Seeing orange...

Almost a month of no blogging...oops.

There's so much orange around, I love it! It is after all my favorite color. If you ask my mother she may even recall a time during my childhood when I refused to eat anything that wasn't orange. (True story. Though it didn't last longer than a week at most.)

Anyway, with fall in the air Jack and I have been going outdoors a lot. One of our favorite things to do is "crunch" the leaves (they turn a lovely rusty orange shade when they're perfectly crunchable). Whenever we see these leaves on the sidewalks, we walk all over them (ok, it looks more like a little dance) until they don't crunch anymore. Then Jack announces "all done!" And we look for another one :) Seriously fun times with a 1 1/2 year old.

In other orange news, we went to the pumpkin patch tonight! We took the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch to pick our own pumpkins. At this point Jack was more interested in the tractor that towed the hay ride than the pumpkins or the hay ride itself. After we picked out the perfect pumpkins we headed back for homemade cider and donuts (which are beyond delicious.) And then Jack found great happiness in a couple of the kittens roaming the farm...

The hay ride

The tractor...of course.
Beautiful day!
Jack announces enthusiastically "APPLE!" And I shake my head and say "No sweetie, it's a bitter pumpkin!" Too late. But too cute!
One of the cats that caught his attention...he was SO happy to hold it all by himself!And the video...(it's about 2 min. FYI)

For more orange cuteness...take a look at this!! I ordered Jack's winter gear and it arrived today. I can't decide if he looks more like an astronaut or a convict or a little orange Eskimo. The coat however will be going back b/c Jack's noggin is really too big for the opening in the pullover style (we'll get a "regular" zip up coat instead...but still orange!) Anyway, I at least had to snap a couple pictures...even though he wasn't very happy :) (He kept saying "Mommy, no, no, no furry!")


And last bit of orange news...I bought a new pair of shoes for myself :) You guessed it...they are orange! (And while slightly ugly, unbelievably comfortable...)

Mackinac Island...(the first half)

We made it home today from Mackinac Island. We had a FANTASTIC time! What a beautiful place to visit in the early fall. It's not too crowded and the weather's not too hot (or cold!) There are way too many photos for one blog...so here's the first round. I'll try and get the rest of them up soon with another blog.

First, a picture from last week that I just love. Jack and his "og." My friend Carrie got this for him before he was even born and now it gets carried around with him everywhere :)
On the way up north, we met up with Rob's parents who were just coming back from the island. Perfect timing to meet them for lunch :)
The ferry! It was windy, but not too chilly so we decided to ride on the top for the best view. And Jack loved it :)

We headed to Fort Mackinac the first day. Wow, it's been a long time since I've been there, but the walk is just as high/steep as I remember...
...but what a beautiful view from the top.




Having fun in the children's area in the fort.

And getting into things we probably weren't supposed to.
A canon! (But I think the bird nearby was more interesting at that moment.)Chasing the geese with daddy on Mission Point

Mission Point Resort
Walking the streets downtownAnd at the not surprisingly vacant harbor

The horse outside of our bed&breakfast...Jack didn't want any help holding on.
See! I'm a big boy.But I guess I'll take a picture with you too, mom.
Up at daddy's level

Lunch on the water...it was a BEAUTIFUL day.We found a playground!
Wee!
Hmmm...what's up here? The top was nowhere in sight.Beautiful and well worth the 20 min. climb.

...and the rest to come in a later blog!

Pictures

Just a few pictures to share from the last week...

The "big boy" swing, all by himself :)

Tuckered out and taking a rest at the park after lots of fun.

Corndogs in Grand Haven (yummy) and watching the boats.

First time actually IN Lake Michigan...of the bazillions of times we've been there it's always been too cold to actually go in. Rob and I forgot our own swimsuits though. Oops.

And of course, can't forget to mention how much he enjoys the sand.

Being goofy with daddy's shoes.

And Holland State Park...where we frequent the most. It was BUSY on Labor Day.

My usual (and unsuccessful) attempt at a sweet family portrait.

Watching the boats head out to the big lake...while waving and saying "hi" to each one.


Ready to go home! Or as Jack says "dull dun!"

The tractor video

I finally was able to upload it to youtube...enjoy :)