Visiting with the Dooleys

Last week we took a family trip down to Cincinnati to visit my good friend Kelly and her family. They had to move from the Fort down to southern Ohio last year for Mick's job. They are adjusting well and this was the first time we were able to visit. They have a gorgeous house and we had nice time staying with them. Max LOVES playing with their boys, Cayden and Grady. They were running around the house like crazy- no surprise there. We decided to take the boys to the Newport Aquarium. It was a nice place. The fish and turtles were beautiful! I loved the glass floors and ceilings. It was neat to watch the sea life swimming all around us.

My favorite. 

It is so hard to take a family photo now that Max doesn't like the camera. 

Great friends!! 

After several failed attempts, this was the best photo of all three boys. Haha 

Apple Picking

What a gorgeous, fall day! My mom, Tricia, the boys, and I had such a wonderful time at MacQueen's Orchard picking apples. I haven't done this in forever. I forgot what the trees looked like and how many apples one tree can produce. It was fun watching Max and Marco look in awe at all of the apples on the ground and in the trees. Max even snuck off a couple of times to hide under the trees and eat his apples. It was so cute! We also got to eat the delicious doughnuts made there at the orchard-- my favorite. What a great day.

Clint's favorite! I can't wait to make some apple pies. It will be the first time making them from scratch using Grandma Grace's pie crust recipe. 

Max loved climbing the ladder and picking apples. He felt so important! 

It is so nice sitting here under the apple tree. 

Two apples are better than one! 

Mmmm your apple looks good, Max. 

Fall at the Lake

While we were in Ohio last weekend we also decided to go up to the lake and enjoy the beautiful weather. My grandma has been staying up there to close up the cottage, so we also got to visit with her. There are always so many leaves up there. When my sister and I were little we used to have fun jumping into the giant leaf piles. I thought Max would have fun doing this as well. He also got to help Papa dump leaves into the "swamp". I love that we are still able to go up to the lake and that I can share all of those memories with Max and Leo. We are very lucky!!

Happy 30th Birthday, Mandie!!

One of my best friend's turned 30 on October 23. She is the first one out of our group to reach this milestone birthday-- the rest of us still have a few months to look forward to ;). We had fun celebrating at Fat Fish Blue for dinner and then went to the comedy club afterwards. It was a nice night with lots of funny memories. Happy Birthday friend!! 

Run Zach, Run!!

Last weekend I went home to Sylvania to visit my family and celebrate one of my best friend's 30th birthday. When we first got there we wanted to go and watch my brother Zach run in his last Cross Country race of the season. This was the first time I have been able to make it to a meet. It was hilarious! Not because of the runners or anything, but because of how intense my dad gets trying to watch my brother run. As soon as I parked the car my dad scooped Max up and started running to the starting line. Poor Max was just looking back at my Mom and I with wide eyes as he bounced along in Papa's arms. Nana and I could not stop laughing.

Once the race started, the five of us ran from spot to spot to get a good view of Zach while he ran. It was really neat watching him run. He looks so grown up- I can't believe he is already 16.

What are we doing, Papa? 

Zach is number 51.

This is a little less crazy... ;) 

Zach at the end of the race. Brought back memories. Great job Zach!!

Hilger's Pumpkin Farm 2011

Clint and I started a family tradition several years ago of going to a local pumpkin farm, called Hilger's. It is a cute, family farm that has a small corn maze for kids, homemade fall decorations, a hayride, and a bunch of pumpkins. We've taken Max there the past couple of years and he always enjoys it. This year it was really hard to get pictures of him because he has a new found aversion to cameras, lol. Leo was so cute! He still loves the camera :)

Max is very serious about his pumpkin collecting. 

He wanted his pumpkins to have a seat as well. 

My strong boys-- well, Max didn't cooperate for the picture--but it is still cute! 

Me and my boys. 

Smiley Leo :) 

A few days before this we went to a really big corn maze, hay mountain, and corn box in Waterloo, Indiana with Clint's mom (Ma). It was such a fun place, but I didn't get any pictures. Max especially loved the corn box- just like his cousin Johanna! It was a neat place, but I found something similar even closer that we will have to try next year. This time of year is so much fun. I love the weather, changing colors, and all of the fun things we get to do. It is even more special now that we have our boys.

Mini Motoring

Once again, since the weather has been so amazing, we have also taken the mini out for a few drives. On Monday we decided to take the boys on a drive up to Pokagon Park for a hike. We had a fantastic time! The drive was beautiful- lots of things to look at on the route we took. It was mainly through the country and past some lakes, so everything was really pretty.

When we got to Pokagon I had to feed Leo, then we put him into the baby carrier and took off. We've done this hike a couple of times, but this was the first time Max would try and hike it on his own. He did awesome! He ran and walked almost the whole way- only needing a piggy-back-ride from me and then a shoulder ride from Dad towards the very end. We saw a couple of deer and lots of chipmunks, birds, and squirrels. It was a great day!

After our hike we drove around Lake James and saw the cottage Clint rented one year for school. It was right on the water. Clint enjoyed living there for a year while he was going to Tri-State. On the way home we stopped at Mad Anthony's in Auburn for dinner. It is cool that they opened one up in Auburn because it is actually closer to us than the FW location, and Clint won't have to see any of the "mopes" he's arrested, lol. After dinner Clint took us down this really windy road he found one afternoon with Max. It was freaky to drive on it (well, to have Clint driving really fast on it) in the Cooper. That car can take corners really quickly. I never knew we had roads like that around here-- it was neat. Reminded me of an area in Maryland where my Aunt and  Uncle live. We are looking forward to another trip soon!