September Shenanigans

 I’m a little behind on the blog… sorry about that.  I’ll be trying to catch up here soon so I’m not too far behind as we head into the holiday season.  Let’s start with September… 

September seems like so long ago now.  Let’s see if I can remember what we did. 

We started out the month with a fun Labor Day weekend.  We spent time with lots of family.  On Sunday, we went over to Nana and Papa’s house after church for a family party.  It was quite warm, but we enjoyed visiting with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. 

On Labor Day Monday, we met up with Kevin’s family at Crossroads Village.  It was HOT that day.  But we had a great time!  The kids all had a ton of fun together and it was nice to see Crossroads Village again.  We got some cute pictures of the cousins all together.  I think this may have been our first shots of all of them together now since Bristol has been born.  After checking out the Village, we had a nice picnic lunch and the kids all got to ride the carousel and other kiddie rides.  They all had a blast! 

Kevin and I started up a class at our church on Tuesday evenings called Life with God.  It is basically an adult confirmation class for those interested in joining the church.  It runs for 12 weeks, every Tuesday evening from 7:00-8:30.  Nana comes over to watch the kids each week so that we can go.  At first we thought it’d be tough to make all of the classes, but we’ve actually really been enjoying them a lot. 

On September 8^th, we made the trek up to Mount Pleasant for the MSU-Central Michigan football game.  Kevin got six free tickets from a friend of his, so Kevin, Carson and I decided we would go.  Nana watched Bristol.  We invited Aunt Julie and Anna to go with us and we gave the last ticket to Ron Sambaer (Kevin’s late friend Jeff’s father).  It was such a fun time!  Carson took a catnap in the first quarter because he didn’t rest in the car on the way there, but then he was ready to go.  He and Anna had a lot of fun together and got to see Sparty up close and even get a picture with him!  Our seats were amazing – 4^th row between the 40 and 50-yard lines right behind the MSU bench.  The weather was great, too.  We couldn’t have asked for a better day or time!  MSU won, too!  :)
(NOTE:  These are currently just my Instagram pics from my phone.  I'll be updating once I get the pics off the point-and-shoot camera).

The following Monday was Carson’s first day of 4-year old Preschool at Faith Lutheran in Grand Blanc.  He was so excited to start school again and see many of his friends from last year.  All four of us went to school on the first day.  Carson was a little sad to leave his sister – he wasn’t sure how she would manage without him.  He was relieved to hear that she managed ok when we picked him up after school.  J  Carson had a wonderful first day and has been doing awesome at school!  He is learning a lot and has begun to read quite well already! 

We made an attempt to get out and walk, hike, or bike whenever we could.  We figure we had better make the most of the nice weather we had for most of the month.  Kevin and Carson enjoyed biking on the off-road trails through the woods at Bicentennial Park, as well as biking on the paved path while Bristol and I walked along with the stroller or wearing Bristol in the Moby or Ergo. 

We ended the month with Bristol’s baptism, but I will do a separate post on that a bit later. 

Fall 2012 Bucket List

I figured I'd jump on the band-wagon again and do a fall bucket list.  It was kind of fun to see how we did with our summer bucket list, so I figured, why not.  :)  I know it's not technically fall yet, but Labor Day symbolizes the end of summer and beginning of fall, so I figure now is just as good a time as any.  Here's what we hope to do (in no particular order):

1.  Go to a MSU football game.

2.  Tailgate for MSU Homecoming.

3.  Go to an apple orchard.

4.  Drink apple cider.

5.  Go to a pumpkin patch.

6.  Go to Spooky Trails Farm in Gaines.

7.  Do fall leaf crafts.

8.  Carve jack-o-lanterns.

9.  Go on a family hike at least once every other week.

10.  Go through a corn maze.

11.  Spend a day (or weekend) in Grand Haven. 

12.  Take a drive to see the fall colors.

13.  Pick fall raspberries at a local, organic farm.

14.  Take pictures and jump in a big pile of fallen leaves.

15.  Have or go to a bonfire and make s'mores.

16.  Go on an autumn nature walk.

17.  Go trick-or-treating.

18.  Have a picnic.

19.  Start preschool!

20.  Have a playdate with preschool friends.

21.  Camp in a tent in the backyard... since we didn't get to do it this summer, we'll see if we're able to this fall.

22.  Meet up with family from the west side of the state in the Lansing area for playtime and hanging out. 

23.  Fly a kite.

24.  Visit a local park that we have never been to.

25.  Go play miniature golf.

26.  Visit a friend or family member we have not seen in awhile.

27.  Make or buy Halloween costumes. 

28.  Take a trip to the Grand Rapids area to visit Kevin's grandparents and other family in the area. 

29.  Go to our nephew's football game(s).

30.  Go to Disney World!!!  :)

Summer Bucket List - How Did We Do?

I posted our summer bucket list around Memorial Day.  Since today is the symbolic end of summer, I figured I'd do a follow-up post to let you know how we did.  We didn't get to everything, but we did accomplish the majority of activities, plus we did a whole lot more than is on this list, too.  I'll be back later this week with our fall bucket list, so stay tuned. 

1.  Meet up with friends at a local park.  Check!  We did this several times. 

2.  Meet up with friends at the Bicentennial Park Splash Pad.  Unfortunately, we never did do this, even with the extremely hot summer we had.  With a new baby that cannot regulate her temperature and a splash pad with no shade nearby, it just didn't pan out the way we had hoped it might. 

3.  Go on a family hike on the Dauner-Martin trails in Fenton.  Check!  We have gone on several hikes on the Dauner trails.  Sara wears Bristol in the Moby or Baby Bjorn (if its hot) while we hike. 

4.  Camp in a tent in the backyard... we'd actually really like to go camping at a campground, but I'm thinking that is pretty unlikely this summer, so we'll do some backyard camping instead.  This has not happened yet.  We're still hoping to have a chance, but we'll have to see how the night-time temperatures hold up. 

5.  Father-son camping trip... the backyard camping will be fun for all of us, but Kevin and Carson both really want to do a father-son camping trip for one night at a campground within an hour or two of our house, as well.  As much as they really wanted to do this, we never had a free weekend for it, unfortunately.  Maybe next summer.

6.  Play with bubbles in the backyard.  Check!  Bubbles were a regular past-time this summer.  We especially had fun with the new bubble blower that Carson received from Auntie Jaime, Uncle Jeff and Grant for a big brother gift. 

7.  Take a short walk to get ice cream together as a family at The Twist.  Check!  We took a few walks down the street to the Twist. 

8.  Make and eat homemade popsicles.  Check! 

9.  Meet up with family from the west side of the state in the Lansing area for playtime and hanging out.  Check!  We met Aunt Mary, Rebecca and Abram at Impression 5 in early August.

10.  Draw in the driveway with sidewalk chalk.  Check!  Sidewalk chalk was another favorite past-time this summer.

11.  Fly a kite.  We have not done this yet.  We kind of forgot about it, actually.  We need to dig out the kite and fly it soon, hopefully. 

12.  Take a day trip to Lake Michigan (maybe either to Grand Haven or South Haven... we seem to always migrate towards Holland, so we figure we should change it up... we've been to Grand Haven many times before, but not in the last couple of years and we've never been to South Haven.).  Check!  We didn't get to Grand Haven or South Haven, but we did get to Petoskey for an afternoon.  It was beautiful!

13.  Take a day trip to Lake Huron (either to East Tawas or Port Austin... we've never been to either).  We had this planned two different times this summer, both of which turned out to be rainy days... so we did not go.

14.  Walk through the forest at Hartwick Pines State Park. Check!  We were there for a wedding in early August.  We took a few hikes through the forest while we were there.  It was so pretty and peaceful.

15.  Visit the Grand Blanc Farmers' Market for one of their kids' days.  Check! 

16.  Go fruit picking at a local farm/orchard.  We did not do this, though we did lots of raspberry and blackberry picking in our owm backyard.

17.  Visit a local park that we have never been to.  Check!  We went to Rust Park in Grand Blanc for the first time at the end of May. 

18.  Set up a playdate with Carson's friends from preschool.  Check!  We have had playdates with three of Carson's preschool friends.  We have also had several playdates with non-preschool friends. 

19.  Catch fireflies and put them in a jar.  Check!  We have done this several times.

20.  Invite the neighbors over for a fire in the backyard, make s'mores, and have fun with sparklers.  While we've spent a lot of time hanging out with our neighbors this summer, we never did do a fire with s'mores and sparklers. 

21.  Visit a local beach - Holly State Park, Silver Lake Beach, Clover Beach.  We never did this, though we did spend a good deal of time at the lake at one of Sara's aunt's houses. 

22.  Attend a Silver Lake Ski Club ski show.  Check! 

23.  Do messy finger and feet painting in the backyard.  We have done finger painting, but Carson didn't want to do feet painting. 

24.  Swim as much as possible in our backyard pool.  Check!

25.  Attend Vacation Bible School at Faith Lutheran.  Check!

26.  Attend summer camp for a week in August at Faith Lutheran.  Carson decided he did not want to go since it was Sara's last full week home on maternity leave. 

27.  Visit the local library for story time and/or other activities for kids.  Check!  We did this several times.

28.  Go play miniature golf.  We have had this planned three times this summer and it hasn't worked out weather-wise any of the times we've had it planned. 

29.  Go to an outdoor community concert in one of the local parks.  We never made it to one, unfortunately.

30.  Visit a friend or family member we have not seen in awhile.  Check!  We visited a friend we had not seen in about 7 months, we visited a cousin we had not seen in over a year, and also had some friends over to our house that we had not seen in about 2 years.

Fun Times in August!

We had a really fun August.  We did some fun things in June and July, but August was really our best month of the summer.  Things were going really well with Bristol by that point, the weather wasn't unbearably hot (especially for a newborn that cannot regulate temperature), and we were wanting to make the most of Sara's last couple of weeks home on maternity leave. 

We spent a weekend up north, as I posted about last week. 

We went for a couple of family hikes on the Dauner trails in Fenton. 

We went on regular family walks/bike rides (Carson and Kevin ride their bikes, while Sara and Bristol walk).

We had a playdate with the twin girls from Carson's preschool class, Natalie and Charlotte.  Sara went to high school with their mom, Katie, and they live pretty close to us.  We've played with them a few other times, too.  But we had a really great playdate with them.  The kids all got sad when it was time to leave. 

We spent an afternoon at Michigan State with Auntie Sara, Uncle Adam, and Aiden.  We had a nice time walking around campus, shooting a few pictures of the kids, and just chatting and having a good time. 

We spent a morning and afternoon at Impression 5 Science Center with Aunt Mary, Rebecca, and Abram.  We've been wanting to meet up with them in Lansing since Abram has been born, but it just finally worked out.  It was so fun!  The kids had a blast playing together and Mary and I had a great time chatting and hanging out.  Carson and I really hope to meet up with them again soon! 

We visited MDOT (Sara's workplace) to show off... errr introduce... Bristol to everyone.  :) 

We made a trip out to Saranac in West Michigan for Amber's and Russ' reception in Amber's/Auntie Sara's mom's backyard.  We went out a little early so Sara could shoot some family pictures of Auntie Sara, Uncle Adam and Aiden, and then Auntie Sara's sister Rachel's family.  Carson always has so much fun playing with Rachel's two youngest kids, Noelle and Noah.  Carson and Noelle were really breaking it down at the wedding reception... if I can get the video to upload later on, I'll add it b/c it is hilarious!!  So check back in a day or two to see if I've succeeded in getting it up here. 

Then Sara went back to work.  :(  Thankfully, she is able to go back to work part-time for awhile.  She is starting out at two days per week, but will be going up to three days per week next week.  It has been going ok so far.  It is actually the first time since having children that we all feel balanced, which is really nice. 

We took another trip to the library for story time and to check out some more books. 

We met some friends from preschool at one of the local parks to play. 

We did some summer crafts and finger painting. 

We had our friends, the Freeses, over for dinner and to hang out.  They have two little girls, Malerie (5) and Natalie (3).  It had been awhile since we'd hung out with Beth and Curt... like several years since we've actually hung out.  So it was really fun to get together again.  We're hoping to make it more of a regular thing. 

We had our friends, the Kozaks, over for dinner and to hang out on the last weekend in August.  We hadn't seen them since St. Patty's Day (well, Kevin and Paul have been mountain biking together a lot, but we hadn't all been together since then).  Carson was so excited to have Seth (5) and Carter (4) over to play again.  As soon as they walked in the door, they were off and running and playing together. 

We hung out with our neighbors a few times.  Carson and Jace love to play together.  And Kevin and I think Eric and Kerri are pretty fun to hang out with, too. 

We took a drive down to visit our friends Kati and Tony.  Tony started walking a couple of weeks ago, so it was fun to see him trying to keep up with Carson.  They had a lot of fun playing together.

And lastly, we went to Michigan State for the MSU season opener game against Boise State.  We didn't go to the game, but we just went to tailgate with some of our friends.  Kevin's late friend, Jeff Sambaer, who passed away just before New Years in 2011, and his dad were huge MSU fans.  They tailgated for and went to every home game and had an entire tailgate crew.  At Jeff's funeral, one of the crew members pulled Kevin aside and asked us to come out for the first tailgate since they were planning something special for Ron (Jeff's dad).  So we set up our tailgate next to theirs.  It was nice to see Ron and we got to see the nice placque their crew had made for the Jeff Sambaer memorial ladder golf tournament (a tradition their crew has, but they just came up with the placque idea).  It was a very touching thing for them to do.  We had a great time with our friends.  Ben taught Carson how to plank and Carson is now planking on everything... asking us to take pictures to upload to planktheworld... which I doubt we'll do.  :)  But it is funny to think about.  :)

We did some other small things, too.  And of course, had lots of fun just in our yard and at our house.  It was a very busy, but very fun month!  We're looking forward to lots more fun in September, too! 

A Weekend Up North!

We spent the first weekend in August up north.  This was Bristol's first overnight trip and she did awesome!  She slept better than she ever had - 5.5 hours one night and 6.5 hours the next night!  Unfortunately, she was back to her old sleeping habits once we returned home, but it was still a wonderful thing to experience on vacation!  :)  As we usually do, we packed quite a bit into just one short weekend. 

We left Friday morning to head north.  We stopped on the way in Gaylord at Otsego Lake State Park to have a picnic lunch, stretch our legs a bit, and give Bristol a break from being in her car seat. 

After our quick lunch and playtime on the beach, we packed up and headed up to Petoskey.  Kevin, Carson and Bristol had never been to Petoskey.  Sara had been a few times as a young child, but didn't really remember much of it.  Petoskey is so beautiful!  We spent some time at Petoskey State Park, at a lake front park right near downtown, and we took a walk down the pier where all of the local kids were jumping and diving off into Lake Michigan.  After exploring a little, we had dinner at one of two family-friendly restaurants in town.  It was quite good!  However, we were a little put-off by the lack of family-friendly places and spaces in Petoskey.  Its definitely not really a place to take younger than teenage kids.  And it was kind of strange to see that there really is no middle class in Petoskey.  That being said, we do want to visit again sometime - however I think we'd probably be better off spending our time in more family-friendly destinations like Charlevoix and Boyne.  :) 

After dinner, we took another stroll down by the lake and pier, then packed up to head back to Grayling, which is where we were actually staying the weekend.  When we got to our hotel, we were a little worried by the looks of it on the exterior.  But once we got inside, it was quite nice!  Everything was very clean, the rooms were very nice, and it was seriously an awesome hotel for kids!  There was a large indoor pool, plus a large hot tub area, plus a 1-ft deep kiddie pool.  Plus, there was an indoor playscape, lots of arcade games, shuffleboard, billiards, and some other stuff.  We were all quite excited to see it all.  Carson and Kevin headed straight for the pool to swim once we were unpacked.  Bristol and Sara sat pool-side watching them, since Bristol was still a little young to be exposed to all the pool chemicals. 

We got up early on Saturday, had some breakfast, and headed out to explore Grayling.  Kevin and Sara used to go camping up there every year, sometimes several times a year... but it's been quite a few years since we've been up there.  We forgot how much we love Grayling!  There is so much to do outdoors.  We found an awesome park with mountain biking, hiking, sports, and a super nice playscape.  We spent some time there.  Then we headed over to Hartwick Pines State Park.  We spent some time in the visitor's center learning about the history of the area, then took a couple hikes.  We wanted to check out the Chapel in the Pines, where Sara was photographing a wedding the following morning.  We had a great time at Hartwick Pines! 

After our hiking, we headed back into town for a bit before heading back out to Hartwick Pines for the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  Then it was back to the hotel for more swimming.

The next morning, we got up, packed up our car, and headed back out to Hartwick Pines for the wedding.  The wedding was beautiful!  Afterwards, we headed home.  We were again thankful that Bristol did amazingly well on a long car ride!  We didn't even have to stop on our way home.  :)  It was such a great weekend, overall.  And it was so nice to get away! 

Elsesser Family Reunion 2012

Last year, we took a trip to Sheboygan, Wisconsin for an Elsesser family reunion (Sara's maternal grandmother's family).  It went so well that it was decided we should have the reunions become an annual thing.  This year, the reunion was held in July in Fenton, Michigan at Sara's Aunt Sharon's house on the lake.  Eleven of our Wisconsin relatives and two of our Florida relatives made the trip for it, in addition to Sara's extended family that lives in the area.  Auntie Ruth, my grandma's only living sibling, even made the trip for it!  We changed it up a bit this year and it became a little more of a reunion weekend, instead of just for an afternoon and evening like last year.  We actually really liked having the reunion weekend.  We really got to know the out-of-towners quite well and had such a great time!  We are already looking forward to next year's reunion, whose location is TBD at this point... most likely either in northern Wisconsin or northern Michigan. 

We had a weekend full of fun... pontoon boat rides, ski boat rides, water skiing, knee boarding, swimming, laughs, smiles, and just plain ol' good times!

Oldest and youngest at the family reunion... Bristol with her Great-Great Auntie Ruth.

We're missing a few of the local cousins that had left already, but this is most of us.

Oldest generation and youngest generation.

A handful of the Elsesser first-cousins (there are tons more... considering there were 12 Elsesser siblings!)... they all grew up together and now see each other only once a year... prior to last year it had been decades... I really hope we never get that way with our first-cousins!

Riley and Bristol - Riley is about 6 weeks older than Bristol

A beautiful sunset to end the evening!