A couple weeks before Halloween, we went to the zoo for Wild Zoo Halloween. We enjoyed it last year and wanted to go again. It was a windy day, but the kids still had fun seeing all of the decorated pumpkins and collecting their treats.  Giant pumpkins are a perfect spot for a picture!  The corn maze wasn't too challenging for Ben. He made it out much faster than Lucy.   Pumpkins painted like giraffes.   The kids with Broomhilda the witch.   You can't go to the zoo without a picture on the zoo sign, right?  We didn't spend a lot of time on our pumpkin decorating this year. Ben decided to paint his like a pirate and Curt gave his a mustache.   Lucy painted hers and added a Hello Kitty pirate kit. I was the only one who carved this year. I had a pretty nice looking cat, but with the warm temps that week, it got mold in it really quickly. It didn't even make it to Halloween. ...

I am still in shock that we have an 8 year old! What!?!? How did that happen? He is growing up so fast. I love all of the new fun things that come with each age, but looking at an old 2 year old picture with his chubby cheeks makes me teary every time. I'm so thankful to be Ben's mom and watch him grow into the young man God has created him to be. I just wish time would slow down a little. :)  We took a trip up to Cadillac the weekend before Ben's birthday. We celebrated Ben and Brady's birthdays...and we were horrible at taking pictures, so I only have a couple.   All of the cousins   Ben's birthday was on a Friday. Curt was able to go in and have lunch with him. I went in at the end of the day for his class party. He was very excited to have his friend Evan come over right after school to stay for a sleep over!   This year, he had a Minecraft party. I wasn't super creative with the cake, but that's what kind Ben requested and it ...

It has been a long time since I updated the blog. I was having trouble getting pictures from my phone to the computer, but I think we have that working now. I will go back and fill in some more of our summer/fall activities, but for now I will start with our weekend trip to Grand Rapids.  This past weekend, we drove up to see my family and celebrate Ben's birthday. On Saturday morning we all met at Klackle's Orchard (except Jake...still in Traverse City). We had never been there before and I was impressed with all of the activities that they had for kids. You pay a price to get in and that includes almost all of the activities and a bag to pick apples. The weather was a little chilly at first, but after the first hour it felt perfect.  We spent several hours at Klackle's, then went back to my parent's house to have pizza and birthday cake. Ben wanted a Minecraft theme, so I brought some easy decorations. He ended up getting lots of Minecraft toys and has had fu...