Halloween @ Home

Sometime before I took off for Mexico we did all the fun pumpkin carving, costume making, Halloween-ish fun. This was the best time I have ever had carving pumpkins! I just loved watching Gabriel scoop his pumpkin's guts back INTO his pumpkin, it was so funny.

Don't worry, I didn't forget to make sure the kids would have a great Halloween without me. Mia went to Lansing to spend the night with her cousins. They had nursery rhyme themed costumes so Mia decided to be Jill as in "Jack and Jill". Her costume turned out super cute and she had lots of fun (as always) with Ryan, Emma, Katy & Lucy.

Gabriel and Mike flew the coop on Halloween to relax at Grandma Kathy and Papa's house. Gabriel's costume was a shirt I found at Target that said "Mummy says I'm sweeter than all this candy."

My Halloween Trip

For Halloween it was my turn to take a trip. I went on my first cruise with Nickie and a few friends that live in Panama City Beach. We had so much fun!!!

I flew to New Orleans (also my first time in New Orleans) on the 30th where Nickie picked me up from the airport after her 5 hour drive. After having a great night in New Orleans (seeing all the people up and down Bourbon Street in there costumes) we boarded the Carnival Fantasy. We had two stops in Mexico on our trip, Progreso and Cozumel. After returning to New Orleans I had about 3 hours before I had to get to the airport so we spent that time walking around New Orleans and enjoying the nice sunny day.

I am glad I got the chance to take this very needed vacation but nothing beats coming home to your family.

Then It Was Time For School

I know Mia loves summer vacation but she is always so happy to go back to school (we will see how long this lasts). Here are a few pictures from the end of summer, beginning of fall and Mia's 5th grade school picture. She looks so grown up!

Mia's 5th grade school picture.

Going for a walk.

Waiting for "Sissy Mia" to get home from school.

Mia made this chicken noodle soup all on her own and WOW was it good.

More Summer Updates

As I said in the last post Mike was gone A LOT this summer. I just got the calender out and counted the days he was home. Starting from June 26th and going till October 20th Mike was home exactly 59 days! (Huh, that means he was gone 59 days, no wonder he get free first class upgrades now.) He went to Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco (2 times), Cologne Germany & Paris (2 times).

During his last trip to Paris we had quite the trying day at home. Gabriel was having a hard time breathing, took him to the doctor's (asthmatic bronchitis). Got home from the doctor to find that Dutchess had punctured her foot on something in the backyard (blood was all over the kitchen & dining room), took her to the vet to get stitches and they had to tie off two arteries. And Mia called from school, she was sick and needed to come home. But don't worry we had lots of fun days when Mike was gone too. Here are a few pictures to end our summer updates (well into fall).

Mia's outfit Mike brought back from Paris

Rust & Dust Days in Hanover (he sure loves tractors)

Playing in the sprinkler

I sure have busy kids! This is one of the very few pictures I got of them both this summer.

Summer Road Trips

Because Mike was so busy this summer with his work stuff we didn't go on any long vacations. We did however get to take a few quick trips for some fun family time!

*At the end of June Cousin Krista (Peter's cousin) got married in Madison, WI. Mike didn't get to go with us because he had to be in Denver and Gabriel spent the weekend with Grandma Kathy (I was not about to attempt to corral this busy body alone at a wedding). Even without our two guys we had a van full, Peter, Lisa, Mia, Myles, Carson, and me! We had lots of fun hanging out with everyone. I am so lucky that I still have such a wonderful relationship with this part of my family!

*The weekend after the wedding was the 4th of July and once again we headed west (slightly). We went to Great-grandma Douglass' (Peter's Grandma) 4th of July party (and Mike came with us)! It was raining but that didn't stop us from having tons of fun. The kids played in the yard with umbrellas and we had lots of fun with the African drums.

*When Nickie was home at the end of July to celebrate her birthday/move all her stuff down to Florida we took a trip to Cedar Point. It had been 9 years since I had gone! And I loved it just as much. :)

Nickie was home for a week (not long enough but I guess I will take what I can get) then I helped her drive her 26 foot Penske truck the 993 miles to Panama City Beach. That sure was an adventure! I am sure you heard all about it if you follow us on Twitter or watch our status updates on Facebook. It was an early morning!

Why are we up at 4am? Oh cause we have to drive across the country with this truck full!

Girl Scout Camp

As I told you WAY back in June... Mia went to two camps this summer. She had such a great time meeting new friends and learning new skills.

Packing for camp!

In June she went to Art Explosion for three nights, we wanted to start off slow just to see how things would go. The first night she was a little nervous and said she didn't sleep at all that night. In the morning she fell asleep at breakfast, after rest time they couldn't wake her up, and she fell asleep DURING painting. She did however paint an awesome picture. After getting to know the girls and her counselors she had a great time and didn't have trouble sleeping at night. When I went to pick her up she was NOT ready to leave.

So Sleepy

Mia's painting

In August she went to Trial Blazers where she got to learn the importance of horses to the pioneers and basic Western Horsemanship skills. I would have to say I think this was her favorite part of the summer. Mia had a pony named Anne. They played musical stalls (like musical chairs) on the horses with roped off "stalls" to practice getting them in and out. The best part is she got to scoop the horse poop and now says "cleaning the dog poop out of the yard in not really that bad" BONUS!

One post in SIX months?

I keep waiting till I "feel like Blogging" and I am starting to realize that is not going to happen until I just do it. But really, one post in six months, there is just no excuse for it. So this is it, I am back. I am going to start updating you with a few things (and pictures) that happend over the summer.