaves out 5, with 2 being forgotten occasionally. I have no idea why he goes to 14 but it is cute none the less.
What is most amazing to me though is how a 25 month old can relate things to other tidbits of information he has heard. For example, we were in Louisville the weekend before last for a 5k. He saw the river and wanted to touch the water. Mom and Kathy told him he couldn't because it was yucky and left it at that. The next day Matt asked him about the race and he told him he saw boats and water. But then he said, "water was yucky. It had poop in it!". We just had to laugh. I guess since we tell him poop is yucky, and then told him the water was yucky, it only made sense that we meant the water had poop in it.
Another example of his relating things together was one night when Matt was going outside and told me he had to go put "his eye balls in". This means he is going to put his contacts in instead of wearing his glasses. I didn't think anything of it and didn't realize Alex had even heard him but the next thing we know Alex is handing Matt 2 bouncy balls mom had bought him that actually had eye balls in them. He said, "here dada, eye balls." Smart boy!!
