Skiing at Boyne

Once again we got on the first chairlift at an impressive 10am, which was super shocking considering we had to drive farther and check out of our room. Today's forecast was for a high of 32 but it certainly didn't feel like it! There was quite a bit of the mountain that wasn't open yet. Zachary really wanted to go to one of the large terrain parks and also see the half pipe. Unfortunately both of those had not been shaped yet because of the lack of snow and we ended up being on a part of the mountain we really had no right being on! The only way down was via a black diamond run and that certainly wasn't any fun. The kids were crying the whole way down because they were frustrated (rightfully so). I didn't think they were ever going to get down!! But eventually we did get to the bottom and we took a well desired break to enjoy some hot chocolate.
The rest of the day got better as we stayed on the green and blue runs. We stayed until 4pm! We had a good ride home since the roads were dry an clear.
Now our next big event will be our Harry Potter night happening on New Years Eve. We finished reading the first Harry Potter book on the car ride home, so we will be watching the movie that night. It will also be the first time the kids are staying up with us to ring in the new year. We have seen that they certainly have the ability to
do so (as evidenced by their sleepovers) so it should be a fun evening!!

Ski day at Nubs Nob

After a hearty breakfast (yummy spiced waffles!!) we headed over to Nubs Nob. Kudos to my family for getting on the first chairlift at 10am and even getting a front row parking spot!! The snow on the slopes was nothing too exciting, but given that there was NO snow outside of the mountain, it was actually an impressive detail. The kids did a great job of remembering how to ski again. Our biggest challenge of the day was the cold temperatures. It was only 18 degrees when we finished skiing. Luckily I think I was the only complainer about it - I was happily surprised that the kids hardly said anything about it.
For dinner we went to the Mitchell Street Pub which had a long line. The wait time seemed longer, but it was really only a half hour. Hooray for iPhones to keep us entertained.

Ski trip up North

With Christmas over, and the scraps of the last wrapping paper shreds picked up, it was now time to turn our thoughts to the other awesome event in December... the annual ski trip!
We headed up North despite there being hardly any snow on the ground. When we got there, we were bummed to learn that the Tubing area wasn't even open yet. We stayed in our favorite hotel in Petoskey. The one with the beautifully decorated lobby, super comfy beds, and those yummy waffles in the morning.

Halloween fun!

Look out, it's that time again!!  Halloween!!

 This year Sydney wanted to be "something scary" so she picked spider witch.  Luckily it was the costume I bought on clearance last Halloween.  bonus!  Zachary was a Ninja.  For some reason he didn't want to wear his hood other than for a few pictures.  Odd, because when he has his hoodie on, the hood is usually up!  go figure.  Anyhow, here they are ready for some candy.

The night was just a blur - I didn't even get any pictures of Alan and I with the kids!  Luckily Grandma & Grandpa Bachli came over to pass out candy so I got to run around with Alan and the kids.  I need to be better organized next year and come up with a costume for myself.

We ran into one of Sydney's BFF's (Rebecca) and spent the night running around with her.

After 2 hours of running around, we were all tired and we retreated back home to the warmth and to count out the loads of candy the kids received.  It was so much the kids could make life size models of themselves!

Good thing our neighbors give out lots of Reeses PB cups... they are my favorites!! :)

Apple picking at MacQueens!

With the weather feeling so much like fall (and really it is fall around here now) we decided to head over to the apple orchard to pick some apples.  We had intended to get to the orchard before their festival (an apple butter festival I think) happened, but even now the orchard was a mad house of people with the same idea.  Imagine that!

The kids couldn't wait to shimmy up the trees and pick some apples.  They were big helpers this year.

 Of course I made the family pose for pictures.  The apple orchard is just perfect for pictures!

Yep, I see some family xmas cards...  :) 

 Hamming it up!

This is the best part of owning a truck... climbing on it to pick the big apples that no one else could reach! 

Travel back in time...

Imagine if you will, being back in 1850 traveling on a canal boat in Ohio.... We visited the canal boat today in Grand Rapids. We have seen the Volunteer many times running on the towpath trail (well, Alan has seen it many more times than I have!).

The tour was a 45 minute ride in which people in period costumes explained what life was like back in 1850. Imagine ripping down the canal at a whopping 4 miles an hour to Cincinnati (in a mere 6 days!). It was quite interesting and the fall weather was beautiful. When we got to the locks (the only operational historic lock in Ohio), we had to be pulled by the boat employees.

We also learned what a Mule was (not a donkey!) The mules pulled us along the canal.

Imagine me forgetting to grab our hoodies for the ride though! Good thing I had a blanket in my car to keep us warm. Well, it was warm at our house when we left, who would have thought it was going to be so cool. Looks like Zack was not so thrilled that I forgot his coat. oops!

After our boat ride we took a tour of the mill. 

Camping at Pokagon

It's definately fall around here again, and that means weekend camping trips!  Now that we don't have soccer interrupting our weekends, I'm hoping we'll take a few more trips.  For this trip we went to Pokagon state park in Indiana.  We camped in our favorite campsite... the one with the big rock!

 The kids also love the nature center at the park.  We went on our first nature walk with a guide.  We learned a lot - most especially how to correctly identify posion ivy!  We got a new saying "hairy scary".  good to know :)

 Zachary made a milestone lately - he can now conquer the monkey bars!!  That is very exciting (but also sad because he's not so much a little boy nowadays).  He did a great job, made it to one side and back again.

 We also went on a hayride around the campground.

 We all had fun - until the driver scolded everyone for causing straw to fall out of the wagon.  Geez, what a crank!

 Even though Sydney was really hoping to find many caterpillars, we only found one wooly bear.  We brought it home, but it's not looking so good.  We did find a little frog that was really cute too.  Thank god the kids let him go.

 The kids stayed up really late riding their bikes around.  Well, at least 9pm seemed pretty late since it was so dark out (and chilly!).

 Nighttime is also time for s'mores.  Yum yum yum!  My favorite :)  The kids even had theirs the "right" way this time, with toasted marshmallows.  They liked them, but they still like eating all of the parts separate.

The kids did stay up until 10:30 both nights, so that was late for them.  But with the heater cranked in the camper, we all sleep in pretty late, so I don't mind too much.

 Sunday morning we went down to the beach.  We were surprised to see 4 beautiful swans swimming in the lake.  When we first saw them we thought they were fake!

 The beach was empty - but still a fun place to explore.

 They begged Daddy for a super push on the swings.  Hang on tight kids!!

 This is a pretty cool picture because Sydney took it.  I don't know if she purposely tried to get me off center or not, but I think so.  I think some of my random mumblings about shooting pictures has rubbed off on her!!

 A beautiful day at the Inn as well.  Some day we will stay at the Inn for the weekend, to see how the "other half" lives :)