Halloween Party

We had a really great Halloween playgroup party for the kids last week, although I can take no credit for it. Erin did everything--all I did was help frost cupcakes. She went all out, from the snacks to the decorations to the fun games. The kids had a blast, got all dressed up and ate a bunch of junkfood! Lincoln stayed home with Daddy since he was sleeping which, to be honest, was kind of nice. Every once in a while it's great to just have one child to focus all of your attention on! Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment :). Riley dressed up as Tinkerbell and Lincoln is going to be Peter Pan.

I'm pretty sure they really were holding hands while "bobbing for apples"...they love each other!

Bean bag toss. She's cheating, that's my girl...find a way to win :)!

Feeling the brains or some other body part!

Bobbing for apples again, this time with Lydia!

Mandy, Erin and I decorated these. They turned out cute. Erin is so creative.

Big kids' table.

Gull Meadow Farms

Today was the most perfect first day of Fall! Sunny with a high of 79, that's what I'm talking about! We took advantage of this beautiful weather we've been having by taking the kids to Gull Meadow Farms to pick apples, go on a tractor ride, pick out pumpkins and play in "Pumpkin Lane". As I was walking out the door with both kids, Ty was walking in and since I knew it would be easier with one kid, I handed Lincoln off so I could just take Riley (plus it was right in the middle of L's nap time)! Talk about perfect timing!

First we went on a tractor ride to the Apple Orchards and picked bushels of apples which we all split at the end. Justin, our guide then gave the kids a small lesson about the apples and the trees and let them pick out their very own apple to eat on the ride back. We then rode back, ate donuts (they are the BEST! donuts I think I've ever had) and drank fresh apple cider, then the kids played for a long time in "pumpkin lane" where there was a HUGE tunnel slide that ALL the kids loved...except Riley, of course. She was the only one that wouldn't go down...even the babies (18 month olds) went down. She's definitely not the most adventurous of the group. I even tried to push her down (so mean, I know) but she was crying so I decided to just to do something else with her since I didn't want to scar her for life. I can't wait to go back with Ty and Lincoln closer to Halloween and pick out our pumpkins!

Ri found the perfect pumpkin in Pumpkin Lane!

The two of us on the tractor ride.

She had to try to pick the apples that were on the highest branches!

Riley picked the perfect apple!

Mr. Justin teaching the kids about the apples and tress.

The huge tunnel slide!

Hay maze!

Rocking my baby :)!

Riley's Playgroup Birthday Party

One thing I'm so thankful for are the friends that we've made when we moved here a year ago. I just love the moms in our playgroup and Riley and Lincoln love the kids in it. Last week we had a combined birthday party for the fall birthday kids, Riley being one of them. I still cannot believe she's going to be three already (but that's besides the points). We rented a bounce house for the kids, they played on the swing set and ate pizza and cake! They had such a fun time and were exhausted afterwards--just the way I like them before bedtime!

The BIG bounce house!

Lincoln loved the bounce house! Especially when he was one of the only ones in there.

Riley and her friends bouncing!

Riley loved the "playground" as she called it.

Trying to get the candy out of the pinata!

She's going to be a softball player for sure, just like her momma!

Birthday cake!

All the August/September birthday kids--Riley, Ethan, Jack, Nolan and Katheryn

Riley and Kaitlyn eating some cake!

Deer Forest

Growing up Ty and I both used to go to Deer Forest in Coloma. When our playgroup suggested we take our kids there too for an outing we jumped at the chance. I used to have so much fun and can still remember the commercials for the place "Feed the dear, ride the pony, feed the dear and ride again...". When we got there I noticed that they literally hadn't changed the place since I'd been there last, which was probably a good 15-20 years. It was pretty run down, but even though I noticed they kids didn't and they didn't care either. Both Riley and Lincoln had a lot of fun feeding the animals and looking at all the different animals! We packed a lunch and ate under the pavilion they had reserved for our group.

Most of our playgroup...missing 4 kiddos (I think).
Riley feeding the dear.

Petting the bunnies.

Riley swinging and Lincoln hanging out in the stroller.

The kids checking out the cougar in his cage.

This was when Riley kept telling me she wanted to hold the fox!

Riding the dragon.

Remember when I say that Riley runs off? She does a great job at holding my hand, but the second I let go of her hand she's long gone. Well, I knew I'd have to push the stroller, therefore I couldn't hold her hand. Yes, she could have sat in the double but I wanted her to be able to get out and explore. So, Mandy let me borrow her "Monkey backpack" for Riley so I could keep her close. I've always thought the "leash" was cruel, but it's so dangerous that Riley runs and I can't just leave Lincoln by himself to run after Riley. She actually didn't mind wearing it and did a great job staying by me. Here Riley was leaning to touch the water and Christy caught her by the monkey tail so she wouldn't fall in.

The kids really enjoyed feeding the horse! I was surprised Riley did it, but she really liked it. She kept saying "The horsey licked me"!

A day at the (Silver) Beach

This summer's weather as been so weird that we've only made it to the beach once! Our playgroup took a day trip to Silver Beach in St. Joe. Since I grew up going to that beach I was the tour guide. It's been years, literally probably 6 years since I've been, and as you can imagine a lot has changed since then. I decided to leave Lincoln home so I could focus all of my attention on Riley. She has a bad habit of "running off" if I take my eyes off of her for 2 seconds so I didn't think it was a good idea to have to watch two babies very closely especially around water. But, I have to admit I do love spending that one-on-one time that I get with each one of the kids when I get the chance.

It was the most perfect day for the beach, and we were obviously not the only ones who thought so...it was PACKED. I don't think I've ever seen it so busy, except on Venetian weekends. What a great day and great company we had!

Riley, for a second, forgot that she cannot swim like Kaitlyn and Kendyl. This picture (thanks Christy) was taken right before I had to jump in and "rescue her". (She just got scared, she wasn't in danger.) I didn't think she'd step foot in the water, hence no life jacket. After this scare though, she definitely didn't go back in...I think it may have scared her for life.

Blueberry Picking

I'm a huge fan of picking fruit in the summer. I mean, why not? We live in Michigan and have access to do so. Our playgroup decided that we had so much fun picking strawberries that we'd try our hand at picking blueberries this time around. We drove to Fritz's Blueberries (Brookside Farms) in Paw Paw, MI and their farm was big and beautiful. SO MANY trees--or are they bushes?--to pick from. I was so disappointed that I realized after we already got there that I had my camera but forgot to put the memory card in from the night before, so I couldn't take any pictures. I felt naked without my camera, but thanks to Mandy we have some good ones!

Riley was so excited at the beginning, but if you know Riley you also know that she has a ZERO attention span. Picking the blueberries lasted a whole 5 minutes, she picked until the bottom of her bucket was covered, then it was on to playing in the dirt (really it was mud because it had rained the night before). She was taking her shoes off, throwing the sand in her hair and eating blueberries, all at the same time. I didn't realize how many blueberries she had eaten until I went to combine our buckets in the end and noticed that she didn't have one single blueberry in her bucket. She had eaten every one of them and then some...we got home and she kept saying she had a tummy ache (I wonder why).

I left Lincoln at home with my mom and am thankful that I did because Riley was enough of a handful without him being there too. I literally looked away for 5 seconds and she was at the complete end of the field wanting to play in their "sprinklers" (the HUGE things that spray out water to water the plants...what are those called??). She was a mess and her shoes, feet and legs were covered in dirt. (Good shoes too, she only has 1 pair of closed toe shoes that fit her now. She'll be in a 9/10 this winter HOLY COW). Oh my, this girl gives me a run for my money. When is she going to slow down?? We got a whopping 5.5 lbs, all picked by yours truly. I was hoping for more like 15 lbs because I like to freeze them and make muffins, etc. So, I told Ty that we'll have to do it again before the season is over!

Here's my favorite Blueberry Muffin recipe: (makes 8 muffins)

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners. 2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Princess and Superhero Day in the Park

I just love living where we do right now because there are so many things for me to take the kids to do. Sure, it would be so much easier to stay home and not do much, but I just love getting them out, seeing and exploring new things around them! Last week we went to the "Princess and Superhero Day" in the park. It was so much fun and Riley was thrilled to wear her princess dress out of the house for once. Ty was excited because Lincoln got to wear his "HULK" shirt that he bought for him!

We went to the park with what seemed like hundreds of other little ones dressed up and we watched the reenactment of Beauty and the Beast put on by The Center Stage (I think that's what it was called). They also got to have story time with Belle. Riley kept calling her "Riley Belle". She'd say "Mommy, look, they're Riley Belle :)". (Belle is Riley's middle name) Guess she doesn't quite understand yet. I was a little hesitant on how she would do sitting still the whole time, but she did wonderfully. It also helps that one of her best buds was there too. Kaitlyn is 6 and just adores Riley. She also loves bossing her around and mothering her. To be honest, I LOVE it! I know that wherever Riley goes Kaitlyn is following and vise versa. Riley just LOVES Kaitlyn and so I worry a little less when she's there :).

Gaston and some of the other characters from the play.

The three babies: Lincoln, Lydia and Luke.

Story time with Belle.

My little Superhero, the Hulk, and princess, Snow White!

Lincoln doing what he does best! Eating!!

Riley and Kaitlyn kept holding onto this stick and dancing when they were playing music and singing.

The cast did a wonderful job and the kids all loved it.

Our friends!