Apple Orchard part 2

My mom and I always meet at Anderson's orchard in Moorseville. I think Lane is mad in this pic about something, Sean probably made him mad. So we are watching everyone pick apples.

Boys picking out their pumpkins. Think goodness they picked out little ones. A big pumpkin can be up to $10. That seems like a lot for something you are going to tear into to carve and put on your porch for a few days. I really just sounded like a Rinehart just then.

Mike and Sean trying to get the highest apples, of course.

We are going to be eating apples until Thanksgiving.

Apple Orchard

Lane and I went to the apple orchard on a field trip with our preschool. I had to post this one b/c my mom liked it so well. It is very cute, especially how Lane is holding his bag of apples that he had to pick from the tops of the apple trees.

Thank goodness he is light, and holds himself stiff.

This was an awesome slide except there was a bump at the end, so adults had to keep their heads down. I refused to post the pic my mom took of me going down this slide. I am trying to get out of it and it is a total crouch shot, she is so good at getting those shots of me. Thanks Barb!

MooMoo got to come along with us! Then we went shopping.

1st Day of School

This picture was taken in front of Phyllis and Peanut's house on my 1st day of school with my Mom in 1980. My Mom and I had a good laugh looking at this picture. We laughed about her hair, her purse, her shirt and our shoes. (Too bad she didn't keep them, b/c they are back in style) A picture not shown, is the car she took me to school in, a huge gold Oldsmobile, which also made us chuckle. Look how times have changed.
Sean's 1st day of school. One day we will laugh and reminisce about these pictures too. Sean will say, "Look at my mom's hair and clothes, and remember the house we lived in." It was really exciting this morning, hard to describe. Almost like when you are expecting to give birth, but very calm. We ate breakfast, Sean picked out his clothes and he was so worried about his hair standing up. He kept asking if his hair was still down. He tucked in his new shirt and wore his new belt with his new shoes(Puma), like Daddy's. He was so big and Mommy was so proud.
Brian didn't really talk much. I'm sure what he was feeling. I know he thought I had taken enough pictures.
It was pouring down rain this morning. We had to wait on the porch for the bus, not to get soaked. Sean just kept asking, "is it 8:20 yet?" and "Why do they make porches?"

Lane said, while Sean was getting ready, "I don't want him to go!" He will be lost for awhile without his brother, b/c Mommy doesn't play the same, I'm sure. Lane had to dress like his brother this morning and wear his backpack while we waited. He really loves his brother. They are so funny together!
Finally the bus arrived. What a trooper, he got right on and was gone. No tears, but I felt really sad when the bus pulled away. 5 years has gone by so fast.

Rest Time!

Finally after all that swimming, we can let MooMoo rest in the little boat. (oops, should have posted in different order. You'll understand when you read the next post.)

How do you make two boys tired and hungry? Taking them swimming all day.

Swimming

Grandma Moo Moo and Sean at my mom's friends house in B-town.
S & L came up with a new game. Slide/jump across the raft like a penguin, except I was the holder of the raft. Not much fun for dear ol' Mom.
Then evidently a week ago, S & L, had a new babysitter come over and teach them this trick of holding the raft on the diving board and letting them slide off. And look again dear ol' Mom stuck holding the raft. I see a pattern here.

Finally, a slide I don't have to hold

Stay-cation

We went to Turkey Run State Park this last weekend with my Mom and Mike. My mom had this week off, and we have been keeping her busy with her stay-cation. Turkey Run is a beautiful park full of hiking trails and canoeing. Unfortunately, I cannot get Sean into a canoe, so we did not do any site seeing on the creek. (We, Brian and the boys, went there two years ago and took a canoe trip and my child who fears nothing, just kept repeating "I want on land," for 13 miles.) He remembers this and did not to try it again. But we had a great time hiking, the park was very busy (I think everyone else was on there stay-cation) and we encountered alot of obstacles to overcome hiking, as you will see below.
Of course, we got wet. I have two boys.
We particularly like this trail b/c it has three ladders and 140 steps that you encounter while hiking and keeps the boys entertained. My mom was making me laugh b/c she was so scared to climb down these ladders. She got out of going down one ladder and thought that she wouldn't have to go down anymore, so when we came to the next two, I think she said "oh shit!" She just couldn't believe that they would have people go up and down these ladders. Sean and Lane, so nicely kept singing,"Moo Moo is a scardy cat."
As you can see, she made it down with no problems. And I think had a good time.

What great Hats!

Grandma, you are still so much fun. Thanks to all for coming! I am so glad you had a great time.

Jim and Brian

Lane, you are my 4th of July hero!

Watching fireworks!!

Hawaiian Party

Every year our preschool has an end of the year fundraiser. This year they went with the Hawaiian theme. Every one was suppose to dress up, I would have gotten 1st place if there would have been a dress up competition b/c Sean and I were the best dressed. You can't see my complete outfit but I had my swimsuit on with the coconut bra and a hula skirt. We velcroed that parrot onto Sean's shirt. Of course everyone thought we looked great b/c their outfits were lousy. I was disappointed no one dressed up more. However we raised lots of money and the kids had a great time.

T-ball

Sean is doing a great job playing baseball. He can usually hit the ball from the pitcher, instead of the T. I have not seen him frustrated like he was alot last year playing soccer.
Aren't they just the cutest little guys ever? They look like such little men out there playing baseball. Lane's team is so funny, a bunch of 3-4 year olds running for one ball or some are just playing in the dirt or running around not paying any attention.

Wildlife

A red Fox- by the fence

For the past two years we have been seeing wildlife more frequently in our backyard. Normally, the red fox is seen sprinting through our back field after game, probably. But on this day he walked through our driveway and stopped by the fence and hung out for about 10 minutes. These deer make frequent appearances at all different times of the day, this day they were grazing through the neighbor's yard eating grass. I could not believe how close they let me get to get their picture. I love being able to see such animals in my own backyard, but it does make me sad to think that they are so close to busy streets and so close to the city. I hope we never see one of them on the side of the road.

Mac-n-Cheese

Lane loves his mac-n-cheese.

He almost finished the whole bowl.

How can such a little guy eat so much?

Look how long his hair is getting, he will not

let us touch it with a comb or anything to help

keep it out of his eyes.

Sean also likes mac-n-cheese, but I think he like

ketchup more.

BITE!

The sign says: These animals my BITE.

This is a newly posted sign at the zoo and

the emus are actually biting at the sign.

Just made me laugh!

Statues

The Thinker!

My kids being silly at the zoo with our friend, C.

As you can see they are being statues. C is the Statue of Liberty.
I have no idea what Sean and Lane are, probably some superhero.

Ice Sleet Snow Go Away!

Ice, Sleet and Snow didn't stop us from going 4-wheeler riding on Tuesday at MooMoo's house. There wasn't too much snow about it, but more a whole lot of sleet with an occassional flurry. I don't know if you can see it, our coats are really wet. We called ourselves the "Bandits", Lane and I are "Bandits 3." 3 is his favorite number, probably because he is 3. Sean and Lane really wanted to go outside, I on the other hand could have stayed inside but as a parent you try not to instill into your child that they can't do something because per say the weather. So hopefully this is one parenting skill I sometimes do right and we do stuff no matter the weather. And seriously it's Indiana weather, if you listened to the weather man everyday and waited for the most perfect beautiful day, you would never plan anything. Grandma MooMoo didn't help much with my parenting, the entire time while she is getting dressed she is saying "I hate putting on all of these clothes." Yes, it helped alot trying to get my kids dressed, NOT. We had a great time and my kids and I got some fresh air that we so badly need this time of year.

Silly Safari

Silly Safari came to our preschool for a education afternoon of fun with animals. As you see, Sean got to hold the tree frog. We had a little excitment when the baby kangaroo tried to escape. The animal keeper and a couple of parents pounced up to catch him before he jumped off the stage and he had the whole fellowship hall to run around in. That would have been a sight though, watching kids and parents trying to catch a fast baby kangaroo. We might have won some money from America's Funniest Home Videos if someone was recording, which I am sure they were.

It was fun watching the kids pet some exotic animals. All of the kids got to pet a baby kangaroo at the end. Of course my battery died at the end so I didn't get a picture of Sean or Lane petting the kangaroo. He never tried to escape after the first time.

Brian turns 30!!

Brian turned 30 on Jan. 7th. We had ice cream cake that noc for him. The boys sang and rocked out Happy Birthday to him with their guitars. They did an awesome job.

Chicago

Brian and I took a little trip up to Chicago after New's Year just for fun and get away before school started back up again. Kelly took us over to the Lake Michigan. The beach was covered in snow and ice. The closer you got to the water it became more ice and it was like you were standing on an iceberg in Alaska. As you can probably tell it was very windy and cold. It was really neat. I thought it was really cool that you could park in this parking garage and there was the grocery store entrance. We had a great time.