First day of Ice Hockey

Here is a little video clip of Chris' first day of ice hockey. Chris is in the white jersey ... number 5 with a black helmet on. His friend Alex is in a darker jersey (number 4) and Alex's dad, Matt is in the red sweatshirt taking the checks!! I am TOTALLY amazed at how well Chris did on the ice given it was his first time!! You might have to click play twice. Enjoy!



Here are a few photos too.

The other pumpkin patches '07

You can't just go to one pumpkin patch .... I think when it was all said and done we hit a total of 4 this year. We even did two in one day. We also did the Enchanted Forest with Rachel and Braden. This ended with a horse wagon ride in which Chris made himself right at home. Click the link to see the slide show of all the activities.

Slide show of Pumpkin Patches'07

The First Pumpkin Patch '07

As usually, we will hit about 4-5 different fall festivals and this was the first. We have never been to this place but heard it was great. It is called Peck's. Not to be confused with Heck's which is within 5 miles of Peck's on the same county road. We made arrangements to meet up with some friends at Peck's. I lost my cell service once we got into farm land and was unable to call them. We arrived at Peck's and could not find them. After at least 20+ minutes of searching for them I begged (and paid) to use Peck's phone. I called the friends only to find out they were "right out front, selecting a pumpkin ..." We confirmed that we were both at Peck's and not Heck's. I hung up the phone and went to find them. Still, no luck. As it turns out, there are two Peck's and a Heck's all within 10 miles of each other. Once we finally caught up with them we were able to take advantage of the haunted house, massive animal farm, jumper/bouncer things, and all the other fall festival stuff one would expect to find at one of these places. Then we had lunch and went to the other Peck's for even more fun. Train rides and covered wagon rides. This place also had the most amazing pheasant. It looked more like a parrot with all the colors it had. Amazing. More festival photos to come ....

Horse riding '07

We've talked about it all summer. Today we went to a different horse farm and meet Sharon. As it turns out, Sharon is my chiropractors mother in law! Sharon has horses and teaches riding. Acacia got to groom and ride a pony names Danielle. We will most likely start lessons the first of Nov.

Apple picking '07

Our first outing this fall .. picking apples. Eplegaarden is right down the road from us. I know Emme and Nono have been with us once and Auntie Valerie has also been here. It was just me and the kids this time. We picked apples, raspberries and grapes. We went on a haunted adventure and a kiddie corn maze. Also a cool wagon ride. We all had a great time and I made them do the work.
Click the link to see all the fun.

Slide show of Apple Picking '07

Sept / Oct '07

So, it's been a little while since I updated you all. Life is still crazy and non stop. Here is a little summary. Auntie Valerie came for a quick visit and brought us Grandma and Grandpa's oat dining room table and 8 chairs! The visit was not a surprise but the delivery of the table sure was! Once we get our house back together (it did not sell and will drop off the market 10/17/07) we will have that table set up in the sunroom so we can actually feed more then 4 people at a time at the same table!! Val's visit was really nice and low key. It was very cool to have her around and actually not be running all over doing stuff. Here is a photo of Auntie Valerie reading to the kids. Remember you can click on any photo to see it larger.

Acacia is back into fall soccer and doing just fine. But, this session she just does not seem to have the "on fire" attitude she did over the past year. Even her coach is asking me what is going on. Sure wish I knew. But, she does still enjoy playing and wants to continue.

Next, Randy decided Chris needed an outlet ... so Chris is now signed up for ice hockey. Twice a week for 45 minutes. He will be learning how to skate and they are telling us it's better he learn with full gear. He now has hockey skates, shin guards, "breezer" hockey pants, shoulder pads, elbow pads, hockey gloves, a helmet and full mask. His first time on the ice will be Monday 10/15/07 and he will also receive a hockey jersey then. Once he is fully suited up we will take a photo. In the meantime, this is all he will let us put on him.