The Days of our Lives: Fall 2009

Well, it certainly is Fall here in Grand Rapids. Kole had his first experience with Robinette's a couple of weeks ago with Aunt Laura and Emily. Too bad it was raining but at least he had his first taste of one of their yummy doughnuts and apple cider! The weather has been crazy; cold and yucky then the past couple of days have been a bit warmer, like in the 50's. Yesterday and today the temps were in the 60's! The leaves are finally turning to warm fall colors; yellows, oranges, and reds. They are beautiful!

We took a trip to Bay City two weekends ago for a visit. It rained the entire way there and Kole only slept about 30 mintues of the trip. He was a good boy though and giggled in the backseat to keep himself occupied. Saturday was dry and we took a trip to see Gramps and later had pizza dinner at Nana's house with Jeff and Becky who were in town. Kim and Marilyn were there as well and we all had a nice visit. We went home on Sunday and was thankful to drive home in the sun vs. in the rain. Seth went hunting that weekend up at the cabin and saw nothing. Bummer.

We all went up north to the cabin last weekend and had fun. I went hunting with Seth on Saturday night--that was the first time I've done that and it really wasn't that bad, I'd do it again. Kole had fun learning to climb the stairs at the cabin. By the time we left he was a pro!

Kole and I went out today since it was so nice out! The sun was shining and the temps were in the high 60's! We set out for Orchard Hill Farm in Caledonia, just down the way from the Marshall's house. We got there and as I was getting Kole out of his seat a big bee flew in the car. I got Kole out just in time and tried to shoo the bee out. It was almost out and I quick shut the door so it wouldn't go back in. As soon as I did that I realized my purse with my keys were in the car. Yes, I had locked the car already. Damn! I called Seth a couple of times but didn't answer. Ugh! Well, at least we could have fun at the farm in the meantime. We found the pumpkins and it didn't take long for another bee to find us. Then another one, or the same one.... Needless to say we were being attacked by a bee/bees. I scooped Kole up and swung him around trying to free ourselves from the clutches of this bee. He thought it was funny and laughed when I would swing him around. Little did he know I was trying to avoid getting stung while being stuck at this farm. We went in the barn where they serve doughnuts and cider and thought we'd wait there for a bit. MORE BEES!! There was another family in there too and they had bees around them too. The owner armed them with a fly swatter to remedy the problem. What? Finally, Seth called back. I was a little frazzled which didn't help the situation but he was on his way home to get the spare key and then to bail me out of my bee hell. We walked around a minute or two then I noticed they were selling a bunch of HONEY. There was a section of the barn devoted to information on BEEKEEPING. For the love of the Lord---be a beekeeper or a pumpkin patch but DON'T be BOTH! If you advertise as a family farm with pumpkins, corn maze, cider and doughnuts and farm animals don't you think you'll get FAMILES with KIDS??? Do you think its smart to keep bees around FAMILIES with KIDS??? I was a little bit LIVID at this point but tried to find a place with as little bees as possible. This happened to be near the area of the farm animals. I tried to decide which is the lesser of two evils: bees that sting or smelly/germy barnyard animals. I voted for the smell and germs, however, we kept our distance from the animals and held Kole the whole time. He did like the animals and pointed at the ducks and the goats. He giggled a little bit too when we got a little closer. I heard my car alarm go off so I figured Seth arrived to bail us out of our bee hell. He was not mad like I figured he'd be but thankful this was only the first time in three years of marriage he had to bail me out from locking my keys in the car! He unlocked me and we were on our way (not before a full check of the inside of the car for bees). We never ended up with a pumpkin so we needed to find somewhere to get one. We drove a bit, which calmed me down, and found a cute place and got some nice pics. A family was selling their pumpkins and the kids were outside "helping". Kole thought that was the BEST part since he lights up when kids are around him. We got our pumpkins and headed home. Whew! What an afternoon!!!

Enjoy some of the pics from the second pumpkin patch and a video of Kole in the kitchen last week.