Apple Time is Here!

We had a blessed cool down in Indiana recently and the Wallis family ate it up!  Maverick got to sport some of his new long-sleeved shirts (most of which feature a large piece of construction equipment) and was insistent on wearing mittens when we went to the park!  I think that had more to do with Phoebe wearing her biking gloves than being cold - either way, he sure was silly!

 

 

After a trip to the playground we took the trail home and did a little exploring.

 

 

 

 

 Saturday, Ryan had to work so we tagged along with YiaYia and Papou to Stuckey's to do some apple picking and tractor riding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Phoebe was a little hesitant at first about eating an apple just picked from the tree.

 

 

However, she warmed up to the idea in no time at all!

 

 

Maverick had a hard time distinguishing between "good" apples and "bad" ones - he was a bit over-zealous in his apple picking so we got to bring home a LOT of apples!

 

 

It turned into a beautiful, late summer day.

 

 

 

 

We took a couple of turns on the tractor.

 

 

Sibling love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we got home, one of our neighbors had found a turtle and was anxious to share!

 

 

 

 

*Note Maverick's pink Barbie sunglasses (his blue Thomas ones have gone missing)!

 

 

Poor kid, he needs some BOY things to play with, no doubt about it!

 

 

We've been spending our evenings with our new apple peeler that spiral cuts and cores the apples after it peels them.  We've made a few apple cakes, apple crisp, etc. and still have about 40 apples left.  I think applesauce is in our near future as I'm about baked-out!  We're SO happy fall is right around the corner!

Festival Fun!

Friday night we headed to Tipton where Ryan's office is located to try out the Tipton County Pork Festival.  It's quite the to-do in Tipton and us Wallis folk love us a good festival so it seemed the perfect way to kick off our weekend.

 

 

 

 

Phoebe loved her sno-cone (it was free and impossible to turn down) and ended the night successfully eating her entire ice cream cone before it ended up on the ground.  Maverick shared a soft pretzel with me (the first time either kid has ever done so - thankfully, too - I was beginning to wonder just WHO these kids belonged to)!

 

Saturday we headed to the Zionsville Fall Fest and had SO much fun in all the bounce houses and play grounds!  As an added bonus, we ran into one of the girls from Phoebe's classroom so they played together for awhile. 

 

Maverick loved this camo one so much he snuck back in a second time and had to be retrieved by his mama!  Not a proud moment, that's for sure!  He's been running away from me recently, thinking he's funny while I'm saying "No!" - we've been working on being more diligent in our discipline tactics hoping he'll grasp that we mean what we say and that there are consequences when we disobey. 

 

We had record heat this past week and it was AWFUL.  But since the neighborhood pool closed and there were festivals to attend, we braved the sun and enjoyed the hot outdoors!

 

The highlight for Maverick was the train!  Last year I had to ride with him so he's made it to the big leagues and can ride on his own!  He's getting SO big - LOVES to sing, count and say his ABCs.

 

 

Checked out the pony, donkey, chickens and goats.

 

 

Sunday after church and brunch we headed to meet all of Phoebe's friends from Shalom for a little reunion at a school playground.  Granted it was mid-day in crazy hot weather but the kids had a blast together!

 

We've gotten the girls together a couple of time since graduation and I hope it continues.  We're considering a sleepover in October, we'll see how brave we end up being as the date draws nearer...  We've had some issues lately of getting Phoebe to stay IN her bed when it's time to go to sleep so this may be the winning ticket - IF you stay in bed, you may have a sleepover.  Nothing else has seemed to work for our little angel.  It doesn't help that she comes downstairs JUST as we've sat down with bowls of ice cream - and neither of us is real eager about giving up our bowl to take her back upstairs...she knows she has a 15 minute window while we finish off our treat!

 

Labor Day Family Fun!

This one is LOVING kindergarten!  Ryan took this picture last week when they were the FIRST ones at the bus stop (which apparently means you get to step ON the bus first - big time stuff right there)! 

 

 

Sunday we headed to Traders Point Creamery for brunch to celebrate YiaYia's birthday.  While we waited for the food to arrive, the kids did some exploring outside.

 

 

After brunch, we headed back outside  to watch the cows while YiaYia sampled the fresh ice cream.



 

 

Or explore the scarecrows.

 

 

 

Auntie came outside to help entertain the kiddos.

 

 

 

They'd had a seafood fest at the venue the night before and Phoebe discovered some very large snail shells and the first acorns of the season.

 

 

They also discovered a cat who promptly went UNDER the walkway so as to not be bothered.  Note the arm out keeping Maverick from the edge.

 

And then holding him so he could get a better look.    Thanks for capturing the moment, Auntie!

 

Finally Maverick gave up on the cat but Phoebe was intent on trying to pet it.



 

We went back to YiaYia and Papou's for the traditional Dairy Queen cake and presents.

 

It was a riveting afternoon!

 

YiaYia trying to show GG-Ma different ways to navigate the internet. 

 

LOVE these people!

 

And loved having the great-grand kids spend time with their GG-Ma and GG-Pa.

 



 

As nap time neared, we said our good-byes.

 

 

While Maverick napped, Auntie, Bevin, Phoebe and I went shopping.  After he woke up, Ryan took Maverick to see some of their company's equipment and Maverick was in heaven!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 After I prepared a gourmet dinner of pizza and a veggie tray (I'm high class, people!), we headed outside to play and eat popsicles.

 

 

 

Monday we headed back to YiaYia and Papou's for breakfast with everyone and then headed south to the outlet mall so Auntie could do some serious shopping.  I think everyone else had the same idea!  Maverick would have MUCH rather stayed to play with the John Deere tractor...