We've had a busy 3 day weekend, which managed to slow down today since Nate is experiencing tummy troubles. I for once didn't work on Saturday and just hung around the house in the morning. We broke out the bucket of chalk that Nate has been carrying around for days. He was unusually grumpy and after a nap that was too short I was close to cancelling the Halloween pictures we had planned at Penneys. I pushed through and took him anyways. He actually was really well behaved! He had only worn his Dalmation costume for a brief period of time right after I bought it, but he loved showing it off. We got some cute pictures and I'm really proud of him for being a good boy.
Yesterday was the annual Clifton Day. The town of Clifton, VA shuts down it's streets and has a huge craft fair. Theres tons of craft vendors, food vendors, and other entertainment. We've gone for a long time, but I hadn't been since before Nate was born. We took the VRE train, which Nate loved! It was his first real train ride and was about 20 minutes each way. When we got there late morning we took Nate to the kids area. There was a Unicycle performer who had a whole area set up and she had music playing and balls and hula hoops for the kids to play with. That entertained him for a little while. There was also a petting zoo where the kids could feed goats, a calf, a pig, bunnies, etc. Nate didn't want to go into the pen and I didn't really want him too after I watched one fiesty little goat keep head butting people. We fed the animals from outside the pen. A girl scout troop had some kids games set up so he got to fish for a couple of prizes and loved standing on the little dock they made. There were other activities like bounce houses and pony rides, but we'll save those for when he's a little older.
My favorite part is the crafts. However, this year there was an overwhelming amount of jewelry makers and I just can't justify spending money on that. I did get a Vera Bradley purse for 50% off! I also got Nate a little wood carved truck that he loves. I went back to the same toy booth and picked up a Christmas present for my nephew. My mom bought a couple of fall decorations and some local honey.
There are lots of food vendors there, but we chose to have lunch at the Presbyterian church where they were selling crab cake sandwhiches. It was actually indoors in their fellowship hall. One of the great things about Clifton Day is all the freebies. Pinkberry was giving out free samples of frozen yogurt. Nate loved it. There are always people campaigning who give out free bottled water and balloons. It's funny to think that we had a democratic balloon tied to our stroller, since I'm not really hard and face tied to one party. They were just the first ones to give us a free balloon. There were also lots of samples from the vendors who were selling things like peanut brittle and honey.
Our day started to wind down when Nate fell asleep and I put him on my back in the ergo. Everyone is always amazed when they ask how old he is and I say 2. The usual response is, "Isn't he heavy on your back?". Not really. Plus he's sleeping! We got cold drinks and listened to a band playing.
Nate also got his first child ID card. The Fairfax County Sheriffs office was processing them for free. So we filled out some paperwork, he got his thumbs electronically finger printed, then had his picture taken and all of that info was put onto an id card that they printed right there. I think that is a really awesome service to provide. We also got little DNA kits. All you have to do is swab your child's mouth with a q-tip, put it in a paper envelope and store it in your fridge and it will be good for a year. You can also add any teeth that fallout or bandaids that have blood on them. Kind of creepy, but if something did actually happen it might be life saving info.
Today is a taking it easy day. I actually have the day off of work, but we are at home in our pajamas. Something I never get to do anymore :)
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