Happy Halloween!

Hello everyone. I hope you are all staying warm and having a happy, spooky Halloween.

This year, {K} & {E} are going as the most original costumes ever... wait for it... Elsa and Anna from Frozen. I know you're shocked. But they love that movie so much and it's what they wanted and with the plethora of available gowns, I didn't have to sew anything so a win for me as well.

Without further ado, I hereby present Queen Elsa and Princess Anna of Arendelle!

I actually took the photos above a few days ago when we had beautiful weather instead of the snow flurries we're having today.

The pictures below are from this morning. {K} didn't want to wear a wig so we braided her hair and used a can of gold hair paint to try and make it look a bit more like Elsa's.

This is from the parade at her school:

I hope you all have a wonderful Halloween and stay warm! I think we'll hit one or two houses of nearby friends and then go to the library for indoor trick or treating. Brrr!

Mini Getaway to Door County, WI

There are three couples I know who frequently travel to the quaint and beautiful area known as Door County, Wisconsin and since I had never been and trust their opinions, I decided it was high time we took a family trip to check it out for ourselves.

Our first stop was at The Farm in Sturgeon Bay. It's a neat place where the kids could feed baby animals from bottles, pet farm animals of all kinds, and see a baby lamb that had just been born. We named this baby goat "Mappy" because after scarfing down the bottle he kept trying to nibble on the map that [E] was carrying around.

[K]'s favorite part were the baby chicks. She loved them so much and wanted to hold one but she was a little nervous to actually do it herself so I held a chick for the first time myself so my baby could pet one. I've done so many new things since having children :)

One of the main things I had heard about Door County is that there are great bike trails in Peninsula State Park and I have been wanting to take a family bike ride for so long. The problem is that [K] is still using training wheels and she's afraid to go too fast so it makes riding together nearly impossible. My sister-in-law has this detachable tandem bike trailer and I thought, "that would be great for [K]!" However, one spin around the block and she was scared. We waited a year and while searching for the same trailer on Craigs List I came across this recumbent version on Amazon. After reading the reviews and telling [K] that it would be like riding in a stroller, we brought it with and tried it out. She loves it! She's been telling us that she wants to bike ride all the time. [A] and I love biking so this has been a major win for us. Now we just have to decide if we get another one for [E]...

(And just in case you were wondering, the bike seat we used with [E] is this front-mounted Safe-T Seat from iBert.)

Anyway, back to our trip. Peninsula State Park is lovely and the bike trails are gorgeous. In the park is the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse. We happened to get there just before they were having a flag changing ceremony so we were able to get our picture taken with a lighthouse keeper reenactor.

Back on our bike ride we stopped at Nicolet Bay where [K] had the opportunity to throw pebbles into the crystal clear water.

(Hmm, I wonder where she gets that from...)

(This was taken in Sister Bay at the Waterfront Park.)

After arriving back at our car we took a drive around the park, stopping at Sven's Bluff (below) and climbed the Eagle Bluff Tower for panoramic views of the bay.

That evening we partook in a very unusual, but uniquely Door County, dining experience called a fish boil. Lake Michigan whitefish are cooked outside over an open fire in boiling water. Fish oils rise to the surface of the boiling cauldron, and when the fish is perfectly done, the Master Boiler tosses a small amount of kerosene on the flames under the pot. The great burst of flames causes the boilover, spilling the fish oils over the side of the pot and leaving the fish perfectly done.

And before the night was over we stopped off at Sunset Beach to watch, what else, the sunset.

The following morning we had breakfast at Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant where goats eat grass on the roof. I couldn't resist putting this Viking helmet on [E]. The braids matched her hair perfectly.

I'm a huge lover of lighthouses so I really wanted to stop by the Cana Island Lighthouse in Baileys Harbor. The island is connected to the mainland by a causeway that is covered in all different sized rocks. I hate to say it but my favorite part from the trip to Cana Island were all of the rock towers built by visitors. There were probably 100+ all of different sizes up and down the entire causeway. Both girls had to stop and build their own. The hardest part was trying to keep them from knocking them all down.

(Ok, maybe [E] had some help with hers from Daddy)

The lighthouse looks quite picturesque in my photo but the truth is it needs a paint job and there was construction on either side of it (restoration from what I understand.) The biggest bummer part of it is that you have to pay money just to see the lighthouse. I understand paying to climb it and I know they need funding to keep it going but I've never encountered having to pay just to see one.

The last part of the day was spent hiking in Whitefish State Park. We had a nice time there but I'll bet it would have been even better if it was warmer and we could have played on the sandy beach. All in all though the entire trip was a ton of fun and I'm looking forward to going back next year!

Apple Picking

A few weekends pack we went apple picking at our favorite orchard. It was the first time for little E and it's been a few years since we actually picked apples with K (we go every year but usually we just buy a bag of pre-picked apples and just pick pumpkins out of the patch.) It was a really fabulous time and both girls enjoyed themselves immensely.

Our bushel before we picked our apples.

It's great having Daddy to reach the perfect apples way up high.

K found the perfect apple.

E was definitely enjoying her apple as well.

A family photo on the tractor after filling our bushel.

Our beautiful bushel of Gala and McIntosh apples.

K pony-back riding.

The gift barn had these super cool resin steam punk pumpkins.
K thought this one looked like Larry from VeggieTales.

Now that we have all of these apples, I'll be sharing some apple recipes I find online and share whether they're hits or misses.

Have a great night! - J

Hiking at Red River Gorge in KY

This past weekend we went hiking with my father-in-law at the Red River Gorge in Kentucky (it's part of the Daniel Boone National Forest outside of Lexington.) According to the website, "...the Red River Gorge in Kentucky is one of the best places to explore arches, defined as geological formations which took millions of years to form." with Natural Bridge as the most famous one - "a particular sandstone rock bridge that is 65 feet in height and spans 78 feet in length."

We spent the night at a very nice bed and breakfast (the breakfast was delicious!) and then headed out to Gray's Arch. By the time we got to Natural Bridge the batteries in both our camera and in Dad's had died so I think we have 4 pictures from there (none of which are of the Bridge, of course.) It just means that we'll have to go back and stay at the Hemlock Lodge there so we can get some pictures ;)

We were lucky to get such beautiful Fall colors on our hike.

Hiking. Bottom right was one of our four pictures at Natural Bridge.

K was starting to get a bit tired at the end.

I love how the top left leaves are almost all red but not quite and the top right picture has all green leaves except one.
Bot lt: Mossy tree roots. Bot rt: Gray's Arch

The weather was absolutely beautiful as was the nature. It was a really great weekend :)

Harvest Jamboree and StoryWalk

This past weekend we had the pleasure of taking advantage of two very fun and FREE Fall events. First up was the Harvest Jamboree that consisted of pumpkin decorating, wagon rides, kiddie mover, games, storyteller and animals for petting. K really enjoyed all of the attractions. I was hoping maybe she'd do the pony ride but no dice. However, normally K is terrified of feeding goats (and I have to say I don't blame her. They have crazy bug eyes.) But they had the sweetest most docile billy goat there and she just loved him. I even petted him too and while you would think his coat would be coarse it was actually quite soft. Who knew?

Top lt: Sitting on a big ol' pumpkin. Top rt: After decorating her own pumpkin.
Bot lt: Riding in the Kiddie Mover. Bot rt: On the wagon hayride with Daddy.

Top lt: Petting Billy the Goat. Top rt: Jumping off a rock (she'll jump off anything if given the chance.)
Bot lt: Petting a duck. Bot rt: Somebody had too much fun but Daddy provides very comfy transportation.

The next fun event we did was called StoryWalk. The local Rec Center posted pages of a book along the walking path and K would listen as we read a page and then RUN to the next page and plop down on the ground waiting for us to catch up. Along the way there were rocks to jump off, giant hills to run down and Daddy showed K how to break open Locust seed pods and then throw the seeds into the pond.

Top lt: Oh how I love that mischievous face! Top rt: Jumping off rocks.
Bot lt: Waiting for us to catch up and read to her. Bot rt: Darting off to find the next page of the book.

Top lt: Finding her own stash of Locust seed pods to throw in the pond. Top rt: Throwing the seeds into the pond.
Bot lt: My two little peas (or seeds in this case) in a pod. Bot rt: Heading home with Daddy and her new Brobee.

I'm always very impressed with how many truly fun things this town offers for FREE if only you look for them (or have a Social Event Coordinator friend like Sandy ;)

Fall Fun

The past few days, K and I have had the opportunity to enjoy some incredibly beautiful weather by getting out and doing some fun Fall activities.

On Thursday we met our Buddy Pal and his Mom at one of the MetroParks near downtown and after playing at the playground, K and I walked around this beautiful park for at least another hour. We met a very friendly squirrel who really enjoyed looking at K and she certainly enjoyed the attention. We also collected tons of leaves and sticks to throw over the edge of a beautiful red bridge so we could run to the other side and watch them float out below us. I couldn't resist taking some pictures of the changing leaves. I love Fall :)

Top left: bridge at the MetroPark. Top right: pretty tree at the park.
Bottom left: yellow trees along a street downtown. Bottom right: trees across the street from our house.

Along with the 80 degree days, we've had some beautiful sunsets and lots of quality time with Daddy.

Top left: sunset. Top right: the streamers on the playroom door casting a rainbow along the hallway.
Bottom left: Playing guitar with Daddy. Bottom right: collecting sticks to throw off the bridge.

Left: wearing Daddy's shoes on the bathroom scale. Middle: watching the sticks float back out. Right: tree by our house.

Our next door neighbor has a beautiful garden right outside her front door and it attracts these very cute white/yellow butterflies that K absolutely loves. She wants one to land on her so badly! She chases them around the flowers and tries to put her hand out for them to land on. My Mom has a book that K really enjoys and this happens to the main character. I think she really wants to reenact that scene.

On Friday we went with our other Buddies to an exotic animal ranch. It was ...interesting. Not bad or anything but smaller and more tightly packed than I expected for the price (not that it was super expensive but more than I realized it was going to be.)

Top left: the butterfly she was chasing. Top right: holding out her hand for the butterfly to land on her.
Bottom two: kangaroo and mountain lion from the exotic animal ranch.

Top left: miniature horse. Top right: coyote. Bottom left: camel. Bottom right: giraffe.

Top left: pot belly pig. Top right: deer. Bottom left: elephant. Bottom right: horses.

Top left: Highland cow (on my gosh, I loved this guy. I really wanted to take him home). Top right: donkeys for my Sis.
Bottom left: She is going to make a wonderful big sister. Bottom right: I was the only one brave enough to ride the pony.

Sorry for all of the pictures but like I said, we've had some very fun Fall days lately =D

JAK's Fall Family Fun Day

On Saturday we had Fall Family Fun Day which involved going out to breakfast, picking out pumpkins, Daddy making gingerbread cookies, Mommy making oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and decorating/carving the pumpkins. We were going to make caramel apples too but ended up running out of time. Maybe tomorrow...

K-Bear did really great this year. Like last year we let her use permanent markers to draw on her pumpkin but UNLIKE last year, I put the markers away immediately after she was done with them. To fill in anyone who didn't hear the story of the permanent markers from last year, I failed to put them away after she was done decorating and the next day, while A and I were upstairs hanging curtains, she managed to get the red Sharpie off the table and drew all over her face, hands, Lilly (her once-white stuffed lamb), a changing table we had disassembled to donate, and of course, the flat screen TV. Thank goodness baby wipes and dry erase markers get permanent marker off almost any non-cloth surface. It was almost a heart attack moment but like I said, thankfully we were able to get it off of pretty much everything. But this year I made sure not to repeat that mistake!

She also did much better this year at using the safety carver and actually doing a bit of carving on her pumpkin herself. She started by just making holes but then after Daddy carved some eyes and a nice toothy grin for her, she decided that I was the tooth fairy and she hacked out all of the teeth with the carving saw. I was having flash backs to Steve Martin as the Dentist in Little Shop of Horrors. I tried making my pumpkin a bit more scary this year because I always have the cute happy one but my pumpkin is nothing compared to the hacked out mouth of K's! Lol =D

Seriously concentrating on her work

Daddy adding a few drawings of his own.

Adding stickers.

She was very happy and proud of her pumpkin.

Daddy's, K's and my pumpkins.

With no flash to see their true nature.

A Day Out With Thomas

We've really been enjoying our weekends together lately. Today we had lunch with friends from back home who were here visiting family. We haven't seen them in a while and it was really great getting to spend time with the two of them. Last weekend we went to A Day Out With Thomas, the Disney Store and the Renaissance Faire. It was a gorgeous day and we really had a wonderful time. I thought I'd share some pictures from the Day Out With Thomas.

K with Daddy in front of the train.

K, Daddy & Lilly riding in Thomas' couches (she decided it was Clarabelle).

This is the professional picture we ended up buying.

We didn't buy this one but I might now that I look at it
again. We don't have too many pictures of the 3 of us.

K driving The Little Red Caboose.

The three of us in front of The Little Red Caboose.

She really enjoyed the train ride and seeing Thomas. I love this time of year and we are taking every advantage of the wonderful Fall opportunities around our area. I can't wait to take a Leaf Hike, get more apples, and pick out a pumpkin.