Cider Mill

One afternoon last week, our family took a trip to Yates Cider Mill.  

Yates is a cute, old cider mill, with a nice walking trail and a little petting farm.

Drew is getting so big!

 We started out on the walking trail, which went along a river.  Drew enjoyed looking at the water.

 He and Jim went down some steps to see the water better.

 Maddie was a happy passenger in her stroller.

 We didn't go too far on the trail, but after a bit of walking, Drew announced that we had been walking for hours, and that he was ready to go back and eat donuts.

 So, we headed back down the trail to find a picnic table where we could eat our snack.

 The cider and donuts were delicious!

Maddie waited patiently for some donuts.

She loved them!

 My boy and me.

 After we ate, we went over to the petting farm to see the animals.

 There were several sheep and goats in the pen.

 We had a fun time at Yates!

 I have a few fall posts planned in the next couple of weeks.  Fall has been beautiful here in Michigan, and we've been enjoying the change of weather and all the fun fall activities!

The Pumpkin Orchard and a Pumpkin Recipe

Drew's kindergarten class went to the pumpkin patch last week.  Drew was very excited to go, and he kept calling it the "Pumpkin Orchard," when he talked about his upcoming field trip.  One thing he was very excited about was riding out to the farm with his friend, Joseph.  Joseph's mom, Beth, and I are friends, and since she was going on this field trip, she offered to take Drew.  All of the pictures from the trip are ones that she kindly took and sent to me.

While they were waiting for the rest of the class to arrive, Beth took a picture of the boys. 



 Then Drew wanted his picture to be taken with Beth!

 Riding out to the pumpkin patch on a big wagon.

 Drew followed the farmer around the patch looking for the right pumpkin.

 A possible candidate for the perfect pumpkin.

 The final selection!  Beth said that Drew wasn't looking for the biggest or prettiest pumpkin - he was looking for the cleanest one!  (He is SO my child!)  He ended up choosing this one that is about the size of a large apple and is a bit misshapen on one side, but he picked it, and he loves it.  :)

 Drew's little group at the farm.

 After they picked out their pumpkins, they got to eat donuts!

 Then they played on the giant hay bale pyramid.

 The petting farm!

 The goat pen.

 Back out to the playground.

 The kindergarten class.

 They had a really good time, and I loved hearing all about it from Beth and Drew.  Thanks for the pictures, Beth!
Drew's teacher had a birthday this past week, and a few of the moms decided to make a lunch for all the teachers that day to celebrate.  I was asked to make a cake, so I started searching for a fall-ish recipe that would be tasty and kind of special.  When I found this recipe for Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcakes, I knew I had found the one!  They were so good!

If you are looking for a fabulous, fun recipe for an event this fall, make these cupcakes!  They are delicious!

Random Recent

Today I have a few random recent pictures to share.

Jim has had to close at work a night or two each week as we've gotten into fall, so I have been trying to find fun things to do with Drew on some of those evenings.  One night last week, we made pretzels.  Drew had fun stretching out the strips of dough and trying to twist them.



 

 

Maddie watched from her Bumbo.

 

She is really smiley with us at home, but she is pretty serious around people she doesn't know.

The pretzels tasted good!

 This past Sunday, Maddie wore a little dress that my mom made for her.  She looked so cute in it!  I managed to get a few pictures of her with her shoes on before she kicked them off. 

 You can see a bit of her polka dot bloomers in this picture.

 Maddie can be a messy eater!  She loves to eat, and she really gets into it, but she also gets distracted while she eats, and with all her looking around the room, she gets food all over her face.

 She also started eating Cheerios this week, and she is a Cheerio fan!

 She is still working on getting food from her hands to her mouth.  She usually ends up sucking on the hand that is holding the food, as the food turns to mush in her hand.  She gets some of it, and we just try to keep the rest of it off of her clothes and out of her hair.

 Drew's kindergarten class has been studying community helpers, and they had to dress up as community helpers this week.  Drew wanted to be a fireman, but I couldn't find him a costume, so I decided that he would be a doctor instead.  I bought a pair of women's extra small scrubs at the thrift store for $3, and I took them in quite a bit on the sides and hemmed the shirt and pants.  I thought they turned out well, and he looked great in them!  Here's Doctor Drew!

 The K5 community helpers.

 I have a few pumpkin posts planned for next week and a really good pumpkin recipe to share.  I hope that you are having a great October!

Swinging and Playing at the Park

I took Drew and Maddie to the park near our house the other day.  Maddie had never been big enough to play at the park before, but I decided to let her try swinging this time.

 She was a  bit nervous for the first few minutes.  She got very stiff, and she had a funny look on her face.

 Drew wanted to swing beside her.

 Once I pulled her arms around to the front, she decided that she loved swinging!

 She was kicking, smiling, and cooing the rest of the time!

 While Maddie was swinging, Drew was climbing around on the other equipment.

 We had a very happy girl

 and a happy boy

that afternoon at the park.  We are going to have to make several more trips to the park while the weather is so nice!