Thanksgiving in Maine!

We had planned our trip to Maine for months in advance so by the time Thanksgiving rolled around we were so excited and anxious to head out! Although the drive through Canada was absolutely beautiful we were not big fans of the length of the drive. We thought it would be around 13 hours of driving but it ended up taking us 16 1/2!!! And we did it all in one day. If we had known it would take so long we might have taken more time off and made the drive in 2 days. But, we only had a little time to spend with the family in Maine so we drove back all in one day as well.

Oliver (who was 16 months at the time) was seriously amazing. We have the best kid in the world. I'm just sayin'. haha. He napped and played and read books and if he got really whiny we would let him watch something on the iPad. It wasn't until the last 1 or 2 hours that were really tough. Poor guy.

Once we made it to Viena we were so happy! It was so good to see Auntie Jud and Auntie Ellen and Uncle Carlos. And, they seriously spoiled us rotten. We couldn't possibly have had a better time with all of them.

My favorite little guy.

Celebrating Taiven's 1st Birthday!

Fort Popham- an old Civil War fort that was used to guard the mouth of the Kennebec River.

We spent a day visiting Popham Beach, Maine

It was my first time on the coast of the Atlantic!

Ollie loves water! He ran too deep into the ocean and a wave pushed him down. haha! Luckily he had a pair of leggings under his jeans that stayed dry. 

We explored this really cool island that you can walk to when the tide is low.

Austin and Uncle Carlos helped Steve cut down a few trees for his woodworking projects

Oliver and Taiven!

Auntie Judy bribing Oliver with twizzlers and a movie! :)

Brotherly love!

Eating fresh Maine lobster at Aunt Ellen and Uncle Carlos' house!

Warming up by the wood stove after a long walk in the woods!

Busy in the kitchen preparing for Thanksgiving dinner!

All the guys- Austin, Oliver, Steve, Taiven, Uncle Carlos and cousins James and Joe!

Kissing cousins!

Other Fall Goodies!

We have so many fun times and adventures that I don't document on this blog. Sorry about that. Since I don't want these gems to be forgotten I'm just shoving them all together in a "random" post. :) Here they are:

We went exploring as much as we could before the weather turned south

Oliver loves dogs! This was at the Michigan Firehouse Museum

He loves the tractors at Three Cedars Farm

Playing in the corn box at Three Cedars Farm

Getting his millionth hair cut. This kids hair grows like a weed.

Bath time. I love his rolls!

He loves to do chores with me. His favorite is sweeping.

Pie for David's 28th Birthday

Oh, I love these two!

Walking on the trails around our lake

He loves riding Sandy the horse for a penny at the grocery store

One of the first snows of the winter.

Bernie loves being hand fed. haha!

Halloween!

I am obsessed with holidays. So, this year I was a little overzealous and excited about Halloween festivities since Oliver is a bit older than last year... :). And, I may have over done it. haha. By the end of Halloween we were so ready for it to be over. We had a blast, though. Here are a few highlights from all of our Halloween endeavors.

Picking out a pumpkin 

He wanted to take this one home! haha

Oliver the pirate and Mari the pink hippo

Our little pirate

At the Hashimoto's house for a Halloween dinner party!

The church trunk or treat!

I love these ladies! Dani, Diane, Me and Amy

Monkey boy

The cap'n with his monkey

Oliver loves Miranda and Sophia (two of my piano students)

Carving the guts out of the pumpkin

He was very helpful

Celebrating Halloween with my music class

The U.P.!

For fall break we decided to spend 4 days in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Our good friends, the Hashimotos, even decided to come with us! It was such a fun and much-needed trip! The fall leaves were at their color changing peak and the air was so fresh and crisp. 

We stayed in a really cool, rustic cabin in the Hiawatha National Forest. We spent every morning in a row boat on the small lake that our cabin was situated on. And, we spent every night roasting brats and marshmallows at the fire pit right on the edge of the lake. It was the perfect fall get-away. 

During our stay we hiked 8 miles to the Pictured Rocks on Lake Superior and we also did a short 3 mile hike to a beautiful lighthouse on Lake Superior called the Au Sable Point Lighthouse. It was one of the most breathtaking views I've seen here in Michigan. Austin loved it so much that he's even dubbed the U.P. as his favorite place in America! Pretty wild... haha. 

These pictures don't even do justice to the beautiful and wild upper peninsula of Michigan. 

Frontal view of our cabin. You can see the lake in the background.

The Hashimotos and us hanging out inside the cabin

The view from the back deck of the cabin.

Austin rowing around the lake.

Austin, Brock and Mari at the fire pit behind the cabin.

My loves

We spent every morning out on the water

Hiking to the Pictured Rocks

The Lake Superior beach

Ollie and Mari

Me, Oliver and Austin

We love the Hashimotos! They are adventurists like us!

FALL!!!!!

Ollie and Mari kept holding hands while we were hiking.

We saw so many waterfalls

Oliver always falls asleep at the end of a good long hiking day

We even successfully transferred him to his car seat without waking him up! That's pretty rare these days...

The Au Sable Lighthouse

I love this little guy

I think my father-in-law would live here if he could.