October 31, 2009
A New Trailer

Anyone who has been talking to us, or following this blog, knows that camping is a big - or should I say - HUGE part of our life. From the time the ground thaws in the spring until it freezes in the fall, we can be found most weekends somewhere enjoying nature. In 2007, we spent 34 nights in our pop-up. In 2008, we spent 37 nights in our Jayco Hybrid, and as of this date in 2009 we spent 50 nights in our Hybrid. Realizing how much we use our trailer, and how many weekends we are packing and unpacking, setting up and taking down - Paul and I began toying with the idea of stepping things up a notch for next season. We have found that we enjoy spring and fall camping as much as camping in the summer, sometimes even more. However, cold weather camping in a hybrid tends to involve colder nights and lots of condensation. Moving up to a regular travel trailer would help with the set-up issues, as well as a warmer, less damp environment. In addition, the kids are getting bigger so quickly - and are already feeling the effects of sharing a bed with a sibling. A quad bunk trailer would really be wonderful to give them all their own space.

So - towards the end of the summer and into early fall, we start exploring options and doing a little shopping here and there. In a way, we figured we would go to the RV shows this winter and maybe see if we could get something new by spring. Little did we know that we would find a great deal and get into something new yet this fall. We have said good-bye to our good and faithful Jayco in which we have created many memories and are excited to begin some new adventures in our new
Coachmen Freedom Express

Nice storage area by the door and the dinette.

The entertainment center and a glimpse at the bedroom

Couch and the kitchen

Bathroom

The kids bunk area - complete with lots of windows.

Let the adventures begin!!!

Halloween 2009

October 29, 2009
Allison's Class Party

What a cute craft - they took all of the kids pictures while
we they were on the field trip in anticipation of this craft.

October 30, 2009
Nicholas' Class Picture

October 30, 2009
Gabrielle's Class Picture

October 30, 2009
Carving Pumpkins

An alien pumpkin, 2 cats, and a Thomas the Tank Engine

Trick-or-Treat

October 25, 2009
A new set of wheels

Even before Paul and I were married, I purchased a 4 door Saturn Sedan as my vehicle. It was a dependable little car (5 speed) and we have been driving it ever since. It got wonderful gas mileage for our commutes to and from work. However, it now had over 160,000 miles on it and we were beginning to wonder how much longer the good old reliable Saturn would continue to be reliable. The other issue we were facing was that this vehicle would not hold our entire family.

We began researching and looking for a new car - no hurry, because there was nothing wrong with the Saturn. We decided that we really like the Ford Freestyle. It is a 6 passenger car, and still gives us the gas mileage we need for commuting. All of the rear seats fold flat - for those occasions when Paul has a greater than normal quantity of wheels to take to work with him. The fact that it would hold all of us would allow us to put fewer miles on our Yukon and hopefully, it will last longer for us as well.

Once we made our decision of what to buy, we made our wish list of options, mileage and price and just waited. We knew we had time to wait for the right one to come around and after several months it finally did.

Our new-to-us 2005 Ford Freestyle

October 16-18, 2009
Yankee Springs Recreational Area
Gun Lake

Nothing like the colors of fall and a beautiful sunny evening.

Long Lake Trail

This is a mischievous grin if I've ever seen one

One of my favorite pictures of the whole summer.
It wasn't about the poses, it wasn't about the smiles - it was just about a moment.
The kids pulled up their chairs and just sat and watched the ducks.

Leave it to Sam to fall in the lake. He was supposed to be inside getting new clothes on, but decided he needed to peek outside.

The next day - Sam decided to throw his golf clubs in the lake too.
Unfortunately - the golf clubs were the only we caught while fishing.The kids enjoyed trying out the frisbee golf course.

October 16, 2009
Gabrielle's Kindergarten Field Trip
Post Family Farms

Gabrielle and her friend Luke

The pumpkin train

Gabrielle and her pumpkin

Class Photo

She loved the zip line

October 14, 2009
Allison's First Field Trip
Nelson's Farm Market

I was really surprised that she was willing to feed the goats

Class Picture

October 9-11, 2009
Wabasis Lake

We have never camped at Wabasis Lake before, but my brothers have. We coordinated this trip with an invitation to visit my sister-in-law Erin's father's farm on Saturday. We arrived in the cold and rain it was yucky! We parked the trailer and packed up to head into Greenville for dinner out. When we returned we set up the beds, etc and settled in for the night. We woke up to a cool, but beautiful day. Everything was still wet and damp, but we enjoyed the day very much.

This is one of my favorite pictures.

What is a camping trip without a hike in the woods?

Sam playing peek-a-boo behind a tree.

Playground fun.

Saturday afternoon we headed over to the Potter Farm near Belding. There was a lot of tractor climbing (and driving), many giggles and laughter, and much fun.

We got to go on a hayride behind one of the tractors.

Before we left, all of the kids put on their Halloween costumes
and we took some pictures of all of the kids together.

We also stopped at a pumpkin patch on the way back to the campground.
All of the kids picked out their pumpkins for Halloween.

We had a great time, enjoyed visiting Wabasis Lake Campground - it is a very nice park. And we had a great time sharing an afternoon at the farm with our cousins and aunts and uncles.

October 7, 2009
My Girls

The girls in there matching outfits -
they are still young enough to love dressing alike.

Crazy hair day at school
(this really shows how long her hair is getting)

Crazy Girls

October 4, 2009
A New Look on Life

We received a letter from the school that Gabrielle failed her vision screening test. We needed to follow up with an exam with an eye doctor. So after, several phone calls to various places inquiring about their prices, etc. We decided to take her right to the local Ravenna Optical. While we waited for her appointment date to arrive, I had spoken to several friends who had received the same letter the previous year. All of these friends said their child's eyes ended up being fine. So, I was hopeful that this was the case for Gabrielle as well. She hadn't demonstrated any symptoms of not seeing well and hadn't complained of headaches or anything.

When the appointment finally arrived, we were surprised to hear that not only did Gabrielle need glasses but if we hadn't corrected it she very well could have lost all of the sight in her right eye by the time she was a teenager. She is far sighted (meaning she can see far away but had difficulty seeing close up like for reading). Her left eye is 20/20 vision but her right eye was bad, really bad. Her prescription is a +400. We had to order special bi-focal grade lenses for her glasses in order to prevent her lenses from being almost a 1/4" thick.

The next part was the hard part - as anyone who knows Gabrielle knows that she has a definate opinion of what she does and doesn't like and picking out frames was going to be a battle of wills. After several pair of frames that she wouldn't even try on, she saw a pair that she liked. Once she put them on she decided that she looked like her Aunt Melissa and that was it - those were the glasses she wanted. I really had to fight her to try on a few more styles to make sure that we likes these best. Fortunately, for me - the ones Gabrielle picked were the ones I did like the best and so an agreement was reached and the glasses were ordered.

The first day of school with her new glasses just happened to also be stuffed animal day. Nicholas had the bright idea of taking the lenses out of Sam's old baby sunglasses and having her kitty wear them to school. It was a perfect idea - as it seemed to take some of the focus off from Gabrielle's apprehension of walking into her class for the first time with new glasses. It made the day fun and exciting as she kept showing off her stuffed animals new glasses too.