Trip to the Orchard

We visited the apple orchard this weekend. Every year, I envision that we'll leave with bags of delicious apples to freeze and turn into yummy pies and tarts. But by the time we walk the grounds, take loads of pictures and play on the playground, my guys are usually tired and grumpy. So we at apple donuts, drank cider and called it a day!

The apple of our eye as the eye of their apple.

Rowan and Avery pose for the yearly height check.


Rowan climbs a giant pile of straw. I know what you're thinking: "Doesn't that seem dangerous?!"

Well, considering that older children were digging a tunnel through the hay...yes, I'd say it DID seem a bit dangerous.


Thankfully, Rowan stayed away from the tunnel even when the older children encouraged him to jump through it.

And he appeased his mother by flashing some half-hearted smiles for the camera.

Avery was a bit less compliant. A few seconds after I took this picture, she was throwing straw at me! ;) Hmmm...do we make these kids pose for too many pictures?

Breck thought that posing for pictures was yawnsville.

And clearly I was more interested in peoples' attempts to get Charlie to smile than he was.

Are we done yet? Seriously.

But then Charlie gave us this beauty! I caught him at just the right moment!

I even got one with Avery, Rowan and the grandparents. The kids are almost looking! Almost.

We had a great time and enjoyed a beautiful day.

Happy autumn!

The Sea Lion

Because Rowan is talking in his fast/high excited voice, I transcribed the conversation to help you follow along:

Rowan: Well, this is my sea lion and...

Me: Now wait a minute. What are you telling me about here?

Rowan: This is my sea lion made of your jewelry. And this is its nose, and it's holding a ball on its nose. See?

Me: That's cool. So did you make this?

Rowan: Yeah. Out of your jewelry. [If Rowan thinks that this is my jewelry, Kyle better buy me some nicer stuff! HA!]

Me: That's cool. Why did you decide that it's a sea lion?

Rowan: Because LOOK. See that? A ball on his nose? A tail like that! That's a sea lion. Except...it's not like a normal sea lion. It has a spot where water comes out.

Me: Oh, it has a spot where water comes out, so it's not like a normal sea lion?

Rowan: Nope, it's just like a fake sea lion. See that?

Me: Cool. K, give us a smile!

First Camping Trip

We took Rowan on his first tent camping trip recently. We all had a GREAT time! The weather was on the cool side, but we stayed toasty warm in our tent. And it was even warm enough in the afternoon for Rowan to do a little swimming.


On the way to the camp site, we stopped to have lunch in a park. We feasted on turkey sandwiches, home-popped popcorn, salmon salad and sliced apples.

When we arrived at the state park, we immediately set up camp. Rowan loved playing inside of the tent!

We had a hard time convincing him to come out of the tent to go exploring!

But we finally coaxed him out. And I made him pose for at least one picture with his mom. I always seem to be the one behind the camera, but I want to make sure that Rowan knows that I was present during his childhood!

After I got my picture, we did a little hiking.

Rowan liked to stay in front, confidently declaring, "I'm the leader!"

We watched many boats go by on Lake Andrew.

By late afternoon, it was warm enough for a dip in the lake! I can't believe how old Rowan looks in this picture. My little man is growing so fast!

I think Rowan enjoyed the water much more than Kyle! Why is it that cold water never seems to phase little kids?

After swimming, Kyle started a fire, and I made dinner. We ate hot dogs and hobo packs filled with potatoes, carrots, garlic, onions and mushrooms. And of course we toasted marshmallows and made s'mores for dessert!

When it got dark, Kyle took out the telescope and showed Rowan the moon!

We slept really well in our tent. When we woke up, Kyle started another fire, and I made breakfast. We had apple cinnamon muffins, hard-boiled eggs, turkey sausages (cooked in foil in the fire), yogurt and strawberries.

Rowan asked why we couldn't stay for a whole week! Um...I'm not sure that I could handle a full week of tent camping. Maybe a long weekend!

Kyle agrees! In fact, although he was a trouper (and the most experienced camper among us), he often could be heard spouting "Kylisms" about camping. Examples: "Why do fires have to create so much smoke?!" or "Next time, we're camping in a cabin!" or "Sleeping on the ground feels about like you'd expect."

He made such comments often enough that it became a running joke for me to sing a little jingle after each one. Rowan quickly picked up in it and joined in (leaving all of us laughing). Here are Rowan's renditions: