Yet Another Beautiful Day!

Lucky us! You never know what you're going to get in Michigan, and just when we thought summer was over we got another amazing day, so we decided to spend it outside at Meijer Gardens. Rainah always loves it there and it is so fun to watch her play! She especially loves the to play in the water with the boats and ended up SOAKED today. We are really going to miss going there throughout the winter!

Apples, Apples, Apples

Kent County has a wonderful parent educator program and they hold playgroups all over the county every month. There are usually several in Rockford, and we try to go to those whenever we can. There is always a theme and the kids get to do crafts, read stories, and have a snack during the hour. They also do special things like family swims at the YMCA, have family fun nights, and other things.
Today we went to a playgroup whose theme was Apples and Rainah had a great time!

Playing with play-dough

Doing and apple craft

Not so into the crafts... would much rather read

and eat, of course!

Mooned!

Tonight Rainah decided she'd sit on the potty for a few seconds, only to jump right off so she could wash her hands. I ran up to get her pajamas and rounded the corner to see this adorable site:

The Children's Garden

We figured that this would probably be one of the last nice days of the year, so we decided to take Rainah to the Children's Garden for one last visit before the cold and snow come. It was a beautiful day, and the gardens were all decorated for fall with lots of pumpkins everywhere, which Rainah loved.  It's amazing how she remembers where everything is and loves to follow the other kids around and do what they do. She is such a busy girl and it's so much fun to watch her having such a great time.

Checking out the pumpkins

Definitely not as fun as the real thing!

She LOVES this swaying bridge, but has a hard time making it across- she keeps trying, though

Taking a juice break

Rainah - Exclusive Wiggles n Giggles Supermodel

Rainah recently won a contest through my very favorite children's botique here in Rockford, Wiggles n Giggles. She had a photo shoot by a local photographer and now her photo is hanging proudly on the wall, modeling one of the shop's super cute outfits. Today my mom and I went in and the photos were finally hung on the walls... so of course I had to take a photo... of the photo. :)

Apple Picking

Growing up, it was always a tradition that in the fall, our family would go apple picking at a local orchard.  Since Hayden came along, the tradition has started up again.  Last year was Rainah's first year - she was about 8 months old, and spent most of the time in the stroller, but did manage to sink her teeth into an apple and loved it.  

This year Rainah and I travelled back over to the other side of the state.  Dad had just had surgery, it was a rainy morning, and we weren't sure that things would come together, but Jill called when Hayden got home from school and we decided to try it.  We went the first day that the Honeycrisp apples were available and luckily there were a lot more than had grown last year.  We headed right out to the Honeycrisp and the kids had a great time helping.  Afterwards we of course had to get our donuts... and go figure, the kids REALLY like that!  We spent some time playing and feeding the goats, and then headed back to mom's (Talan and Rainah both crashed in the car) where the three kids were promptly thrown into the tub and scrubbed down and mom made some yummy apple pancakes for dinner. 

Unfortunately Dad couldn't come since he was still sore and Jessica and Justin were out on tour, but I got a few good shots so they could feel like they were there!