Sunday, November 24, 2013

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!

Saturday, November 2, 2013

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

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

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.