Three Cedars Farm

Today we were able to visit Three Cedars Farm and it has to be the cutest place I have ever seen.

I tried before going into the farm to get a good picture of the kids together...

Well good try mom :).  Our first stop was the bathroom because with Chase there is always a bathroom emergency. 

Isn't this the cutest decorated farm bathroom you have ever seen? Guess what though?

They were really just well decorated porta potties.  Good news was that they didn't smell and were much better than your standard porta potties.  After the bathroom stop we went to check out what the farm had to offer.

 They had a large play set decorated like a barn. It was so fun and the kids loved it.  Leah was climbing ladders and sliding all by herself. Inside the barn area Chase found some animals...

Or I guess he became some animals. On one side of the playset was a tractor area...

In the middle of the tractor area was a sandbox, errr....

Well it really is a cornbox. In reality it was much better than sand because it was so much less messy. The rest of the play area had several pin areas that had animals with stories to match. For example they had a pin with three pigs and the staging for the story of the three little pigs. On the fence was a button the kids could push to hear the story of the three little pigs.

We also had our first experience with apple cider and doughnuts.  I have been hearing about how great Michigan is in the fall because of the cider mills, apples, doughnuts, and orchards and now I know why it is so great! Yummy.

Chase had his apple cider in a pumpkin. The kids really had a good time at the farm and sometime this fall when it is not so muddy out we will have to go back and have some more fun. 

Happy Birthday Chase!

Monday my sweet baby boy turned 3. I cannot believe that 3 years have passed so quickly and my sweet baby has transformed into a little man.  He is so big, literally, he is the 95 percentile in both height and weight.  He is a Momma's boy. Which on some levels I am enjoying this time in which I am the center of his world because I realize how quickly the time goes by and before I know it he will not want anything to do with me.  He is still as active as ever, preferring to play "active" games than sitting and playing with toys.  He loves running and jumping, climbing, building tents and tunnels, playing baseball, kicking a ball, throwing a ball, fixing things, playing in the sand, and wrestling with daddy.  Under his 3 year old defiance he has a very tender and compassionate heart. He often thinks of others needs and wants to help when someone is in trouble.  Lately he is fascinated with firefighters and runs around putting out fires and calling himself a hero.  We are so thankful for our little man and if you would please join with us in praying for his salvation and God's wisdom in raising him.

We had already had his birthday party, so on his special day we had a small celebration at home. We had one of Chase's favorite (well favorite might me a stretch but it is at least a meal that goes down easy) which included meatloaf. Then we celebrated with CAKE...

Chase got to lick all the rings that were on the cake

Leah of course got to enjoy some cake as well. Please ignore her forehead, nose, and upper lip. It is just her latest face plant outside. She is going to break a bone or require stitches before long if I don't find a bubble to place her in.

After cake Chase enjoyed some skype time with both of his Grandparents. He loves to get to see them on the computer and show them his latest crazy activity.  Then Chase opened his birthday present....

Chase has been wanting to hit a ball so we figured this would be a good start for him...

And of course sometimes playing with the box is more fun than the toy itself...

Happy Birthday to our sweet little man!

Harvest Moon

This weekend is the Harvest Moon Celebration in downtown Farmington. From what I can tell the festival is local cover for a beer fest.  Or the description from the local paper does it better justice, "Sample harvest food pairings, sip crafted cider or artisan ales, explore fine wines and meads, relax by the fire, or just enjoy the music. Enjoy life in a small town on a Michigan fall day." Sounds pretty good doesn't it.  Well it would be if you didn't have small children. Luckily they did have some activities for small children.

They had piles of hay for the kids to run, jump, and climb on. Chase quickly became the king of the hill...

Since it was a little muddy out, Leah hung out in the stroller...

Chase's favorite activity was the giant pumpkin bounce house...

I think the little girl in the front of the picture is crying because her mom was making her get out... I don't think it was anything Chase did :).  The added activities spiced up our weekly farmers market trip and wore Chase out, double awesome!  He will be sad next week when there are no bounce houses at the farmers market.

Birthday Bash!

With Leah's birthday being on the 13th of September and Chase's birthday being the 26th of September we decided to throw one big birthday bash for the kids.  Not sure how long we will be able to get away with the combo party but it was fun this year.  Chase is in love with Curious George, so we decided to have a George party.  The night before the party George hung out on the couch with Kevin. Everyone needed a little R&R before the craziness that was to come...

 All the kid activities were themed around a Curious George story.  Curious George and the birthday surprise took care of the cake, decorations, and party favors.

We also had Curious George and the fire fighters where the kids got a fire helmet and some firetrucks to play with...

We had some sand to represent Curious George goes to the beach...

 We had a pile of costumes for the kids to dress up to go along with the book, Curious George and the costume party...

Ummm, OK so this was baby torture

Looks better on Kevin anyway :)

 Curious George Goes to the hospital provided band aids, gauze rolls, and medical equipment for the kids to doctor each other or the provided stuffed animals.

 Curious George goes Camping had a tent for playing and marshmallows for eating.

We had some miscellaneous toys for the kids to play with to represent Curious George and the toy store...

 And then we got really crazy and took a scene from the Curious George movie and from the Original Curious George book and allowed the kids to finger paint on the "walls" like George did....

 And of course you cannot forget the pinata...

 Before all the craziness started, I attempted to get a picture of the uncooperative birthday kids...

Once all the excitement started the only activity that got all the kids attention was CAKE...

The 1st birthday girl had a chance to dig into her very own personal cake...

Needless to say, she liked it :).  Both the kids had so much fun at their birthday party, thank you everyone for making it so special!

Visitors

We have had quite an exciting couple of weeks that have gone by way too fast!  Over a week ago Grammie and Papaw arrived and of course they didn't come empty handed...

Chase and Leah had a ball finding their new pillow/sleeping bag animals and then trying them out.  They of course were also very excited to see Grammie and Papaw too!  Leah tried on her new mittens that Grammie made for her...

 On Saturday we took Grammie and Papaw to check out the farmers market and then spent some fun time playing at the house.  On Sunday we took a drive out to the campground where Chase had a ton of fun hanging out in Grammie and Papaw's big trailer. Tuesday was Leah's birthday so we of course did some celebrating...

 Leah of course had some help from her big brother...

 Thank you Grammie and Papaw, Leah loves all her new stuff!

On Wednesday Chase was able to show Grammie and Papaw all the animals at the Farm.

We had such a wonderful time with Grammie and Papaw, it really went by way too fast. Thank you for taking the time to come and see us!