Apple Festival Parade

This afternoon we went to the Apple Festival Parade. This was Audrey's first parade, not that she cares! We were able to meet up with Papa and Grandma to watch the parade. The parade started at 1:30 though I don't know what time it got to us, but it didn't end until 3:45! I knew it would be long because it always is. I was very happy that Audrey was well behaved. Emily was happy that the church down the street gave her a purple balloon. She actually started out with 2 balloons - 1 for her and 1 for Audrey, but somehow Audrey's slipped off her hand. As you can see in the one picture, we now have plenty of candy to last us a long time! Thanks Papa and Grandma for watching the parade with us!!

Niles Apple Festival 2008

Emily has been eagerly awaiting the start of the Apple Festival. We saw them starting to set up the tents and stuff last week so we couldn't wait for it to start on Thursday. The one nice thing about being close to the Apple Festival is we can walk, but on the other hand they are close so Emily sees it and asks lots of questions!

Thursday was wristband night, so Emily was able to ride whichever rides she wanted and as many times as she wanted. Finally at 9:30pm I told her it was time to go home! Poor Audrey was only able to sit and await her turn next year!! She was a good sport about it and very well behaved. Emily's favorite ride of the night was the Merry-Go-Round. I have no idea how many times she rode it, but it was a lot!

August thought it would be fun if he and Emily rode a ride together so he picked out the Spider. I really didn't think Emily would go for it, but surprisingly she said ok. She said afterwards her tummy hurt a little bit, but besides that she was fine. I even got in on the action at the end of the night as Emily all night had been saying she wanted to ride the Apples. This would be the Spinning Apples. Now, for those who know me well, I do not like rides, nevertheless ones that spin, but for Emily's sake I did it since August had already gone home with Audrey. I figured we would just sit in the apples and not spin them ourselves, but to my good fortune, there was a kid in our apple who liked to spin fast! I managed to be fine, I just couldn't look out of the apple, otherwise I would have been sick!!

To end our special night out, Emily and I went to the Apple Products tent and bought 2 of the apple shaped cookies with the big worms. We took those home and enjoyed them with August!

Last night they had fireworks so we all sat outside on the deck and watched them. This was Audrey's first time seeing fireworks as she slept thru the 4th of July ones. She seemed to enjoy watching them and wasn't scared by the loud noises. They have fireworks again tonight, so we are planning on all watching them again. It is so nice being able to sit on your front deck and watch fireworks!

Apple Pickin' Time

Last year we started a family tradition of going to Jollay Orchards in Coloma, MI to pick apples. Emily loved it last year and this year both of the girls enjoyed it. They have lots of fun things to do at Jollay Orchards besides apple picking. They take you into the orchard on a tractor and wagon, then you pick your apples (and eat one too!).....

...then it is time to go fishing! Now, I don't think they really expect you to catch anything given the fact you have a very flimsy fishing pole and you are using kernnels of corn for bait. But it is the effort that counts! Then you can pick out a pumpkin from their patch.

And then they take you on a wagon ride thru the rest of their fruit orchards and then you can take a picture to compare how big you were as compared to last year. They also have a kids zone where they have a minature petting zoo (goat, duck and chicken) and a small playground for the kids.

We had a great time with the girls and hope to continue the tradition.

I'm an Awana Cubbie

Last week after much pleading on Emily's part, she went to Cubbies for the first time. Last night she earned her first patch and was very excited. She is doing a great job memorizing her verses.

Play Time

Yesterday was such a nice day outside. The girls had a great time swinging and playing on the playset.

Open Wide!

Emily had her first trip to the dentist yesterday. I was a little concerned that she would throw a tantrum, but she did a great job!! I didn't get to actually watch her because I was in the waiting room with Audrey, but I could hear everything that was going on. I am so proud of her! She has not even a hint of a cavity. Way to go Em!!