The Palmer Tale: 2013

Advantages of one child

The other day I had to go into the city for an orthodontist appointment at the University of Penn. I decided to ride the train instead of deal with crazy traffic and even crazier parking. It was cheaper for me to buy the all day ticket for the train. I sat and watched all the passengers, play on their cool smart phones wishing I had one. I tried to read, but just got sick, so I decided to stare out the window and think. I was grateful Shawn had a late shift so he could stay home with Kanyin and have some daddy daughter time. I then thought about how I was about spend a lot of money to put my mouth through torture. That was depressing, so I thought about how much Kanyin LOVES trains. We live right next to the train station, so whenever she hears trains, she says "choo choo!" I thought about how I should be a cool mom and bring Kanyin on a train ride since I had the all day train ticket. It seemed crazy to do that for fun. I would probably end up fighting her to sit still, which made me think about plane rides I have had with Kanyin by myself. I didn't want to cry so I thought positively and how a train ride for fun would be so much harder with multiple children (no I'm no pregnant). It was then I decided I need to take advantage of this time of having one child. Later that afternoon, Kanyin and I went on an adventure. She was soo excited to be at the train station. She just starred at all the trains. When we were on the train, she couldn't contain her excitement. She would just cover her mouth and giggle. She would also say hi to everyone in sight. She would say it over and over until the other person said hi in return. We rode the train to Reading Terminal Market. One of my favorite places. So much food to try and the atmosphere is fun to experience. The train ride home was of course during rush hour in a very packed train with the stroller. That was exciting. Overall it was a success. I wish Kanyin could remember these things, but at least I will remember. There you have it, my thought process and our trip on the train.

Someone is excited to get on the train.

Shawn's Baby

Shawn's garden this summer was very precious to him. He worked and worked on this garden and sadly it was turned out being Shawn against the squirrels, birds, chipmunks, deer and whatever other animals we didn't see. He used some scare tactics, but animals are smart. The other problem is I am not a gardener. Shawn would ask me to water his garden sometimes, which was a bad idea because I would always remember when he would come home and ask if I watered it. We did get some yummy yummy tomatoes and watermelon. So not all was lost!

finally she gets to pick it! She would ALWAYS try and pick the green ones.

Something grew and didn't get eaten by animals! Yah!

Shawn taught Kanyin the joy of laying on the grass and looking up at all there is to see. Now when we go outside to play, sometimes she will just lay there and stare at the sky.

Add caption

Introducing milk jug skeleton. He lasted two Halloweens for us. Sadly we just had to throw him out :(

The watermelon plant was out of control!

Love PA

We really do love living in Pennsylvania. The only problem is it is so far from our families :( One of our favorite things about PA is the fall. It is serious so gorgeous with all the trees and their colors. I just wish it lasted longer. I decided to take some pictures of the trees on our home from church and on our walk, so I can always remember them.

This one is from Forbidden drive on a different day. It's so beautiful I had to include it.

Halloween

Oh my goodness we had the best Halloween ever!!! I think Shawn and I loved it so much because now we have Kanyin to live it through. We went to a Halloween party and then ventured out trick or treating with some friends. Kanyin LOVED it. By the third house or so she got the concept and would push her way up to the front and reach her hand out for candy. Whenever she saw the candy bowl she would get her excited face on. To move her along we would tell her "next house." By the end of the night, she was saying "eee how" (her version of next house). It was so fun to see her soooo excited. Our neighborhood is the perfect trick or treating neighborhood with the 100 year old gorgeous homes and it was the perfect fall night with leaves blowing in the breeze. What a great Halloween. Can't wait for next year.

The witch is making her stew, with a little help :)

the trick or treaters are ready to go!

Shawn loves wearing real pumpkins on his head.

AGA Farm

One of our favorite places here in PA is AGA Farm. It's in a beautiful area and they have a hay ride, corn mazes, pick your own pumpkin etc. The perfect place to go in the fall. We went last year with our friends the Clarks during Halloween time and had such a great time. The family that owns the farm is so nice. The owner ended up giving us a car full of pumpkins and corn stalks for our church Halloween party that night for FREE! He is seriously such a generous man. This year the same thing happened. He remembered who we were, let us go through the corn maze for free and loaded us up again with all kinds of stuff for our church party. The farm is up in Bucks County which is so beautiful. It's out of the city, so we feel like we can breath a little better :) It was cold this year, but we still had a fun time.

it fits him quit well :)

Life with Kanyin

Kanyin has really been blossoming these last few months into a little talkative toddler. It amazes me how smart she is and how quickly she picks up on things. I was thinking the other day, that it would be cool if I could pick up on news things like her.
She has decided that she has a mind of her own and she will fight to get her way. That always makes for fun times. Especially the other day when we were leaving the store and she didn't want to get out of the shopping cart (which is weird since she always fights me to get IN the shopping cart) she just proceeded to hit me and then kick and scream and scream some more. I got some great looks. Oh gosh...yah.
She has started to become a picky eater, which is sad since she used to be such a good eater. She would eat spaghetti everyday if I let her. She loves apples, fruit snacks, juice, cheese, cucumber and of course candy. She is doing pretty good with the potty. She won't tell me when she has to go, but if I sit her on her potty and keep her entertained for awhile, she'll eventually go. She's gone poo poo in the potty a few times, and I got so excited and was practically jumping up and down. My excitement didn't pay off though because now when she poo poo's in her diaper she starts clapping and says, "Yay!!!! poo poo."
Some of her new words:
"amooon" for moon
"I duunoo" I don't know
"huur" hurt
"see you" see you later
"nigh" good night
"uv oo" love you
She is still a momma's girl, which is fun cause she loves to snuggle, but hard when I need to get things done. We are exploring new activities and we go to the park a lot, which she LOVES! I am so sad it is getting colder, which means the park isn't as fun, which means I have to be more creative with things to keep her busy with. I love being this little girl's mom. Even though everyday is not peachy, we have our great moments which make up for the bad. We can't imagine life without her.

emptying kitchen cupboards. What a glorious adventure

Kanyin is an aspiring artist. She loves to paint

concentrate!

She loves to walk around with her little kitchen fork and bowls and feed everything. Who knew this would be a favorite toy.

Kanyin loves it when friends come over! She is learning to share.

Sadly this girl loves her shows. It can be helpful at times, but not when it's not time to watch a show.

hanging out with mom

Corn on the cob is a favorite! Better eat yours fast before Kanyin finds it.

"uuumm don't even think about cutting my hair!"

She loves her barn!

Favorite Toy

I am good at collecting cheap toys via yard sales, thrift stores etc. This happens to be her favorite toy this week. Guess I will be dumpster diving from now on instead of buying toys.

2 Week Break

Shawn got a two week break in between his first and second year of PA school. My family was here for a few of those days and then the rest of the two weeks was crammed full of adventures. We wanted to do as much as we could. We went camping with the Pages, which was soo awesome! We haven't been camping in forever. It felt nice to be away from the world and get dirty. We went to French Creek State Park which was very pretty and also next door to the Hope Well Furnace site. Here they made iron back in the 1600's. It was a beautiful place. They show you how it was done and even did a demonstration for us. They had animals there and an apple orchard too.

That same week Shawn and I went to an amusement park by ourselves! No Kanyin (thanks to Sarah). It was called Dorney Park. It was cheaper then six flags and we were worried it was going to be a small park, but it was actually really big. I was sooo nervous, because I am NOT a roller coaster person, but Shawn is and I was determined to become one. Usually I start with the swings making my way up to the biggest, scariest, your gonna die roller coaster. This time I decided to jump in with both fee and start with the biggest, scariest, your gonna die roller coaster. Let me tell you I was TERRIFIED. My heart was beating the fastest it has ever beat, and I was shaking so bad. I literally thought I was going to have a heart attack. Shawn kept trying to reassure me that it was going to be okay. I held onto him so tight and screamed like I have never screamed before. Each roller coaster after that got a little easier, but still very scared. On another scary one, as we were inclining a billion feet slowly till we dropped, I was holding onto Shawn with dear life saying over and over "oh my gosh, oh my gosh." Right then one of the little 8 year old boys in front of us, turned around and said to Shawn, "Is this her first time?" Shawn just chuckled and said "yes yes it is." After that I thought, I have to be braver then this. I need to be like these 8 year old boys. So the next coaster I didn't hold onto Shawn and I actually opened my eyes and turns out I had a blast! Next roller coaster...nothing, had it in the bag. I can officially say I am over my fear of roller coasters. :) It was so fun being there and with just Shawn. We felt like we were dating again. We realized how important it is to get "us time." We ended the day at their HUGE water park. I was in heaven. I love water parks. I hope we get to go back.

To end our 2 week adventure, we went to Boston for two days. I loved Boston. Such a neat city full of history. We got a Go Boston pass which included a lot of things to do. So much you can't do it all. The sail ship was probably my favorite. It was a pretty big ship and I had never been sailing before. It was a cold day, but still awesome. The Boston Harbor is really pretty. They also have the freedom trail, which is a 2 mile long red brick trail you follow through the city which takes you past lots of historical places. We ended at Plymouth MA where the Pilgrims came to. They have a village set up just like the 1600's and they have a remake of the Mayflower.