Is It The Great Pumpkin?

AnnaLaura had her 1st school field trip!! Her Kindergarten class (and the other 3 Kindergarten classes at her school) piled onto a school bus and headed for Pahl's Pumpkin Patch. Should I mention that this was also her 1st bus ride (as I have posted earlier, her school does not have any bussing....so, her teacher actually had to "teach" her class about riding a bus)? With 4 classes (10-15 kids in each) and the teachers on the bus, there wasn't much room left. That meant that all us parents had to follow the bus on a 20 minute drive through the countryside (we were encouraged to carpool).

The kids each received a free pumpkin from the enormous "pick your own" pumpkin patch. Unfortunately it was a bit too close to Halloween and the pumpkin patch was rather over-picked. AnnaLaura absolutely refused to pick out a pumpkin with cries of, "I already have a pumpkin! I don't want another one!" So....I picked out a pumpkin (I paid $5 for this field trip, we're getting a &$#@ pumpkin!).

AnnaLaura and Abbey

As a chaperone I was responsible for watching 2 kids (the third didn't go to school that day), AnnaLaura and her friend Abbey. After they ate their snack we had some time to kill so they posed for me (see above). Afterward they ran around in circles like crazed chickens (I just hope they didn't scare the real chickens too much).

Feeding some cows

Up close with a horse

AnnaLaura has seen plenty of cows...No matter which direction we drive from our house, we pass a field filled with cows...But she's never been able to touch one before. She really enjoyed being able to feed and touch the calf, but she really liked petting the horse. Pahl's also had 2 goats, 2 pigs (small ones), a whole mess of chickens (some of which layed green eggs - which AnnaLaura is still laughing about), and some bunnies. While all of them were fenced in she was still able to touch most of them. She was even able to feed the chickens!

Hay-bale maze

Corn stalk maze

Pahl's had 3 mazes: a small corn maze (maize maze?), a large corn maze, and a hay-bale maze. First, we went through the small corn maze. Both AnnaLaura and Abbey were very excited to examine real ears of corn still on the stalk and touch the leaves. The next maze they ran through was the hay-bale maze (I didn't venture in, but took pictures instead). They ran and ran and ran...back and forth...over and over again...until they got bored. Then off to the big corn maze! The owners of the farm told us that there was an exit to the maze, but we never found it. We followed 2 other groups of parents and kids until we all became tired and lost and cold... and then we all cheated our way out. Something tells me that when people are on a time constraint of 15 minutes for 3 mazes they cheat..at least when trying to keep track of multiple 5 year olds.

We all had a lot of fun and everyone was accounted for when it was time to get on the bus. I made a quick run into town and put all my pictures on a CD for AnnaLaura's teacher. When I asked her later if the CD was satisfactory, she showed me the project she and another teacher were working on: they're putting together a coloring book for the kids where they can draw a picture of the corn maze (or seeing the animals, picking pumpkins, etc.) and up in the corner of the page will be one of my pictures. Wow! It feels great to be able to do things like that for AnnaLaura's class.

Mrs. Frusti's Kindergarten Class

A Few More Pictures

I Always Wanted To Dig That Up Anyway...

The snow that weighted down my lilac tree has melted...but my lilac tree stayed on the ground. Seems that the two largest trees (?) had snapped at ground level. Am I angry? Hurt? Slightly upset? Naw. I've wanted to dig that eyesore out since we moved in. So, after one hour of digging, pulling and swinging an axe, I no longer have a lilac tree on the east side of my shed (there is still a small on one the west side of the shed, and another large one on the east side of the house. Any takers?).

I had no idea I'd end up swinging an axe at lilac roots. There were a few times when I'd thought that I'd removed all I could, but then Mike would come out and chop at something, or dig a little, or pull a bit on something...and it'd work. You have no idea what my shoulders felt like for the next two days (nor do you want to).

As I'm sure you've all noticed in the lovely picture above, my yard is once again filled with leaves. Actually, it's not filled, most of the trees aren't even half bare yet. Now if it would stop raining, perhaps we could get some raking done. Of course, it doesn't seem that Mother Nature will oblige us any time soon. Rain is scheduled the next few days, and then the "S" word returns (by Sunday!!). I really hate that "S" word. I get grumpy enough when it snows in November, we won't get in to detail about my reaction in October.

Today I shall leave you with a cute picture Mike took the other night. Squishy (grey cat) was sleeping in her favorite spot when Tigger (orange tabby) decided that he wanted to sleep there. Since we got new furniture for the living room the cats won't stay off the back cushions..it's their new favorite place to sleep.

ACK!

My lilac tree usually stands taller than the shed.....this morning, it's stretched out on the ground. There's nothing quite like 5 or 6 inches of wet snow.



Needless to say, I need to buy new winter gear for AnnaLaura. She's already begging to go outside to make snow-angels, and I know that last year's boots and jacket will not fit her anymore. What is it with kids growing all the time? There should be a law against it...

LEAVES!!! (and then a four letter "S" word...)

Leaves

Last weekend AnnaLaura's cousins, Michelle and Alex, spent the night. Saturday afternoon they raked up a big pile of leaves for AnnaLaura to jump into. They jumped, rolled, threw leaves high into the air (and at each other), and every once in while they had to rake the leaves back into a pile. Yep, the whale-pulting crew was back! I am always amazed at how well her cousins treat her. I don't believe that it's that common for two 11 year olds to spend that much time making their 5 year old cousin happy.

Later that night, I woke up to hear rain. Oh dear... I was going to have to spend Sunday cooped up in my house with 3 hyper kids. I groaned... I swear I almost wept (okay, I swore...but quietly). Luckily, I managed to fall back asleep. When I awoke I found the ground to be dry with no signs of any rain. Confused? Look at the ground in the picture below. What I heard was leaves and maple seeds falling. Lots of seeds and leaves. I have never in my life seen that many maple seeds! However, I am very much use to seeing that many leaves...unfortunately.

The kids spent most of the morning running from one side of the house to the other trying to catch "helicopters" (i.e. maple seeds). Back and forth, up and down, they ran and ran and ran. Their heads tilted up, arms stretched out, running around in circles, and no one had to go to the hospital. You know, it's amazing how exhausting it is watching kids run (especially when some of them aren't yours).

Luckily for us, we lured the kids into raking the yard by offering them money. I've never seen someone grab a rake that fast!! After they raked the smaller front yard Mike told them that they could probably make more money by raking the back as well. In the span of 3 hours my entire yard was raked! Of course we were also a bit poorer, but it was worth it (trust me, it would have taken twice as long if we'd done it ourselves while trying to keep track of AnnaLaura*).

The 4 Letter "S" Word

I woke up this morning to see a most frightening sight....SNOW!!!! It's October 12th!!! It can't snow yet!! *whimper* Okay, I hate snow...really hate snow...ask my Mom, she'll tell you. Don't get me wrong, I love to sled, making snowmen are fun...perhaps it's not that I hate snow, but that I hate the cold. I think I'd love snow if I could play in it with 75 degree weather. *sigh* And it's still snowing...and it's going to keep snowing tomorrow. I've heard that it's going to get nice (and by nice I do not mean it will be a decent temperature of high 70s, but perhaps in the 50s instead), but I'll believe it when I see it.

So, tonight I leave you with a wonderful picture.... This is what greeted me this morning as I was getting ready for work. I hope that you've been spared this sight....

*I lie...it would have taken multiple days because we're old and broken and lazy...

A Little Bit of Color

As I said before, fall is almost here. I drove (and walked) around a bit this morning after dropping off AnnaLaura and here's what I saw. Enjoy!!

Arbutus Lake

(near our house)

Sumac along Boardman Lake

Vine along Boardman Lake

Arbutus Lake (again)

View from my driveway

Tonight we're going to AnnaLaura's school carnival!! I took AnnaLaura to the school book fair this afternoon and left with many (some would say too many) books. I even managed to find a few for me. One of them, Dream Big with Olivia, I recommend to all. While it is a children's book, it is filled with the most wonderful quotes from such people as: Albert Einstein, Lewis Carroll and Harry S Truman. So check out the children's section in your local bookstore!! I'll leave you with my favorite quote (also found in the book, which is why I bought it)...

"Look for the ridiculous in everything and you will find it." Jules Renard

Summer is Over

Well, that's it...summer is over. Dad and Mike got the boat hoist back on dry land last Sunday while Grandpa supervised. While fall really is beautiful around here, I can't help but think about what's just around the corner. And I hate thinking about what's coming soon! In fact, whenever I hear someone use a certain 4 letter "S" word, I have an urge to cover my ears with my hands and chant "lalalalala." Northern Michigan would be the perfect place to live if it wasn't for the 3....errrr 4.....okay 5 months of white. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for sledding (not much of a skier, although we do have our share of ski slopes), I just wish it was warmer while I'm rocketing down the hill. Say 70, perhaps.

I will have to admit that driving around right now is wonderful. We're almost at peak fall color (at least up by my house) and everywhere you look is another brightly colored tree. Perhaps I shall drive around taking pictures while AnnaLaura is in school (ack! still haven't located school pictures yet!) tomorrow.....hrmmmmm. Now if only the temperature would come back out of the 50s. I heard it's suppose to be in the high 20s tonight. Brrrrrr.

AnnaLaura is enjoying school, thankfully. She has made new friends, one of which actually lives in our subdivision! I couldn't believe it when she was invited to a Birthday party just up the road! Now I'm sure some of you are wondering why I'm so shocked that a schoolmate lives that near to us, so let me explain. AnnaLaura attends a (K - 12) charter school. While it is a public school, it is not part of the local school district and is actually a district all its own. This means that not only do I have to drive her to and from school, but the students are from the entire county (and some from other counties as well) not just a localized area. Yippee for neighbors!

It's getting late, folks. I will try to find time tomorrow to add a bit more. Maybe. Please let me know if you want any of the pics in any of my posts. I will do my best to get them out to you!

I leave you with this collection of images

End of Summer