Apple Picking!

Last weekend we took the kids to our favorite place to pick apples. We found a great orchard 3 years ago and now faithfully return each year. We spent Carter's 4th and 5th birthday there, so it is a special place for us. The view is incredible and the orchard is full of great apples. We packed a picnic, loaded the kids in the car and met some of our dear friends for a great day in the country.
The kids had a blast running wild, climbing trees and trying to tackle the dads as they played football. Later, I made some apple crisp. I am attempting to tackle slow-cooker apple sauce. It is starting to taste like Fall here, even if the weather doesn't feel like it. It is nearly October and it is still in the 80's most days!
I hope you enjoy our pictures!

Moira and our friend Tyler trying to tackle Jon

 This is a beautiful shot of Moira to be sure. However, when I blew it up, I noticed a red blob hanging in a tree behind her. That would be her brother, Carter, enjoying the great outdoors. Two little monkeys!

 We were unable to get Carter to hold still too long to snap many photos of him. He had too much fun running wild

Carter turns 6!

Carter turned 6 on the 21st. He is so proud of himself and is certain he is now bigger, stronger and taller. And he is. Most definitely. His birthday falls, literally, within days of his two good friends from preschool, so this year we had a combined party with his buddies. We had a pool party in the evening and Carter thought it was so cool to go swimming at night and in the dark.
We had his party earlier in the month and this proved confusing to the birthday kid. When his birthday rolled around last week, we had a more intimate party with family and our dear friends that couldn't make it to his party. Carter was THRILLED to share his birthday with his good buddy Christian.

 Store-bought cake for his party with his buddies.

 Home-made cake for his actual birthday. I baked the cake and made the icing. Jon decorated it. He would not even let me help! He piped it all himself.

 Carter admiring his birthday cake. All he asked for was a "Pirate Cake".

 We put sparkler candles on the cake and Carter had a hard time blowing them out. Carter's friend, Christian thought it was pretty funny. Check out his sweet face!

 Avah and Moira thought the icing was delicious! They looked like Smurfs when they were finished!

 Mom bought the right one! And he was so worried! (Phew!!!)

Happy Birthday Carter! We love you so!!!

Moira's First Day of School!!

I can not believe my little (big) girl is ready for preschool but she was bursting with excitement all summer. That was her main source of motivation for potty training and I am so proud of her for completing that milestone so quickly and efficiently.
Moira had the special treat of Daddy taking her to school her first day. I was out of town helping Keri, Jon's sister, prepare for her wedding that weekend. It is still a little difficult to say, "Goodbye" when we drop her off but she is quickly redirected and gets into the swing of things. She is sad when we get to the parking lot because she doesn't want to leave "that place". She has thoroughly enjoyed the painting center and brings home her original masterpieces daily. She is so proud of herself and I am pleased as punch with her too!
Moira is truly a sweet girl. She tells each of us daily that she loves us. She can not wait to get out of bed in the morning to play with her brother for a few minutes before he leaves for school. She is definitely my independent and strong-willed girl. We are all learning how to harness this power for good. It has been a steep learning curve adjusting to how each child needs me differently. But Moira and I are getting into a groove now and enjoying the time we share "just us girls". We go on lots of "dates". Moira has already asked that when she gets bigger, if she and I could "go get coffee together". (Tear) Of course we can sweet girl! Mommy's treat! Enjoy the pictures of our beautiful girl. We couldn't be more proud of her.

 Yes, they really love each other that much. It is pretty fantastic. They still fight - but mostly it is the love thing.

 Proud Daddy with his kiddos.

 I love how excited she is! Big Girl!!

 Yeaaaa, so drop-off is a little difficult for her.

 Melt my heart! She is so happy to see her daddy!!!

 Checking out her surprise party

 Having a cupcake with daddy after school

 Mommy and Daddy are so proud of you Moira!! Love you!

First Day of School!!!!!

The verdict: HE LOVED IT! So glad too because he has to go back. He was very excited and very prepared. We are so proud of our big kid!
What I love best about Carter is that he was also so thoughtful of his sister and realized that she would miss him during the day. We have our little ritual of how we say goodbye, the three of us, in the morning so we can keep each other close all day.
Moira was very thoughtful of him, too, and asked if we could get him a little treat. Little did she know I already had something planned.
Carter came off the bus yesterday literally shrieking with delight...and without a backpack. He was so excited he had to run back to the bus to get it.
Now, if we can only keep this momentum up through med-school. ;-)

Can you see how proud he is??? My good friend, Desi, made the chalkboard for us so we can use it every year. Love it!

Moira was so excited she didn't want to wait to finish breakfast to get it on the pictures. Classy, just like her momma.

Proud Daddy! Jon took the morning off to see Carter off on his first day. He met us in time to grab him off the bus later too!

We raced the bus to school to grab photos of Carter heading into school too. Don't judge! We weren't the only parents doing the exact same thing!

So proud and confident!

Oh! The Places he'll GO! Muah!!!

I planned a little welcome home party for Carter after school. Moira picked out a present for him. It was a big hit.

Please look closely: Carter bursting off the bus

Check out his mad air!

Bursting to his momma!!

 "Where's your backpack???", ""ACK! I left it on the bus!!!"

Now he's got it!

Reunited!! Great day Carter! SO proud of you!!!!

ALASKA!

Ok, I have been wanting to blog about our trip but I have been waiting for MORE photos. We took some and my Dad did too, and of course I like his better - but they aren't HERE yet!!!
I figure I need to go ahead and post anyway because there are other things I want to get to. So....
ALASKA: AWESOME!
We embarked on our adventure via a Royal Caribbean cruise ship. That was something I vowed to Jon I would NEVER do. The idea just did not appeal to me at all.  Being trapped at sea with no visibility of Terra Firma was terrifying to say the least. But my Dad asked if we would join them so of course I could not tell him "No". So all aboard we went with my children tethered to my side (Moira is fearless and a climber. Not a good combination.)
As the trip progressed, I relaxed a little more. It was easy too once I saw what an absolute BLAST my kids were having. They, by far, had the most fun of anyone else on that ship. (Don't call it a boat - Carter WILL correct you!)
We took in as many sites as we could in Juneau, Skagway, and Victoria, B.C. (anything to get me off that ship and on dry (stationary) land!). The kids enjoyed whale watching the best for sure. We got to see several orcas, humpback whales and even a few sea lions. We also took a beautiful train ride, which was an amazing way to view the landscape. Jon and I hiked with my sisters in the rain forest. The kids hiked a bit too. In Victoria we got brave and did a zip line. Of course, Jon and I were already pros from our trip earlier this summer, but we had a lot of fun.
Enjoy the pics. When more come in, I will try to be good about posting them. ;-)

Hanging out on the ship

 Packed and ready for our whale watching/rain forest hike adventure!

That was our whale watching boat. You thought I was nervous about the cruise ship??? Those windows swing open so you can hang out of them to get close and personal with nature...or your Maker.

That was the last moment she sat still the rest of the tour. She spent the rest of the time hanging out the aforementioned windows.

Carter is parking the boat.

Captain Carter!

Hiking in the rain forest. It was a little rainy. The kids were AWESOME!

Glacier. Global  warming is REAL people!

Train ride. It was truly more beautiful than words and photos could convey. It literally brought tears to my eyes.

The family wanted to celebrate Carter's birthday with him one month early. He did not object!

This is as graceful as I get folks.

It was an amazing trip. I'm not saying I want to do it again next year, but we had an amazing time. THANK YOU!!! ;-)