What We've Been Up To Lately

Somehow the entire month of September slipped by me. We've been keeping pretty busy around here. Here's what we've been up to lately.

I had this great idea to take the kids mini golfing using a Groupon deal. Ben did great and loved it. 5 is a great age for mini golf. Liv, on the other hand, was a disaster. She wouldn't actually putt her ball (a purple ball of course). She just carried it in her pocket. Every time I putted, she ran after my ball and picked it up for me. Hmm, so helpful. She also insisted on carrying around a box of Jello--yes, you read that right. See it in her hand in the pic? I was cleaning out the cabinet and she spotted it, and from that point on she had to have it with her at all times. So Liv.

The next weekend we headed to the Arboretum with the Tassones to check out the Lego exhibit and play in the children's garden.

There were several Lego displays; all required thousands of Legos and hundreds of hours. Yep, these were all made of Legos.

Ben's favorite was this family of deer.

Then it was off to the children's garden.

 Liv is feeding the frog a goldfish here.

Ben also mastered his two-wheeler. One day he couldn't go two feet, the next he was officially riding solo. He still struggles a bit to stop without falling. Working on that one.

The big event of the month was Grammy and Grampy's visit. We mostly just hung out but did enjoy a trip to Brunswick Zone to ride the rides and play at the arcade. Ben and Liv both really love the rides here.

Mike and I also escaped for a few kid-free days in Lake Geneva. While we were gone, Grampy and the kids made homemade strawberry ice cream. Big hit, and tasty too.

I got my hair cut. We discussed shoulder length so I could still put it in a ponytail, but it turned out a few inches shorter--more like chin length. But I'm learning to manage it.

We ended the month (actually first weekend in October) with a trip to Grand Rapids, MI to visit Meg, Ed, and their kiddos, Scarlett and Harry. The drive up was a little rough. With Friday traffic and Liv not napping, the last hour felt like three--as you can see from Liv's expression in the photo below. But once we arrived it was a fun weekend all around.

Saturday we visited Fredrick Meijer Gardens, which had some beautiful gardens and walking trails, plus a play area for the kids.

We knew it was going to be chilly, but we were still unprepared for how cold it was. We borrowed gloves and hats for the kids from Meg's kids, which saved the day!

I borrowed this hat from Meg, which looks cute on her but is clearly not my best look. But it kept me toasty warm.

Ben climbed to the top of this hill and then was singing "We are the champions" at the top of his lungs. :-)

Liv took to Scarlett and was calling her "my Scarlett". We all had a good time hanging out and catching up. Thankfully the drive home went more smoothly and the kids both napped for an hour.

And now Halloween is right around the corner!