Day with the Kids!

We've had a really good day today! (And I can't say that everyday). The weather has been so nice.
We stated our day off with a trip to the zoo. We were basically the only ones there. Our zoo is getting a penguin exhibit and it is almost done!!
Here are the kids, checking it out.




Now, up close and personal with the wolf!




We found 1 penguin!




Ethan chose a carousel ride over the train today. Nora rode a rhino and Ethan rode the white tiger.








After nap, we went for a bike ride. Ethan has been wanting to take the bike trail that goes over the rail road tracks, so we did today.








And, we are currently sitting on the driveway playing with chalk!








Happy Tuesday!!

Fresh Apples=

Thanks Betty Crocker :)

Curtis Orchard

With the fall-like temps arriving, we decided to go pick us some apples!  We have never been to Curtis Orchard, and thought today was a good day to head north.  We knew it would be crowded, and we were right.  But it was a fun day, complete with lots of fall fun and apple treats!
We headed right to the U-Pick area of the orchard to fill our bag with honeycrisp apples!

Ethan was a serious apple picker!

Nora...not as serious.  She just wanted to throw them all!

Cute apple pickers {Right before Nora threw this one...}

The pumpkins were out already and just happened to be right by the apple trees, so we had to go look and pick out a few.

Nora found one. {She looks so big in this picture}

Ethan, Daddy and Nora- washing the pumpkins

{We still plan to do our annual, family trip to The Great Pumpkin Patch in Arthur.}

After we filled our bag and got some pumpkins, we headed into the store and found a few more goodies. Then, it was lunch time and the playtime!
They have a nice playground area that includes a little mini golf course, so we had to check it out!

Sliding in the barn and Ethan checking out a tractor

Swinging, rocks and mini golf

There were pony rides, a zipline (sort of) and inflatables too!  Ethan enjoyed himself on those.  Nora might give them a go, next year.

The goats were also a hit...with both kids!

It was a great day and we look forward to going back in the years to come!

The big rocking chair

Cool Bus Drivers

All of us on the big chair!

Park and Impromptu Photo Shoot

Since the weather is a bit cooler, we went to the park after naptime yesterday.  This park has a nice pond and I've been wanting to take some pictures of the kids there.  So, I grabbed the camera.  Nora is too busy to stop for a photo and Ethan is too much of a 4 year old boy... But I got a few worth keeping :).
First playtime!

Monkey Boy

If you can believe it...he was pretending he was an American Ninja Warrior.

She's so busy...going nonstop!

Ethan was an easier subject...so there are more of him.

And, nothing beats a couple outtakes...

Fall Fun!

Fall is coming!  I keep telling myself that (even if it's supposed to be 97° tomorrow!) I'm so ready for fall temperatures, boots and sweaters!  Anyway, in trying to bring fall-like temps, I have started my fall decorating.  I really want to buy some mums, but I'm afraid I won't keep them alive for very long in this weather, so I'm waiting.  Here's a small glimpse of our fall decor this year :).

I also made a wreath for our front door.  I spent a good bit of time scouring Pinterest, looking for the perfect tutorial (meaning, one I could tackle).  Click here for the one I found the most helpful.  This one was inspiration too!  And this is what I came up with :).

I am a "use what you have" kind of girl.  So, when the tutorials said to get burlap ribbon, I thought; I have a lot of burlap, I'll just cut it!  And then it shredded everywhere...so I sewed along all the edges.  I still used it, but I'm pretty sure I quadrupled my time spent.  Also, the chevron ribbon is 'supposed' to be 4 inches wide or something.  I had chevron ribbon already...only it was 2.5 inches, but, you guessed it, I used it anyway!  Mine might be a little less fluffy, but it's mine :)!  I really wanted to make this a multi-season wreath, so I was trying to figure out how to make the decorations easily removable, yet still put them where I wanted.  I've tried safety pins in the past, but didn't really like working with them.  So...looking through my craft supplies, I came across some mini clothes pins!  I hot glued those suckers to the back of some flowers and, behold...easily removable decorations!

I bought a fall colored bouquet of silk flowers from the Hob Lob (40% off!) and pulled off the flowers to make my decorations.

Maybe I should get a cuter wreath hook... oh well, it works and I already have it :)!

Happy Fall Ya'll!!  Hopefully, it cools off soon, and I can get my mums and pumpkins to pretty up my porch!

1st Day of Pre-K 2

Ethan started his (last) first day of preschool today.  He is going to the same school he went to last year. (Find last year's post, here.)  He will go 3 days a week and he was definitely looking forward to starting.  We worked on the chalkboard yesterday during quiet time, so we were ready for pictures this morning!  Here's our big boy...

So grown up.

Goofy boy!

Nora couldn't stay out of the pictures for long... and this one was too cute not to share :)!

She's such a ham! Love this girl!

Getting ready to go into school.  Love this boy too!!

 We pray that he will have a great year and show the love of Christ to his classmates!  So proud of him :).