it's cold

and ruby got a new coat!

happy birthday alex

from the pumpkin patch

zoom, zoom

thanks grandma for the new batman pj's.

Sarrett Nature Center

I'm totally embarrassed to say that this was my first trip to the local nature center. Well, it was-- but I'm definitely glad that I finally went. They have a beautiful new building with great bird watching windows and rooms full of little creatures. The trails are excellent-- just rough enough to make the walk exciting, with only a few stumbles from little ones who are too interested in watching their shadows to watch where they are going.

cute ruby

Things she loves right now:
-standing up in the bathtub, then plopping down on her bottom and splashing Jack
-making Jack giggle
-feeding herself with utensils
-frozen blueberries (painful teeth right now)
-walking around holding onto her little scooter
-giving the "stink face" to anybody she's not super-familiar with, especially Uncle Jon
-Jacob, Isaac, Will, and Owen
-animals
-animal pictures :)
-animals on television :)
-animal figurines :)

another fall excursion

Last weekend we took a trip to Wicks Apple House. The Wick's are our relatives on the Durren side, but they sold the Apple House and farm a few years ago. We still love going there, and this year we were there for the Cider Fest, which included music, food, and pony rides. And of course a jug of "Apple Squeezins" to bring home.
Ruby, of course, loved the animals and Jack loved the pony ride. We didn't get to see the cider mill press in action, so we might have to take another trip when it isn't so busy.

juxtaposition (at the nature center)

which of these items might have been placed there by a three year old and doesn't belong?

can you tell what these three little boys are doing while gazing into the stream? yep, talking on their cell phones. i don't know who they could possibly be imitating.

Pumpkin Patch

We took a trip to the pumpkin patch last week. We went during the week, so we avoided the weekend crowds. Ruby loved crawling around the pumpkins with Alex, and Jack had fun in the giant pumpkin bouncer with Olivia (until he came out with a fat lip). They have a really great variety of different pumpkins at Dinges' Farm, where we go every year. They also had a great big black lab, "Bubba", that Ruby loved and screamed at whenever she saw him. They had rabbits, goats, llamas, and peacocks to look at, too. We took a fun hay ride and of course took a ton of pictures!

more from the mackinac trip

Trip to Mackinac Island

We had a great trip to Mackinac Island at the beginning of the month. It was very beautiful and very cold! It was a little colder than it has been during our trips in past years, but we had a lot of fun nonetheless. We didn't "do" a whole lot, mostly just a lot of relaxing and enjoying our surroundings.
We went on one nice long walk up through the island. The leaves are beautiful this time of year. I was hoping they would be at their peak, but they weren't quite there yet. More green than reds/yellows/oranges. We brought the backpack to carry Ruby, but Jack got to enjoy it a little more than she did. I ended up carrying her around in the sling for most of the time.
We stayed in a great inn, the Windermere Hotel, right at the end of Main Street. It's definitely the best location that we've stayed at so far. We had a nice big room just for our family (two queens and a twin) for a great price. The Thomas family went with us, and Jack and Ruby had a lot of fun with their kids.
We had hoped to walk around the Grand Hotel, but you have to pay just to walk in front of it, so we passed on that. Maybe one day we'll splurge and stay their for our fall get-a-way!

It's definitely Fall.

Here's a quick picture until I can post more. We've been busy enjoying the fall season- a trip to Mackinac Island, pumpkin patches, apple orchards. More pictures soon!.......