The Great Wolf Lodge

A couple of months ago Ben's cousin shared a deal that the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City was running. We decided that a night away at an indoor water park would be a fun getaway for our small family. We went last week and had such a great time. It was just our family for two whole days. What a wonderful treat!

Part of the hotel room was sectioned off for the kids. They loved sleeping in the Wolf Den!

They even had their own little TV in the Wolf Den.

Although they each had their own little peephole by their bunk, they thought it was great fun to climb up and peer at us over the top.

Evie Kate is ready for the pool! She did great in the water! No tears, no fussing. I am so thankful for this girl's sweet spirit. She just goes with the flow.

Pizza for dinner! It was a late dinner since we had been at the water park. Evie was already sleeping. It's not always convenient to have the entire family sleeping in the same room but I have to say - we had no trouble with it at all! Evie slept right through dinner and the older two fell asleep early while Ben and I stayed up.The water park was a lot of fun. We went down small slides and big slides. We jumped on big floating lily pads and ran through the splash pad. We floated down the lazy river and swam in the big pool.
We had a great time. Ben and I took turns watching the kids so that we could go down the big tube slides ourselves. I wasn't able to take very many pictures because with three small kids both Mama and Daddy were in the water.

A Little Physical Education

Ben came home from work yesterday and announced that after dinner he wanted to go to the gym and teach the kids how to play hockey. The kids certainly could use a little running, so that's what we did. My pictures are blurry because my camera batter was low. Owen looks so tall here, like a real life kid. I can't believe how old he is already.

My Aubrey girl

Family fun!

And here's the little cheerleader on the sidelines!

We Have Snow!

These two LOVE their Daddy!

There's a big hill in the back yard perfect for sledding. It's not very easy to climb up but it's fun to go down!

Aubrey watched Owen go down the hill before she gave it a try.

She liked the ride!

Gaining speed before reaching the really steep part.

I love the look on Owen's face in this picture.

Now how do I get back up to the top again?

Daddy and one of his girls.

Legos

I'm not sure who in this picture is having the most fun! Legos are such a great toy!

Painting Pumpkins

I threw a couple of my old shirts on each of the older kids (so please excuse Owen for being dressed a little feminine) and we painted some of the pumpkins we got out of Grandpa's garden.

Aubrey enjoys anything messy

Owen originally painted a face on his pumpkin and then decided to mix up all of the colors and paint over it.
I decided to paint one too. It was kind of fun - I was still painting after the kids went to bed. We didn't do these kinds of things when I was a kid so I decided to give it a whirl.

Fallish Fun

Uncle Korey and Owen taking a walk through the woods
Playing at Spicers Orchard

I'll take all the lovin' I can get!

Two of Aubrey's favorite things: tractors and motorcycles. I have no idea why.

Owen and his closest (in age) cousin, Carson. They are ten months apart. Owen loves playing with his cousins!

Uncle Korey and Aubrey (somehow I didn't get a single picture of the kids with Aunt Sharon!)

Spicers Orchard

Apple Picking

With the gorgeous weather we've been having and with our special guests in town, we decided to go apple picking one morning.

His face doesn't show it, but the apples were delicious!

Evelyn only got to chew on my shirt

Aubrey will eat anything, almost.

Normally it is me that gets teased in the family for being so cheap. But now I have proof that even Kim likes to get more for the money. I mean, if it wasn't for her index finger holding it in place, there's no way that last apple fits into the bag!

Blueberries!

Aubrey woke up Saturday morning begging for blueberry muffins. Since I didn't have any on hand I thought it would be a good time for us to go blueberry picking. Last year I took the kids picking when Aubrey was 11 months old. It was then that we discovered her obsession with blueberries. I posted about it here. Things have not changed. It was a very hot and humid day on Saturday and she was soaked with sweat after a couple of hours of picking. But she still had a great time. Ben, Owen and I picked close to 12 pounds worth of fruit. I can only imagine how much Aubrey ate. She was off on her own picking with both hands and shoveling it all into her mouth. NONE of her berries made it into the bucket. She even kept trying to sneak handfuls out of our buckets. She was as happy as could be out there in the bushes. Owen isn't a huge fan of blueberries but he worked really hard picking them. Despite the heat he never complained. He just worked and worked.

Unfortunately I forgot my camera so Ben took a few pictures with his phone. I saw several people point and giggle at the sight of Aubrey stuffing her face.
Hmmm . . . which bush should I eat from next?

Ben even took a picture of me out there (a joke from a previous post)

My hard working boy

I'm looking forward to blueberry muffins, pies, crisps, cobblers and frozen berries all winter long!

Aubrey Rides a Roller Coaster

We stopped at a carnival a local church was hosting on our way home from the softball game. When we arrived I got a phone call that I had to take. As I'm talking on the phone Ben let Owen ride a few rides. Then I noticed Aubrey ask Ben if she could ride this roller coaster. Of course not I'm thinking. They won't let her on. She's not even two! To my surprise, Daddy said yes and the man running the ride let her on. I tried to protest while talking on the phone. Although it didn't work Daddy did decide to appease me by requesting that Aubrey ride with an older child rather then sit alone. He asked a sweet girl if Aubrey could ride with her and the little girl agreed. She was very good to Aubrey. Our girl loved the ride, of course. She's almost fearless. The pictures make me laugh though since every other child on the roller coaster is at least five times her age.

Summer Softball

Every week the kids and I head to the softball field to watch Daddy play. We look forward to it every week. It's so sweet to hear Owen and Aubrey cheer for their Daddy and their Uncle M.
During the game Owen likes to play with his own bat and ball. After the game he likes to run around the bases.


This wasn't posed. Owen took the initiative to lean up against Daddy and I thought it was so cute!

"Go Daddy, Go!"