Halloween Activities 2013

Our Halloween activities started at the beginning of October.  Some friends invited us to camp with them at a nearby campground during one of their Halloween Weekends.  It was a warm weekend for October which made it nice to be outside.  It was rainy too, but only at night while we were sleeping.  The kids enjoyed a scavenger hunt, looking at the campsite decorations and trick-or-treating.  There was a haunted hayride too, but we figured they were too young.

Morgan as a fairy and Blake as Hulk.

The kids with our young friends.

 

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The following Friday night we had made plans with another friend of mine to go to one of Greenfield Village's Halloween nights.  It had cooled off a bit, but was a pleasant night and perfect for being outside.

 

The kids just outside the gates waiting for our time to go through.

The amount of carved pumpkins was AMAZING!  There must have been hundreds lining either side of the walking path, plus more stacked in places and the neatest was seeing several decorating a tree!!  (Bottom left picture is the tree with the jack-o-lanterns.)

There were several 'spooky' sites, but nothing really scared us.  Some of our favorite spots were a covered bridge that was full of smoke, the carousel with ghosts riding, the mad scientist lab where all the glassware glowed neon colors and the headless horseman!  The kids thought for sure the headless horseman must have been fake.  We reassured them that he was alive.  His costume was just so good that you couldn't really tell that his head was in it...we didn't tell the kids that though ;-)

 

There were also treat stations along the way with people in really neat elaborate costumes.  The whole experience was really quite awesome!  The only thing I wished was different is that it wasn't so crowded!  Keeping track of the kids, in the dark, in shoulder-to-shoulder people, was a tough task!  Thankfully they're really good about sticking with me.

 

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We didn't make any new decorations this year, but we enjoyed the ones we already have.  The kids absolutely LOVE the decorations that glow and had me take pictures of them all.  They thought it was fun to turn them all on and shut the lights off to make it 'spooky' in the house. :-)

 

 

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We also took advantage of the library's Halloween activities this year.  They had a Halloween Origami night this year.  The kids were able to make some neat origami pumpkins and bats!

 The library also had a movie night where they showed Monsters U with snacks, a treat bag and a costume contest.  Blake was still the Hulk, but Morgan changed her mind the week before and said she wanted to be a vampire.  When I asked her why, she said her teeth made her look like a vampire anyway!  LOL!  (She was missing her 2 front teeth.)  I didn't think it'd happen, since we didn't have anything to make her look like a vampire, but she found a cape at her grandma's, she wore her own black pants and white shirt, Blake's vest and some orange teeth he got from his teacher, we pulled her hair back and she inherited her pale skin from her mom.  ;-)   She was all set!  She won 2nd place ($2) in the costume contest! :-)

 

 

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Halloween day was busy!  I didn't even stop to take pictures...how bad is that?!?  The kids had their Halloween activities at school that I went to to be with them.  They went at separate times to see a magician who was quite good and it was all Halloween themed tricks!  They would typically parade through town and the businesses would hand out candy to them, but it was rainy and our town's main street was torn apart, so someone from each of the businesses lined the hall of the school to pass out candy.   Then they'd usually enjoy donuts and juice outside, but they had that in their classroom instead.

 

I then took them out of school early, so I could run them over to meet up with my mother-in-law and go to Rich's great-grandmother's nursing home were they handed out candy to the kids.  Afterwards we had dinner with Rich's family, then spent the rest of the evening driving around visiting family.

 

That was the gist of our Halloween this year.  Very fun times that I'm sure we'll always remember. :-)

Backyard Camp Out 2013

We had been trying to camp out since this kids got done with school, but for various reasons it just wasn't working until this past Friday.

 

 

Our 'camp'.  The kids slept with us in the big tent, but they liked the idea of the little one being set up to play in. :-)

Rich spent time playing with the kids while I prepared the food to bring out, then I played with the kids while he cooked the hot dogs.  Blake and I were mastering our version of whatever game this is suppose to be...we may have even been playing it right! :-)

 

Morgan practiced throwing the football into her little tent before I switched things up and played Frisbee with her.

Time to eat!  Hot dogs, chips, cheese and watermelon!  Yum! :-)

 The kids enjoyed hanging out and telling 'ghost' stories after they were done eating.  Blake told me a short 'ghost' story..."There were two kids.  A monster got them.  The end!"  LOL!  Gotta love their innocence! ;-)

 

 Couldn't camp out without S'mores! 

We had several visitors throughout the night between the cattle, chickens and cats. Plus my parents stopped by with some friends before going to Music in the Park.

 

This was definitely the most interesting visitor...Fireflies/Lightening Bugs!  The kids had a BLAST running after them and Rich and I each caught them one for them to see.  Unfortunately I couldn't get a picture of them lit up, but the kids each got a chance to hold one and LOVED it!

 

We also had some neat views that night.  The sunset...

 

...what I think is called a "Powered Parachute"...

 ...and fireworks ALL AROUND!  Morgan loved it all SO much that she asked if we could camp in the back yard this weekend every year. :-)

 After cleaning up a bit and brushing teeth, the kids and I settled in to read.  I couldn't figure out how to get a picture of us reading, so I just got a pic of the three of us together.  We were so overtired that these pictures made us laugh so hard we cried!

 

We then read by flashlight and settled into our spots to sleep...and that is when the real excitement began!

 

I think Morgan and Blake fell asleep fairly quickly and I may have too for a bit, but I kept hearing the breeze blowing the cover of the tent.  I lay there trying to sleep and listening and wondering why I didn't remember the cover flapping around so much when we've camped in it before.  After a couple hours of barely sleeping, it finally hit me...we didn't tighten it!  Of course I then wondered if I wanted to get up because then I might as well run in and use the bathroom, but if I didn't then I'd lay there awake...and since bathroom already crossed my mind I decided I better get up.

 

Well, tightening the cover (and using the bathroom) made a huge difference in the noise and I fell asleep.  (By this time Rich had come to bed too.)  Next thing we know something attacks the tent!  We see the shadowy outline of the body and two pointy ears of a cat!  Rich swatted the side of the tent and it took off...for a while.

 

A little while later, a cat attacks the tent AGAIN!  (We're pretty sure the kids were touching the sides of the tent in their sleep, which was probably really interesting to the cats.)  This time Rich gets up to get rid of it and 'bathroom' crossed my mind again, so I figured I might as well go.  As I go through the house, and pass my bedroom, I see the bed and long for some 'real' sleep, but I can't abandon my family in the tent...plus I heard scurrying in the ceiling and knew that would just keep me awake in the house anyway.

 

So, it's about 4:00 am and I think I'll at least get a few hours of sleep.  I may have dozed off for a bit when I hear some nasty raccoon-like growling then hear Bear yelp.  I tell Rich he HAS to get up and check on Bear.  (Poor guy...pretty sure he had slept through it.)  Anyway, he gets up and finds that Bear is fine and figures he tried crossing his fence-line and got a shock going after the raccoon.

 

At this point you think there really couldn't be much else, except for the fact that the cattle caught site of Rich and start bawling to be fed!  Thankfully that only lasted a little while and I slept for maybe another hour before the sun starting warming the tent into a sauna...plus I needed to get up to get the kids some breakfast and dressed before my parents came to get them at 8:30.

 

As I couldn't sleep through the night I kept thinking how tired I'd be and how awful the next day was going to be.  I have to say it really wasn't that bad!  I laid down for a bit while Rich took off to drive the fire truck in the local parade, but maybe slept for a half hour and was fine.  My parents said the kids were fine too.  So, as rough as the night was, it all ended up being okay and we have some super fun, and funny, memories of our 2013 Backyard Camp Out! :-)

 

Summertime Fun

The last week and a half we've been busy with all sorts of things, which is why I kinda took a little break from blogging.  I say 'kinda' because I was actually going to take the week off to catch up on a bunch of things I wanted to get done (which you'll see I managed some), but we ended being invited to several other things last minute and many chores still aren't done...the time spent with friends and family was WELL worth it though! :-)

Cookouts:
We've had the opportunity to have several barbeque's with friends.

One afternoon/evening was spent with two other sets of friends and their kids. We all had a blast between watching the kids on the a water slide, good food (and drinks), music and dancing with the kids in the backyard. :-)

On Independence Day, Rich had the day off and we all went to watch a parade with my lifelong friend's family, then to their house for burgers and an afternoon of catching up.

We had a 4th of July party over the weekend that we attend every year where we see several family and family friends, enjoy good food and enjoy some fireworks.

Play Dates with Kids' Friends
Morgan was invited to help a friend at her lemonade stand during their yard sale.  We made a couple batches of cookies to go along with the lemonade and headed over.  Blake made friends with the oldest of the younger brothers quite quickly and her mom and I had a great time getting to know one another.  Unfortunately it rained, so the lemonade stand and yard sale were a 'no go', but it was still a fun time.

Blake's best friend's mom called one morning to have Blake over, so Blake spent much of that afternoon with his buddy.  I then enjoyed some time talking with his buddy's parents when we went to pick him up. :-)

Time with Rich's family:
We went to Rich's parents for a Sunday breakfast and just to see them. We had been busy the week before and hadn't gotten to see them for their anniversary and my father-in-law's birthday.

The kids also spent a night and when we went to get them they had barbecue ribs for lunch and we were able to spend more time with them.

Time with Cousins:
The kids spent an afternoon at my parent's with my nieces building forts and fairy houses.

Another morning my parents grabbed the kids first thing and they all met up with my brother and nieces to see some beautiful gardens about 2 hours away.

A Baby Shower and a Fair:
Morgan and I went to my high school friend/college roommate's baby shower as Rich took Blake to the town's 129th annual fair.

Gardening:
We had a fairly cool day in the mid 60's so I wanted to take advantage of the temps and work hard at working up and weeding the garden.  I would say a good 4 hours in the garden and it was looking good...for about a day. ;-)  I try to work at least a half hour a day to keep up, plus Rich and I water the garden when it doesn't rain.

Fireworks:

The night of the 4th, I popped a couple bowls of popcorn and we grabbed some snacks and drinks at the gas station, then found a side road to sit and watch the neighboring town's fireworks.  We all sat in the front of the truck enjoying our snacks and a wonderful (uncrowded) view of the fireworks.

Backyard Camp out:
We did our backyard camp out....more on that later....it needs a post of it's own! ;-)

I apologize for posting without pictures, but the only ones I got this last week were of our camp out and random other stuff.  So, even though you can't visually see all the smiles, friends, fireworks, food and general good times, just know that it was a GREAT week! :-)

I hope you're all having a fun-filled summer as well! :-)

Our Indoor Campout

I'm bummed to admit that we didn't make it camping this year as a family, so as Rich went camping with some fellow firefighters this weekend for the Michigan Fireman's Memorial Festival, I decided the kids and I would also do a little camping of our own.

Since it was FREEZING (literally) outside, I thought it best to do it all inside. Of course it was nothing like true camping, but the kids and I still had a ton of fun! (That's all that matters, right?!)

We made hotdogs in the microwave instead of over a fire.

Then did S'Mores in the microwave instead of over the fire....

...they're just as yummy and sticky! (Blake couldn't stop laughing when his marshmallow did this!)

We rented and watched a movie instead of sitting around the bondfire.

Great movie by the way. We added in an intermission to make some popcorn on the stove instead of over the fire. (And air mattresses are the best!)

And we finished off the campout sleeping in the living room instead of in a tent.

The kids have never slept in the living room before overnight. They were SO excited and felt super special being able to stay up with me. I was equally happy to have their company while their Daddy was away. :-)

We'll definitely be doing more indoor campouts in the future! Next time I'll take more time to plan to make it a little more like camping ;-)

Michigan Fireman's Memorial Festival

We spent this last weekend camping at Higgins Lake and enjoying the Michigan Fireman's Memorial Festival. We went up on Friday and had a steak dinner at the campgrounds with the guys from Rich's fire department and the neighboring town's fire department. Rich went out the the guys afterwards to the barn on the festival grounds for a few drinks while I slept! :-)

Rich's past chief's name on the wall.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to go to the memorial service. As we arrived, the rain started, came down hard during the whole service then, in a very timely manner, stopped when the service was over and the sun came out! Rich's fire department had his past fire chief's name put on the wall and they laid a wreath in his honor. The family also gave a donation in memory of him.

The kids trying to stay dry during the service.

Rich's fellow firefighter speaking about their past fire chief.

Rich, some of the firefighters and their past chief's mom by the name on the wall.

We skipped the parade and went back to the campgrounds to dry off a while before going to watch Rich in his Search & Rescue competition. He and his team (4 of them all together) had 15 minutes to get suited up and go into a dark, smoke-filled, three story structure and try to retrieve two rescue victims. The team did an awesome job coming in 3rd place and was the only team to find both rescue victims. (They were unable to get the 2nd victim completely out before they ran out of time, so they didn't receive points for it.)

The Search & Rescue team waiting anxiously.

Their time has started and they're getting their gear on.

Heading into the structure.

Rich waiting outside for his turn to run in.

The cheering section....my in-laws, their dog and the kiddos.

Morgan cheering "Go Daddy Go!"

The team!

Aww :-)

After the guys got their plaque and other prizes we went out for dinner at the local bowling alley and then back to the campgrounds. Sunday we packed up and did some more looking around at the festival grounds before heading home.

Posing with their plaque.

It's awesome to be able to go to such an event each year. Not only do I learn more about what goes into being a firefighter, but it's just a wonderful way to remember and honor those who gave their lives keeping their communities safe.

Summer 2010 Update #2

This summer has been BUSY! I'm going to try to catch you up with everything we've been up to, but I'm sure I'll miss something. (And you'll probably be glad I missed it, because it's already going to be a LONG post! LOL!)

Forth of July weekend was packed, especially that Saturday! We had a parade to ride in the fire truck. Morgan decided she wanted to watch the parade and get candy, so she watched with my mom and Blake rode in the truck. Every year in the 4th of July parade, they set up the engine to shoot out water and it's a HUGE hit with the kids....they were running behind waiting for us to stop and shoot out water again...even the adults were asking for it as we drove by! SO much fun! :-)

We also had a birthday party on the 4th of July Saturday for a young cousin who was up from Virginia and later we had a 4th of July party with fireworks and a bunch of fun! It was an AWESOME day! :-)

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The following weekend the kids and I went to the tip of the thumb (of Michigan) and camped with my family. We left on Friday, but Thursday night, as Rich, the kids and I were dragging home our calves that had gotten out from a half mile down the road, my dad called and asked if the kids and I would want to head to Minnesota to visit my mom's uncle after camping. It was going to take the whole next week of driving and camping. As last minute as it was I decided we'd go. Here are some pics of the trip:

The kids playing in Saginaw Bay.

Just crossed the Mackinaw Bridge.

Lots of camping on the trip!!

Blake in awe at the Mall of America in Minnesota.

First time eating at the Rainforest Cafe.

This was in front of our table.

Us minus Morgan who didn't want to be in the picture.

The Volcano dessert....YUM!

Morgan was excited to try it ;-)

The Lego store in the mall.

The kids watching all the rides from the American Girl doll store.

So we went on a ride on the Ferris Wheel! This is when they first got on.

And THIS is when it started moving!

View from the top of the mall (top of the Ferris Wheel)...it's HOT up there!

After the mall, we went back to my mom's aunt and uncle's and stayed the night. This pic is of Blake the next day as we headed back home.

We stopped at the Leinie Lodge in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin where the Leinenkugel beer is made. (It's the beer in the movie 'Escanaba in da Moonlight')

This is the storm that was coming while we were at the Leinie Lodge...and the reason we only stayed for a short time...we left to try to stay ahead of it, but it didn't work! That had to be the scariest storm I've ever been in...tears in my eyes, hugging my kids-no fun!

This is at the hotel we stayed at since it was storming. No fun camping while it's storming!

Had to take advantage of the pool while we were there!

Blake still not sure about going in the water...never been in a pool before!

But he changed his mind...

...and had a blast!

That was the extent of the trip. We stayed a night in Mackinaw City on the way home and mom and I got to do some shopping while dad watched the kiddos at the campsite. I also had a tick stuck to me the next morning....Heebie Jeebies!!!!

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The next week we got 5 new windows! I took the kiddos to my MIL's and went out to eat with an old friend while Rich stayed with the window guys. Well, while at my in-laws, we saw a kitten she had and it was just too cute to leave to possibly be eaten by all their doggies, so we brought it home :-)

This is Leinie...yes, after the beer! See Bear in the back...very anxious to do some cat chasing! ;-) (Don't worry, he doesn't eat them.)

The Friday we got the windows was also the start of the Yale Bologna Festival! I met up with some college friends that night to watch the fireworks. The next night, the kids, Rich and I went to the Bologana parade and then Sunday we headed back and had some Bologna sandwiches under the Bologna tent! ;-) LOVE that festival! It's very family friendly and always fun!

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The next week we had Rich's birthday. The kiddos got cuddly in a chair during it and it was too cute to pass up pics! ;-)

LOVE this face! I think they were having lemonade.

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The weekend after Rich's birthday, we also had my grandfather's memorial service and the next day was the annual family reunion. It's always at my aunt and uncle's place on the St. Clair river, so it's fun watching the freighters float by-they're HUGE!

My sister with one of the 4 Scotties running around.

Blake had a blast in the bounce house.

Morgan had a blast in the pool!

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Of course our garden has been producing. I've gotten 62 pints of green beans canned, 16 pints of corn froze, more squash and zucchini than we could handle, but it's been fairly easy to give away and we grew eggplant for the first time. It's a very new thing for us, since neither Rich nor I had ever even eaten eggplant before, but it's been interesting. This is the Eggplant Parmesan that I tried making. :-)

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Besides all that we also made it to the county fair, but I forgot to take the camera :-/

Like I said, a BUSY summer...and this post only covered July! (Except for some of the garden update). I'd like to have another update with the August happenings too...not quite as hectic thankfully ;-)

I hope everyone has had a wonderful summer too! :-)