Apple Works Highlander Festival

A few weekends ago we headed down to good ol' Trafalgar IN for Apple Works Highlander Festival. There were arts, crafts, bagpipers, apples, and of course Carters favorite was the canon shooting!! The whole way home he kept saying, "mama, boom! dada, boom!!" I think he liked it!

Below is a picture of a few of the participants in the weekend, all dressed up, living out of tents, and cooking over the fire.

I just love this little barn. I think it is so pretty sitting against all the green. This cute little barn has tons of little games for kids to play including a bamboo maze, rope climbing, and a huge slide, which Carter and daddy thoroughly enjoyed.

Carter and Daddy loving the slide!

It is so funny to see this picture because last year we have a very similar picture from a different orchard and I can remember that last year I couldn't be more than a foot away because Carter couldn't stand very well and I was so afraid he would fall. Well, this year I couldn't be more than a foot away because Carter wouldn't stand still long enough for a picture. Isn't it funny how fast they grow??:(
(I would have posted a comparison but that is just one of many photos I lost when my computer crashed last week) I mean I have hard copies but no back-up.

As many of you may know Carter basically is in love with anything that has tires or engines. So you can imagine how excited he was when he saw this life-size homemade toy tracker. It took everything we could think of to get him away from it....it finally took a little bribing with the item below, which too has tires, an engine and even steam! You guessed it, Carter's other obsession TRAINS! Choo-Choo!

Carter and I loved our little ride on the train around the farm. We sat in the tender car right behind the conductor and Carter thought he was just the coolest little thing around!!

Totally Spooky

Disclaimer: This story is told based facts and the language and comprehension skills of an 19 month old. Believe if you will....proceed if you dare.


Yesterday evening I was still feeling a little under the weather, so Matt and Carter went on a walk and left me there lying on the couch with my blanket, the remote control and an Oprah I recorded from earlier. (Breast Cancer Awareness special...very important and well worth watching) Besides the point and back to the story. I was lying there, all was quiet, Oprah turned down low when all of a sudden one of Carters toys from the loft starting singing the alphabet "ABCD.."...kind of spooked me at first since nobody else was home. It stopped so I didn't think much of it, until that is when the two of them got home from their walk about 30 minutes later. Carter crawled up next to me and Matt sat down and then that stupid toy started singing again from upstairs in the loft. I looked at Matt, Matt looked at me, and he asked Carter jokingly, "Carter, do we have a ghost?" And Carter replied, "yeah", which totally sent chills down my spine. Matt probed more questions, "What does the ghost say?" As Carter answered confidently, "Rrrhhh". I freaked. Then Matt asked, "Do they say anything else?" I really didn't want to hear the answer but before I could cover my ears Carter said, "BOO"! I screamed! I mean really how does a 19 month old even know that is what they would say, you know, hypothetically?? I mean this is only his second Halloween season and it isn't like we sit around talking about ghost and so on. So to me, this totally seemed real. So about 30 minutes pass and Matt and Carter start going through the mail from the day and in the mail we got a little Halloween magazine with tons of costumes and little fall decorations. As they were looking at it, Matt opened it to a page with like, I am not even exaggerating, 50 costumes on one page. They included animals, people, ghost, Dracula, and many more. Matt asked Carter, "Do any of these look like the ghost?" Totally thinking he would pick like the cow or the chicken since those are the ones he would recognize we were surprised to see what he did point to. THE SKELETON!! Not even a ghost, only a skeleton, all bony and spooky! That was it. I am now forever convinced that my sweet little child has seen a ghost, skeleton whatever you wish to call it. Completely true story. Totally Spooky! The house is now on the market...any buyers??? Happy October!!

Just the two of us!!!

On the south side of town, there sits a little red barn with white trim windows, an old black lab basking in the sun, and the smell of apples all around. This is Adrian Orchards, a place that I have come to my entire life for their truly awesome, in-a-league-of-its-own, fresh apple cider. And now, I get to witness Carter experiencing the fun of the place first hand. This is where we come to weekly for our date day. We usually grab a seat right out front, share an apple, have some cider, and sit there listening to the birds and watching for airplanes...he never lets one go by unnoticed. This past week when we pulled in Carter was just too sweet and said, "Momma, Mmmm", as he got all excited to go in and get his free apple. And that alone was enough reason for me to continue this weekly date day...just the two of us, sitting there enjoying each other and our apples.

Above, Carter is waving for me to come-on-in and see the "doggy", which Carter says the dog says "Arr, Arr". Kind of like "Arf, Arf", without the "f", so more like a pirate!

After Carter picked his seat amongst the mums it took like what seemed forever for him to start eating because he had to point to every single flower and say "mum"...he didn't quite get that the flowering plant as a whole is called a mum. He was pretty certain that I needed to be aware of each and every individual bloom.

Carter, can you share your apple with mommy? And this is what I got! Of course, when I went to take a bite he quickly pulled it back and took a bite himself and laughed hysterically...this is his new favorite game, pretending to share.

He loves to walk around and see all the apples that have fallen.

Our life is a circus...

really it is!! But a few weeks ago we were invited to go along with Auntie Holly, Uncle Justin, Miss Ceili and baby Keaton to see what kind of fun the REAL clowns have at the Circus. We had such a good time! Carter really didn't know what to think of all the men in costumes but he loved the music, animals, and tight-rope walkers!!

Carter, looking just a little afraid or perhaps even a little confused about a guy with a big red nose!

After the show, we had Ceili and Keaton come over to our place to play for a few hours while their mommy and daddy went out on the town. Carter just loves when the Ice Cream Truck comes by our house...which is like twice a day. He starts dancing to the music and goes over to the window to watch it drive by and says, "Ice, Ice, Ice" that many times or more until one of us will acknowledge that we too hear the Ice Cream Truck. I, honestly, have always been a little leery of a man driving a truck prying his business on the taste buds of little children, so we, or I should say, I have never let Carter join in as the neighborhood children flock to the truck. Matt is always telling me that the Ice Cream Truck is really no different than Gymboree or The Childrens Place, both of which I love, because they too are only in the business to get money from little children. Ok, so maybe he is right and since Ceili was over for a special day, I guess it deserved a special treat...and they both loved it!!

Maverick, Iceman, Charlie...

an experience that is so completely for Top Gun lovers....The Mount Comfort Airshow! Since Carter absolutely without any doubt loves airplanes, Matt and Papa took Carter to the airshow. Seriously, every time Carter sees or hears an airplane he gets all excited runs to the window or outside to watch it go by then he points to the plane and then to himself and says, "Me, Me!!".

So here are a few pictures from their fun-filled day...Matt really was there just no photos of him:(

The Parachuters
Pickin' up some speed against the resistance of the airflow...kind of neat I thought!!

I thought this picture was really too awesome not to post....nice shot Matt!

This one makes me wonder what exactly are they watching!?!?

(notice they are looking in opposite directions)

Carter and Papa hanging out and sharing a sack lunch daddy packed for all of them. Looks like the three of them had tons of fun together!

Table Talk

Well, he is 18 months going on like 3 1/2 years. He thinks he is BIG boy these days. Above he displays his ability to say "cheese" and is open for some serious meal time negotiations with his hands politely folded on the table.

Not only can he say "cheese" but at 18 months he can say about 20 other words but his favorites still include "mama" and "more", which he says verbally and by signing "more" with his two little hands coming together. He doesn't get the whole concept that sign language really isn't needed after one can vocalize...so for now he uses both!

Also, at 18 months Carter is beginning to show his independence and his ability to be a Big boy! Here is a list of his Big boy habits:

*Sippy cups say good-bye...Carter prefers big kid cups and really does quite well using them!

*Move over Dancing with the Stars...Carter has some moves I am sure you have never seen! He absolutely loves to dance and demonstrates his routine nightly while I cook dinner!

* He also likes to sing in his soft, sweet little voice which I just love to hear so I spend most of my day asking him to sing to mommy...and he does!!

*He loves when we sing to him.

*The Itsy Bitsy Spider is still one of his all time faves...but now he knows the motions that go with it!

*Trucks, tractors, Excavators, Diggers, you name, he loves it!

*Sammy, our dog, continues to be one of his very best friends.

*Sand box toys never get old

*Mowing the grass with his bubble mower

*Racing around the living room on his digger while mommy or daddy chase him with this rocket. Really a sight to be seen!

*Reading book after book after book

* Sitting at the table with mommy and daddy in his booster seat wanting nothing to do with his food and everything to do with ours.

*Staying cool outside while playing shirtless and eating Popsicles.


*So, here we are 1/2 way between 1 and 2, wondering where all time has gone and being glad that we have done our best to enjoy every second of it.

Michigan.org

really is all that it is talked up to be!! We had a blast in Silver Lake, MI and here are some pictures to prove it. There are several so sit back and relax!

We stayed at the Jellystone Campground in Silver Lake. It was just minutes from the dunes and not far from the water. The kids enjoyed swimming, playing and riding bikes and us parents just loved the dirt that was EVERYWHERE! But the kids had fun and that is why we went...so never mind the dirt and have some fun!!

The beach was perfect and absolutely beautiful, and did I mention the weather could not have been any better. Sunny, 80's, nice breeze....just wonderful! Anyways, this is the lighthouse in Silver Lake and yes, dad, Ceili, and I climbed all the way to the top. The view from up there was amazing but my camera was out of memory....I need another memory card. So check out Holly's blog (I borrowed her camera) for pictures from up top!

~ Just us at the lake~

Here is Uncle Matt aka dada with Ceili and Carter building what started as a sand castle that eventually turned into a sand dragon....far cooler than a sand castle in my opinion!

Matt and Ty showing off their finished dragon! Looks good guys!

Carter and Keira enjoying the sand!

Carter just could not get enough of Shae. Really she could not get away from him. Even in the lake he wanted to be with just her. So here they are on the dragon that took Uncle Don like 10 hours to blow up!! Thanks Don, they loved it!

Carter, Keira and Auntie Nawna having a blast on the dune ride. They were just too cute! They were having so much going up and down the dunes. Both of them would just raise their arms and scream....I guess they were just letting us know they were having a good time as dad would always tell us when were were little "They don't know your having fun unless you scream". That pretty much applied to everything when we were young, riding bikes, roller coaster, etc and here we are catching ourselves telling our kids the same thing!!

Above is a pictures of the dunes from the dune ride. Silver Lake Dunes are nearly 2000 acres of sand that continues to grow each year. After riding around on them for a while the kids needed some rest and relaxation and Mac Woods Dune Rides had just the chair they needed.

Carter and Ceili sharing some homemade ice cream at the campsite! I thought it was pretty fun making the ice cream at the campsite but it made so much we couldn't eat it all and it was melting fast so our friendly little camp neighbors got in it as well....lucky them!

I was thinking since Carter loves trains soooo much that this little train ride would be cute. Cute pictures yes, but I will spare you the details, let me just say....HILLBILLY!

After spending a few days in Silver Lake it was time to head home but not without stopping in Holland, Michigan first. We took Carter to the Wooded Shoe Factory! We even found a little pair for him that had dump trucks painted on them which is like on of his absolute favorite things...they were perfect and he loved it. We put them on him and he just started walking around and laughing and smiling. Really, it was too cute for words. And he was a little upset when we had to take them off to leave! But not to worry they are now safely on display in his room and he likes to play with them every night after his bath!