Farmer's Market, Brunch and a Trip to the Library

 I'm so so SO happy to be back in North Canton! It's such a fantastic little town!  I was talking to a high school friend who had also lived in a bigger city and moved back to North Canton and we were both in agreement that NC is such a COMMUNITY.  There are lots of NC people that you may not KNOW but you know,  you know?  We're in North Canton city limits, which allows us to be within walking distance to more than just other houses, which is awesome!  Last week, we walked Ellie to cheerleading practice and the other kids played at the park while she cheered.  We go on family walks and pass an candy store that sells ice cream.  (If you know our family you should be amazed by the word PASS in the last sentence.  So far we've exercised amazing self control and haven't stopped yet.)    

Saturday we had a fantastic, green, small town day.  We woke up and did Morning Battle, in which I fight everyone to stop playing Xbox or rolling on the ground or whatever is is they're doing, and put cloths on and brush their teeth and hair, in Ellie's case (sadly not an issue for Olivia yet.).  Once we were all clothed appropriately,  Ellie took her scooter and Caden took his bike, we loaded Olivia into her new umbrella stroller and we walked to the North Canton Farmer's Market.  We had never been to the North Canton Farmer's Market before and I was pleasantly surprised at the selection.  I was expecting it to be more like Gervasis's was in the first year, mostly soap and snacks and honey--not real produce, but there were quite a few stands with real FOOD.  They even had all natural meat, which I asked Evan if he would like and he declined--after seeing the $18 steak price tag.  Maybe hamburger next week.  I got some strawberries, apples, sugar snap peas, kale, zucchini, carrots and of course popcorn.  It all ended up being about $20 which is about what I would expect to spend at a Farmer's Market.  I've heard people say how cheap it is to shop at farmers markets, but that has never been my experience. I generally find the produce to be a little more expensive there than at the grocery store, but I feel comfortable paying a little more to support the local community.  Next, we popped in to the Main Street Grille, which hosts the Farmer's Market in it's "backyard".  We had a really nice brunch (kids all got pancakes, Evan got an omelet and I got a veggie frittata.)  This was, by far, the highlight of Evan's day.  He must have mentioned three times how good his omelet was and how we was excited to go back.  The next stop on our walking tour of North Canton was the library.  Vince had a program (Pet Patrol Party) so I took him downstairs to the program room and Evan stayed upstairs in the Children's department while the other kids played and picked out some library materials.  (Have to share, we got a book called Horrible Hauntings.  You get the App to go with it and then you read the book and use your smartphone/table to make the ghosts come to life on the page!  REALLY cool!)  By the time we walked home we had Olivia's stroller weighed down with fresh produce and books.   I felt like it was just an AMAZING day.   I was so grateful for the opportunity to have such a day.