Happy Halloween

Auntie JoAnn gave me the spider costume for Halloween. Mama and Obachan bought me the Lady bug jacket with matching red poke-a-dots leggings. Insects are the theme this Halloween!

Grandma's Molasses Cookies

Today Miss Beth and I took a long walk outside enjoying the colors of the leaves, came inside to play with the play dough and then made molasses cookies. I actually helped roll the cookie dough in sugar! Yum!

Pumpkins!

I'm still not understanding the concept of Halloween, but I do enjoy dressing-up. Kaitlyn and Lauren had "amazing" (word I learned from the street, Sesame Street) costumes which we all paraded around the All Seasons room. The entire family gutted and carved pumpkins, both little and small. Grandpa was spicing and roasting the pumpkin seeds. I was fascinated with Grandma's fake, plastic pumpkin, which I carried everywhere. Some of the many great moments that weekend were playing bumper cars with the green bean bags, hiding in the evergreen tree fort, carrying brussel sprouts in a basket followed by dogs, and climbing a tree for autumn photos!

Down Dog

This afternoon we drove down to Ohio to spend the weekend with Grandma Debby & Grandpa Steve for the annual pumpkin carving. My cousins, Kaitlyn and Lauren, will be arriving on Saturday evening. So until then, I kept Grandma and Mommy busy with yoga poses.

Halloween Party

The St. Francis play group Halloween Party

Homemade Playdough

I had the most wonderful day today. Ms. Beth made green play dough. Her mom used to make it for her when she was my age. We had the best time being messy and creative. By the end, I had a whole farm on my table complete with snake, chicken, and pig with a cap!

Playing Catch-Up

This evening I'm finally making an effort to catch-up on Kaylie's blog. Greg has been able to experiment with Tim's camera since the end of August so our system of getting photos loaded off and stored has changed a bit. I am a water buffalo and like to stick one system, the one I know. I am now learning our new method...more to come tomorrow...

Baker

Ms. Beth is showing me how to make homemade bread. This she says will be a fun activity during the winter days when we can not go outside. Today I helped her knead the dough. And I required lots and lots of water. OK, well... Ms. Beth told me that we will continue to work on my baker skills.

Harvest Festival

Adventures at the Pittsfield Township Harvest Festival 2009

Year Of Inspiration

Aunt Karen invited us to be her guests at the children's play, Aesop's Fables. Following the spectacular puppet show, we all met for a pizza party where I could play with my cousins. It was quite a magical day! Thank-you Aunt Karen for including us in your Year of Inspiration.

Bronner's Christmas Store

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way...and Elmo!

Empire Trail

Today the sun was trying to peek out from behind the clouds so Mommy and Dada decided to take a drive to Empire, Michigan and find the trail to the bluff overlooking Lake Michigan and the Manitou Islands. What a great adventure! I only fell once leaving one thin scratch on my cheek.

Children's Hand-On Museum

The Traverse City Children's Hands-On Museum was the best "house" ever. I was able to explore the large cylinder play set with slide, color acorns and squirrels, cook a meal for Mommy, splash in the water table, climb the blocks, and drink from the water fountain. Fun, fun... I was exhausted after all that.

Grand Traverse Commons

Today was a bit eerie. We visited The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, a fairly new concept of re-fitting older buildings for shopping, eating, and living. The Commons used to be part of a very large hospital for the mentally ill, an asylum. I usually like to run and explore on my own, but today I wanted Dada to carry me. I was really feeling insecure. Even Mommy and Dada mentioned that there still was the lingering of many years of unhappiness. I felt much better when we returned to our room at the Pine Reef Resort -- Loved playing in the kitchen!

Pumpkin Patch #2

The winery gave us directions to the second pumpkin patch where we got our pumpkins for carving. The farmers were not around, they just marked the price on the pumpkins (large for $6 or $7) and left a can to deposit the cash.

It was not until later that evening that we all went to the park near the bay. What a great vacation this is!