October in Muth

Our nephew Oliver was getting baptized, so we made a trip to Frankenmuth to attend and visit family.

We brought the kids Halloween costumes because my grandparents always love to see them dressed up.  Much to our surprise, Hannah and Kara were both butterflies and Jack and Oliver were both monkeys!  (This actually led to some confusion that resulted in us bringing BOTH butterfly costumes home with us after our trip!  Thankfully, we were able to find a Muth family from my parents' church visiting GR to take the costume back to Kara before Halloween.)

We took all 3 kids (minus Oliver) up to the nursing home to see my Grandma Cramer.

Needless to say, the costumes were a big hit with Grandma and the residents!

Sunday morning was Oliver's baptism, in which my dad participated, and of course not leaving a dry eye.

Following baptism, Todd and Courtney hosted a party to celebrate Oliver's baptism.  My mom's dream is to get all 4 grandkids in a nice picture with them.  This was as good as it got.  Maybe in a few more years...

Zoo Goes Boo

We have been so glad we got a zoo membership this year.  We have absolutely gotten every penny's worth out of it.  We made yet another trip there to attend their Halloween party - Zoo Goes Boo.

Our monkey and butterfly fit right in.

The kids get to trick-or-treat down one of the trails.  Hannah's been very shy lately when it comes to talking to adults, so we practiced her thank you's before we went.  At every table, I reminded her what she should say, and she looked right at me each time and told me thank you.  I guess it's a start.

Jack had so much fun being out of the stroller in the petting zoo.

Hannah was a bit disappointed that the brushes weren't out to brush the animals, but she had fun petting the animals nonetheless.

They also had face painting, and Hannah knew exactly what she wanted, a purple butterfly. 

We had a great time and are now looking forward to returning to the zoo in the spring.

The Last Spin

Since the weather just kept staying nice, we went for one more boat ride on Reed's Lake.

Here we are - Oct. 11 for our last ride of the season.

See you next summer.

Koetsier's with MOPS

Every year our MOPS group visits Koetsier's Greenhouse for fall activities, but this was the first year we were able to make it.

Jack spent almost the entire time in the corn box.

It was so nice because all of the play activities were inside the greenhouse area.  No worries about getting wet or being cold or even keeping track of kids.  Everything was nice and contained inside, including the straw maze.

We got to go on a hayride and pick out pumpkins.

Jack so badly wanted to follow Hannah into the inflatable train, so I finally gave in and went with them.  I must admit that it was pretty fun.

17 Months Old

Jack is 17 months old.  Here's what our guy is up to:

*He is a climber.  He always has bruises on his head due to falls that occur as a result of his adventurous climbs.

*He gives kisses and blows kisses as well.

*He still only has 8 teeth but has 4 molars that are almost through.

*Aunt Courtney gave him a hair cut, and he looks like such a big boy now.

*He continues to be my early riser but is content to hang out in bed until I come and get them.

*He is getting pickier at meal time.  He likes to transfer his food from his plate to his cup holder or chuck it over the side of the high chair to JJ.

*He loves to sit and look at books.  He even sits and listens to the stories with the big kids at storytime.

*He has some interest in coloring and scribbling with pencils.

*He's getting pretty good at user a fork and a spoon.

*His favorite activity is twisting on and off caps to empty bottles.  He walks around regularly with a bottle in his hand and it keeps him busy for qiute awhile.

Fall Play

A couple of weeks ago after church, we went for a fall color tour.  Since the weather was gorgeous, we let the kids get out and play at a park on Fremont Lake.

Jack is fearless.

Hannah had fun on this bouncing tire contraption.

Jason got roped into going down the slipperiest slide ever.

Like I said, dare devil!  As soon as he got to the bottom, he immediately headed for the stairs to go down again.

Dentist

Hannah had her first dentist appointment.  I was able to get an appointment for her right away, so we didn't have a lot of time to talk it up to her.  I was afraid she might be a little afraid, but she did great!

Such a big girl getting ready for her cleaning.  She chose bubble gum flavored polish for her teeth and did a fabulous job of laying still and opening her mouth for the hygienist.

After her cleaning, the dentist came in and looked at her teeth.  He was happy to report she had no cavities!  For doing so well, she got her picture taken to put up on the kids board, a sticker, toothpaste, and a new toothbrush (pink of course!).  I couldn't have been more proud of how great she did!

Evening Cruise

Poor Jason has been stuck inside at work during all of this beautiful weather, and he's been DYING to get out for a boat ride.  We finally had a free night to get the boat out as soon as he got home from work this week, and boy was he excited.

Jason's little boater.

Can you sense Jack's enthusiasm??

Jason in his glory.

Does it get any better than this?

Zoo

With the gorgeous weather we've been having, we've  been trying to get outside as much as possible.  It was only fitting, then, to hit up the zoo.

Jack was not so much into the barrel horse.

Checking out the petting zoo from the outside.  Closed for the day.

Jack's favorite part of the trip was banging on the drums.

This was one of Hannah's favorites, too.

The obligatory picture with John Ball.

Fruit Ridge Hayrides

Fall, my favorite time of year!  One of our favorite family traditions each year is to visit area orchards.  We made our way up the Kent Harvest trail to visit Fruit Ridge Hayrides.

Taking a ride on the wagon out to the pumpkin patch and orchard.

Grandma Cramer came along to help us find our perfect pumpkin.

This one!

Running to pick out her pumpkin.

Found one!

Digging through the corn to find a treasure.

We all agreed that they have THE.BEST.DONUTS.EVER!!!!!  Those donuts alone made the trip worth it. 

Jack and Hannah shared a powdered donut.

Soooooo yummy!!

I love this picture.  As Hannah got off of her chair to pet the kitten roaming by, Jack jumped up from his chair and snatched her donut off the table!  He doesn't mess around when it comes to food. 

Hannah gave all of the animals some love.

Happy fall!

Java Gym

Hannah got invited to her first big girl birthday party where she got to attend without me.  This gave me the chance to spend some rare one-on-one time with Jack.  We headed to Java Gym for some playtime.

After having a great time crawling and climbing, he was out as soon as he hit his car seat!