Photos Make Me Smile!

 Evening of Day 1: Niagara Falls taken on The Rainbow Bridge

Afternoon of Day 2: Picturesque Vermont

Late afternoon Day 3: Plymouth Harbor, MA

 Morning of Day 4: October Mountain near Lee, MA

Sunset on Day 5: Heading into New Hampshire from Maine

Day 6: Ice Glen in Stockbridge, MA

Day 7: Mt. Greylock hike in North Adams, MA

 Day 8: Centerport Aqueduct (original Erie Canal) Weedsport, NY

 Day 9: Waiting on the Blue Water Bridge to cross from Canada back into Michigan!

If you follow me on Facebook, then you might have viewed most of these pictures before. I just wanted to share one of my favorites from each day of our trip to New England. We had a wonderful time, spending quality time together as a family, geocaching (hitting #6000!), checking off more States and exploring. I could have stayed for a month with all the rich and wonderful history in the area!

We have one more trip planned this year, when we head to our favorite home-away-from-home in Panama City Beach, FL for Thanksgiving. And then, frankly, I'm done! :) I think that will make 33 States for the year, 3 Canadian Provinces and more miles than I can comprehend. Our poor Yukon XL....

It's going to be interesting to see what next year brings us! I love to travel, don't get me wrong, but I think I could use a little more down time in 2011. We'll see! :)

Wordless Wednesday: Fall Family Fun!

Taken in Maine on our trip last week...

Crazy Season!

It's about that time of year again when all the craziness is about to begin. I know that some are going to cringe when I say this, but it's only another 69 days till Christmas. That's right folks....2 months. That's it. It's not time to panic yet, but it is time to start prioritizing.

As I mentioned previously, we're leaving soon for New England and that will take up an entire week. Then we have Halloween and all the festivities that go along with it.  Following all that fun, my hubby is leaving for a business trip to Georgia for another week. A little break is in there somewhere and then it's off to Florida for Thanksgiving!

Once we return from Panama City  Beach, we'll have 3 weekends left before the BIG DAY. December is by far the busiest month of the year for us and I see this year as being more of the same. At least Christmas is on a weekend (Saturday) this year, which is kinda nice for a lot of folks who will be able to have Christmas Eve and Christmas day off without any extra vacation days being used. Bonus!

And then....it's the big push for our New Year's Geocaching Party. This is an annual event that we host in our home and it's really a riot. However, it takes a lot of work and planning to get ready for it and I basically feel like collapsing by the time it's all over! I love doing it, don't get me wrong, but at this point, January 1st is looking like not only the first day of the new year, but a much needed break as well!

 Me and my friend Tim at last year's party....

Falling for My Girls...

Wordless Wednesday: Sweet Smiles...

First Kindergarten Field Trip

 

Doesn't this apple look good enough to eat?

Well, I picked it and I ate it, too! 

Yum!

 Today we ventured out to Klackle Orchards in Greenville, MI for the first Kindergarten Field Trip of the year. We could not have asked for better weather, with blue, sunny skies and temps in the mid-60's. There were 120 kids in our group along with the 3 teachers and about 50 parents.

We were taken out to the apple orchards first, where we were instructed on how to pick an apple (lift & twist) and then let loose to fill our bags with delicious fruit. We could pick from the Golden Delicious trees or the Jonagold trees so we chose to get a couple of each! There's nothing better than fruit you picked yourself!

From the apple orchards we enjoyed our tractor ride over to the pumpkin patch were everyone was able to choose a perfect specimen to take back home with us. The girls made their selections quite quickly and it was back on the tractor ride. 

Lunch was a a bit hectic and there weren't enough tables for our group, but we soldiered on. For dessert, we enjoyed fresh cinnamon donuts with equally fresh cider....so good. The kids were then given about a half hour to play at the playground, which really helped to burn off some of that donut buzz. 

It was a great time. I was able to meet a couple of the other parents and really talk to their teacher since we sat by each other on the bus both ways. The girls really love her and I do, too. I think they're going to have a great year at Pine Ridge!

 Having fun at Klackle's!