Little Visitor

This has been the year of the Praying Mantis around here. To be honest, I am not sure if we keep seeing the same one, or if there have been several, but we have spotted them 5 or 6 times this fall.  This guy was about 4 inches long - and pretty quick. Although I can't blame him for planning a quick getaway, with these two little explorers following his every move.

 This face!  

Camping Trip

As a girl who grew up camping every single summer, I am a little embarrassed to say that the last time that we went camping Josh was just 9 months old!  We kept saying that we wanted to be a family who camped, but never quite made it happen.  Well, this September we rounded up some good friends and headed off to Shabbona Lake for an overnight trip - and I am thankful to say that by the time we were packing up we were already planning our next trip.  We had perfect weather, amazing company, lots of great food, and so much fun!  

Helping to set up the tent

I think it is safe to say that Josh adores Jacob!

Setting up for a movie

Quiet kids - the grown-ups finally got to enjoy some time by the campfire!

This picture of Ellie and her friend Erin might be one of my favorites from the weekend!

First day of pre-school!

For those of you who don't already know, we made the decision to wait a year to send Ellie to kindergarten.  Her birthday is 5 days before the cut-off, and although I really believe it is the right decision for her, it was also a hard one as many of her friends from church and school started kindergarten this year. However, she did start pre-school this year and is absolutely loving it!  Seeing how well she is doing is confirmation to me that we made the right choice in waiting for her readiness, and of course makes me so very proud of her!  

Pancakes were the breakfast of choice for her first day 

Picture with daddy before heading off to school 

Seriously, my little girl is growing up!

Quick picture with Sam before heading inside

And one more picture in front of "her" hook.

So by that last picture Ellie was starting to get pretty impatient with me. She really just wanted to go play with her class.  She barely remembered to say good-bye to me she was so excited!  And while I am SO thankful that she adjusted so easily, there is that small part of me that wished she could have missed me just a little!  

It happened again today...

We were driving home from camping today when I heard it.  We were passing cornfields, and going up an overpass (over train tracks, I think) when I heard Sam's awed voice behind me, "Wow, this is a really big hill!" And I just had to laugh as it hit me again - my kids are definitely growing up in the midwest! (I shared about another one of these moments here.)

Enjoying these days while they last...

Josh and Ellie are outside raking leaves right now. For fun.  I am adding this to the list of things that I will be reminding them of when they are teenagers.

Also on the list is the conversation they had about tattoos. Ellie wants a cross tattooed on her shoulder.  Not surprising, and kind of sweet, since this is the exact tattoo that Casey has.  Josh followed that up by announcing that when he is old enough (yes, we have had that conversation!) he is going to get a tattoo that says "I (heart) my family".  Think he will follow through?

Have I mentioned that I kind of love being their mom?

Off to find another lawn bag... Entertaining them this fall should be pretty easy!

The Dunes

Labor Day weekend we decided to take a day trip up to the Warren Dunes in Michigan.  Somehow we have never been up there with the kids before, and it will definitely be added to our summer to-do list from now on.  It was an amazing day - and consequently this post will be filled with pictures. Consider yourself warned :)

We started the day with a hike up to the top.
These two amazed me at how well they did. It is a climb!

Resting on the way up.  That smile!  Pure joy. 

Somebody got a little help. (Poor Casey - I never would have made it carrying Sam!)

Teaching the kids about dune jumping. 

They caught on - and loved it :)

Our one family shot for the day

Running back down is the fun part!  He wouldn't even hold my hand!
Just kept tumbling down into the sand and laughing before doing it again.

This one did not like the waves when we first went for a swim.
His solution was to not even look at them.  What a little pout!

These two LOVED it.
 (And thankfully Sam warmed up pretty quickly too, so as to NOT repeat Josh's one trip to the ocean during which he refused to have fun.)

Racing the waves

Building in the sand!

Casey did the building - I did the snuggling on the beach blanket :) 

A hike after lunch seemed like the perfect time for a photo shoot.

Which turned into THIS pretty quickly :)

Seriously, it just makes me laugh...

One more "real" one - could Sam be smiling any bigger? :)

And then more of this...

The best kind of wrestling - no one was crying!

We gave up on them and took our own picture. I would say too bad Ellie is in the background, but I kind of love that about it!

More swimming

And more playing in the sand

And more snuggles in our towels

It started getting late and we knew we needed to head home, but these three just kept playing.  They worked together and built in the sand and nobody fought.  Who can pack up when that is going on?

Then this one came to snuggle... and started to fall asleep, so home we went.
But not before making some wonderful memories...