Lincoln Ridge Fall Festival

A couple weeks ago, on a very beautiful Sunday afternoon, we went to Lincoln Ridge for their Fall Festival (I don't know if that's the correct name, but that's what I'm calling it). One of the first things the boys wanted to do was ride in the barrels
This is what they called "Straw Mountain" They climbed the straw bales, and went down the slide dozens of times...until we dragged them away!
All the boys got a kick out of the "Punkin Chuckin" ...especially Bill! I have to admit, it was entertaining to watch them launch pumpkins and then see them explode when they hit the ground!

The Pumpkin Playground

A corn husk tee-pee
Next up was the corn maze. I wasn't sure the boys would enjoy this, but we let them lead the way and they got a kick out of it. A couple times, Bill jumped out of the corn when they weren't expecting it, and scared the living daylights out of them!!
Wanda Witch's house
I had to take a picture of all the mums sitting out! They were beautiful all together like this!
Our last adventure was riding the haywagon out to the pumpkin patch, to pick out perfect pumpkins.

Weighing, and paying for our pumpkins


And here's what they did with the pumpkins when we got home:

Go Longhorns!

The boys are playing flag football this fall through the YMCA....and they really like it! Which means, of course, we like it too! We really get a kick out of watching them. ...and what we think is a great-big-bonus is Hutch Ridenour and Luke Bollenbacher are on the same team! How fun to sit with friends and cheer on all our kids! Hutch wasn't here this day :( Hopefully, I'll get a picture with all four boys before the season is over.

Bill with his parents, Nancy & Big Bill. It was a beautiful day last Saturday, so they came out to watch.
Action photos:

GO LONGHORNS!! :) (Never really thought I'd say that!!)

Labor Day Weekend

We spent yet another weekend at the lake, for Labor Day. It was a tough choice, because the fair was going on...but I think it was a good one! The first couple days made us question our decision a little because it was chilly. We had to find indoor activities for the boys. They really enjoyed making "forts" out of all the couch cushions, so we just let them do it! :)One morning, my parents took us to town for breakfast at Dillingers. If I have the story correct, it's named Dillingers after the famous bank robber. Back in the day, the building was a bank and was held up by John Dillinger. The bullet holes in the window below supposedly are a result of this. I don't know if that's true, but the boys were really interested in the story after seeing & hearing about this...
Breakfast pictures :)


FINALLY it warmed up!! Trey was in the water as soon as we gave him the green light!

I missed this picture by about a second!

This is what Grandpa Jim was doing when he finally had some peace & quiet inside:

It also turned into a beautiful day for a boat ride....

Nick loves to be the captain!!

Even Newman made it into the water....


Our friends, the swans, stopped by for a visit - and a snack :)
One of the last orders of business for the weekend, was for the boys to plant their bulbs with Grandma & Grandpa. Earlier in the summer, they spent a weekend at the lake without Mommy and Daddy. Grandma and Grandpa took them uptown to a parade, where they were handing out these bulbs...Sooo, it only seems fitting that they would plant them together!

Goodbye Summer....Hello Fall!

It's so chilly this morning, and our yard is starting to collect leaves! Fall is right around the corner, so I thought I'd make one last summer-y post...

The boys L-O-V-E watermelon!


Look how green the grass is in the background! I do love fall, but it's still a little sad to say goodbye to shorts, flip flops, and all the fun summer activities.

Girls Night Out - Ft Wayne

Recently, we had a girls get-together in Ft Wayne. Liz just bought a new house over there, so we decided to go take a tour and have dinner. Liz, your house is beautiful!

Dinner was at Granite City. Wow! It was so good!
I took my camera along, and in my mind, thought I took plenty of pictures of the evening. When I took a look the next day, this picture of Ryanne-the-Ninja is the only one I had!!! Funny stuff!

Soooo, I borrowed these pictures from Ryanne's Facebook page...Sorry they are so small! I can never figure out the converting thing!!

This is one of the group outside Lizze's house: Ryanne, Tricia, Lindsay, Liz & Jackie

When we got to Granite City, Ryanne busted out the "Totally Awesome 90's Trivia" Game - which she made, and printed out for us! It was hilarious! Congrats to Lindsay for having the highest score!
After we came back from Ft Wayne, it was just Tricia, Ryanne & myself. We stayed out until all hours of the night doing crazy things that most likely only we think are funny...so I'll spare you the details! :)

Just Mom & the Boys

A couple weekends ago, I took the boys to the lake. Grandma & Grandpa had other plans, so they weren't there...and Bill had plans for most of the weekend, so he wasn't there either (he did come up for the day on Sunday). Soooo, it was just the boys and I. It was so nice & relaxing. The boys were fishing for what seemed like morning to night! The only help they needed was putting the worm on the hook, and taking a fish off after they caught it! I was able to do some reading while they were fishing - but not much! They caught tons of fish!! They were only little ones, which we threw back, but the fact that they kept biting made them want to keep fishing.

We had s'mores every night we were there! YUM!We also had some nightly visitors! Swans! They came right up to the dock, and we fed them some bread.

Some miscellaneous fishing pictures

Pucker up!!


We're going back for Labor Day weekend, so I'm sure we'll have more to share!

We Have a Kindergartener??

Yes, Trey started Kindergarten this year. Crazy, huh?

Here he is all ready to go, waiting for the bus:On the bus, and on his way!
Nick started his 2nd year of Preschool the next day and unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures. Luckily, Bill had the camcorder out for both days, so we didn't lose the moment completely.

Happy Birthday Steve!

Steve's birthday was a couple weeks ago, and he requested Olive Garden. (No arguments here!) We had our own little "cove" in the restaurant for our group...which is why all the pictures are either dark and blurry, or white-outs.


Steve with some helpers, blowing out his candles
Trey dug right it!! He l-o-v-e-s cake!
My Mom & Dad (Grandma Cathy & Grandpa Jim)
Courtney & Steve

Nick & Grandma Betty

Bill & Jackie (It was a self-portrait)

Happy Birthday Uncle Steve!

Friends

Wow! Where has the summer gone?! Lots of fun times, but sadly, not many pictures to show for it!

These pictures go back several weeks... I had two of my good friends Ryanne & Tricia (+ kids) over for lunch and playing. When this picture was taken, I think it was Ryanne who said "Ten years ago, would you have ever thought we'd have this many kids?" No, I didn't!

The sandbox was a popular place at this point. How did they even have room to play?
The girls: Ryanne, Jackie, Tricia
Thanks for coming over girls! I hope we can do this a lot more!

“Even though we've changed and we're all finding our own place in the world, we all know that when the tears fall or the smile spreads across our face, we'll come to each other because no matter where this crazy world takes us, nothing will ever change so much to the point where we're not all still friends.” ~Unknown