Uncle John's Cider Mill

Our annual trip to Uncle John's did not dissapoint. The kids were extatic for days before we even went. You would have thought it was Christmas for all the excitement. We love to play on their old wooden train set and in their big sandbox. The cider and doughnuts are beyond compare and the views of the orchards and pumpkin patches are outstanding.

Ike gets under, around, and through the fun train.

Sunny drives the milk truck.

Ike navigates a classic tractor ride.

Gage gets wild and crazy with Old Red.

This train is not match for Ike's amazing ladder skills.

We love it up here too!

Such a fun place!

Leaf Clearance Initiative 2009

It's autumn-time, it's Autumn-time
the leaves are falling down ...

Every year we wait until all the leaves have fallen to tackle the massive Leaf Clearance Initiative. Waiting until they're ALL down makes for a big project that usually lasts ALL day. But the pile is HUGE and awesome. Perfect for 'swimming' in.

I only got one good one of Ike, he didn't want to stop for photo op's.

Gage is our scary leaf-sea monster.

Bridge to Edgewood ...
Our dear neighbors keep dumping leaves and branches on our school trail. We decided to create an obvious path to keep the debris out of our way. So far so good.

Oh yes, it's coooold in Michigan!

Buddies.

Leaf princess.

Eight

Yep, Gage is eight!

Low key birthday ...

friend over after school,

video games,

spoiled with presents,

Lego cake.

Exciting stuff.

Love you Gage!!

'Crimp My Wig'

You've heard of that show "Pimp My Rig" right?

This is the Richardson Girl Club spinoff called "Crimp My Wig".

The crimper always seems to find it's way down from the shelf this time of year. I love that Sunny was totally on board with "alligator bites" too this year.

Anyone want to be a guest on our new show?

Halloween Love

I Love Halloween!!!

I love dressing up.

I love the candy.

I love carving pumpkins.

I love cider and doughnuts.

I love the excitement.

I love the adventure.

I love Halloween!!!

Carving time was minimal but this little guy (and his larger counterpart who was on the front porch for this pic) turned out cute enough.


I wore my trusty cheerleader outfit and Steve donned his muscles to pull off the cool kid boyfriend role.

Gage's idea for a ghost and Sunny's invention for a "fashion show girl."

Ike refused to dress up this year. Pick you battles I say.

I'm totally terrified of this spooky kid!!

Gage loved running around the cultural hall 'spooking' all the other kids. He actually won "best costume" for the Sr. Primary division. Sweet!

Rock the Spelling World

This is the spelling list Gage brought home this week.

Keep in mind, he's a 2nd grader ...

1. wheel

2. Wednesday

3. deep

4. beautiful

5. persevere (I had to write that one three times just now to get it right!)

6. magnificent

7. philosopher

8. photographic

And the creepiest part ... he can spell them all!

Don't worry - he HATES timed math tests. Something to keep him humble I guess.

Ike's Big Day

Happy 2nd birthday to our great little guy!!

Licking the beater is one of the great birthday privileges.

He walked around all day saying, "Ike birthday ... Ike birthday!"

Never smile at a crocodile ... but I suppose smiling at a crocodile cake would be ok.


Flaming nostrils too! Poor kid actually ate an entire frosting covered candle before I realized what he was chewing on. That's gross kid!

Gage and Sunny woke up early, wrapped a couple of their own toys, got the birthday boy out of his crib and had an early morning birthday celebration together. I swear, they get more excited for Ike's birthday than they do for their own!

Happy birthday Ike!!