Thursday, September 25, 2014

Fall Is In The Air

Found these gems on Ryan's phone the other day.  Obviously we need to work on Phoebe's creativity when it comes to facial expressions! 






Ryan got to hang out with Phoebe at school for their Walk-a-Thon and Healthy Living Day - complete with lunch from Jimmy John's!


We had a cold spell of weather and had to bundle up for our football game.  The girls have been getting bored by half-time so we decided to try our hand at a pyramid.


We got together last weekend with friends from preschool.  It's so fun to see these friendships pick right back up even when they haven't seen each other for months!




We even got a little Frozen performance.




We showed up for our game after our play date only to find out that the other team didn't have enough players so their game was cancelled.  At least we had warmer weather this time around!


We discovered a new park close to home and got out to burn some energy since we didn't get to do it during the football game!


And play the bongos!




We slid!


We spun!


We made more music!




Phoebe wasn't so sure about climbing up the rock but once she got there, 
she was pretty proud of her accomplishment!




Sunday morning, we had an early riser so we were playing our "quiet" games.


Since the weather was SO beautiful, we hit up Stuckey Farms on Sunday afternoon.  
That's us at the top of the slide waving!




Then they took a little tractor ride.




Phoebe loved the peddle karts!


So did Maverick, even though his legs needed to be just a couple inches longer!


Posing.


I think the kids could have climbed all day long!


Posing again.


They had a timed race that they both kids loved running through.






We stopped for some apple cider slushies, popcorn and cider donuts (it was $1 day so how could we resist, right?)


Taking the tractor out to pick some apples.


But first we stopped to climb.






And run through the corn maze.


Trying to convince Maverick to leave the apples on the ground was harder than we thought!


The weather was absolutely gorgeous and made for the perfect afternoon.








And then we got to come home and fly kites with our neighbors!






Monday night, Phoebe was running a low-grade fever and barking like a seal so we stayed home on Tuesday.  No fever and no cough, she quickly got bored but we stayed in and rested most of the day.  I got the kiddos' closets and dressers switched over for fall so it was a productive day by the time it was all said and done.  Phoebe's teacher mentioned their entire class sounded pretty rough so she wasn't surprised that people were staying home.  


They had a football game on Wednesday night this week and did a fantastic job cheering on the Steelers!  Hard to believe our season is almost over!


Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Festival Season Begins!

After school on Friday, we'd signed up to harvest the Maple Glen garden.




The kids were pretty excited for about 90 seconds and then left the "harvesting" to me while they ran around to explore the garden.






Then we drove towards Tipton to meet up with Auntie Kate and Ryan.  We all piled into this fun contraption and headed to Pork Fest!


The kids loved riding through town.


And their sno-cones!


They got to fish!




And play basketball!


All  of us were stuffed, happy campers on the way home!


We woke up to rain on Saturday morning but that didn't stop us from venturing out.  We hit up the local Donut Shop.


Then ran our 3-pound harvest to Open Doors - Phoebe's school donates all the produce from their garden to a local food pantry.


Gryphon went with us everywhere - the Farmer's Market and then to pick up a new collar at the pet store.  Not sure he loved all the handling while we rode around but the kids sure did.


Someone sure loves belly rubs!


Despite the rain, we headed to Grand Park for cheer squad pictures.  These girls have become fast friends in just three weeks!


The rain cleared up in time for the 1:30 game and the girls did really great till about half-time. Their attention spans just don't last long enough for a 90 minute game!






Saturday evening, we hit a local pizza shop with YiaYia and Papou, Uncle Steve and Bevin, Auntie Kate and our crew.  Phoebe got to sport Uncle Steve's sunglasses and thought she was hot stuff.


Then we took a short hike to help digest our dinner!




We stopped to explore an old cemetery from the 1700's that was on the trail and then let the kiddos burn off the remaining energy at the playground before heading home.


Sunday after church we celebrated YiaYia's 64th birthday.




When we went to bed Sunday night, I asked Phoebe what her favorite part of the day was and she answered, "Playing with Gryphon!"  When I asked her the same question on Monday, she said, "Missing Gryphon!"  I think a puppy may be nearer in our future than I'd anticipated!


Wishing YiaYia the best year yet!