Fun Fall Weekend

This past weekend we went apple picking which is one of our favorite fall activities. We went to County Line Orchard in Indiana and highly recommend it. There were lots of apples, activities for the kids, it's reasonably priced and only an hour from the city. And the trip was extra special because we went with our good friends Andy, Jill and their little girl Lily.

Maddi LOVED the apples. She ate about 4 of them while we were picking.

 

 

Owen had lots of picking, and of course wouldn't eat an apple if you bribed him...

 

 

The kids had lots of fun being together

 

 

Our trip included a visit to the pumpkin patch

  

What a face...

 

Sunflower field

Fun with the Kahn's

 

 

 

 

 

And of course we went for a hayride to get us out to the orchard. Although no hayrides actually seem to use hay anymore...

Guess Owen had a lot of fun:)

All of this fall weather got me in a cooking/baking mood so on Sunday we made banana bread for snack. For dinner we had meatloaf and sweet potatoes. And for dessert, I made an apple crisp for the first time. It was so easy and tasted really yummy!

 

All in all a great fall weekend!!!!!

Crafty Weekend

We had lots of fun this weekend, even though it was pretty low key (which was much needed after 4 weekends straight on the road.)


Saturday started off with a birthday party for Owen's friend Alex at their house. They recently switched schools so it was great to see their family and meet some new friends as well.

They had a bounce house in the basement!

 

 Brett throwing a bounce house ball at me. Cool effect:)

 

Playing with trucks and trains of course

 

  

 Making bookmarks

Instead of presents they did a book exchange which I think is a great idea. Everyone brought a wrapped book and then they passed them around in a similar fashion to Hot Potato. The book you ended up with at the end was yours to take home. So fun!!!!

 

We also had fun turning a cardboard box at home into a rocket ship!!!

 

Flames!

 

 

Eating a snack in the rocket ship (he also napped in the rocket ship)

Maddi also wanted to get into the crafting action so she did some painting of her own:)

NJ Wedding Weekend

This past weekend we attending the wedding of our good friends Brian and Amanda. The wedding was on the beach in NJ and Brett was a member of the bridal party. He grew up with Brian at the lake (Brian was also in our wedding.) Thankfully, my mom came and watched the kids so we had a weekend away!!!

The rehearsal dinner was lovely. It was a small gathering at a restaurant. Marg (Groom's mom) did such a nice job with the decorations. She used cloth tablecloths and linens that matched the colors of the wedding and brought the beach inside by placing sand from Estling Lake and votives in glass jars with seashells scattered around them.

Saturday morning Brett had lots of wedding activities, but I took the day to relax and do some shopping!!! Heavenly. 

The ceremony itself was on the beach. It was a little chilly but such a beautiful setting.

 Brian (right) and his brother before the ceremony

 Marg and her boys

 

The Edwards Family

  

Brett looked so handsome in his tux:) He was in charge of passing out flip flops to the ladies. 

  

 

 The Groomsmen

   

 Mike and Brett walking in

 

The Groomsmen waiting for the girls

 

 

 Our friend Catherine walking in

  

 Brian waiting for Amanda

  

 And now he sees her!

 

 Amanda and her Dad

 She looked so beautiful!

 

 Exchanging vows

 

 

 

 Exchanging rings

 

 

 

 Joined together in matrimony

 

 The kiss!!!!

 The happy couple- husband and wife

 

 Brett and his partner Anne (who happens to be from Chicago)

Marg and Alf

 

The reception was next door at a beautiful restaurant. We were on the second floor and overlooked the ocean.

 My handsome hubby

 Us and my mother-in-law

 The Estling Lake girls that I love to hang out with:)

 Brett and Amanda

For those of you interested in the back story, Amanda is friends with Catherine from high school. And Catherine is friends with Brian from the lake. She had wanted the two of them to meet because she was just sure they would hit it off (and she was right!) Amanda was doing her Masters work at the University of Toledo (she has a PHD in Microbiology just like Brett) and happened to be going to school there when we had our wedding in Toledo. So, Catherine used our wedding weekend to set the two of them up. And as they say, the rest is history.

A big thanks again to my mom for watching the kiddos this weekend so we could get away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!