Mackinac Island

Dear Blog, I'm sorry I have been absent for so long! My excuse, hmm.... I'm still trying to come up with one. But maybe if I make a goal on my blog to put up a new post at least once week, I will!

Anyways on to what we have been up to!

Just a little bit ago when Jared had a break from school are family went to one of the most awesomest (I know that's not a word but it sounds cool) places in Michigan called Mackinaw Island. This is a little Island in the upper part of Michigan where you have to take a ferry or little plane to get to. And the best part of the Island is that there are NO CARS, MOTORCYCLES OR ANY OTHER FORM OF ENGINE RUN VEHICLES ALLOWED! (Except for emergency vehicles if there needed of course). For transportation you use carriages and bikes or your own two feet :).

Riding the ferry to the island. It was a cold ride but once we got off the weather was perfect.

The Grand Hotel. If you have ever seen "Somewhere In Time" with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour this is the Island and hotel they used to film the movie.

This is how we got around the Island, it was great! We even rode around the whole Island which was 9 miles. This may not be that cool to you, but I can't even remember the last time I rode a bike. How sad is that? :(

Jared and Olivia standing in the middle of the town.

The views from the island.

We got off our bikes to take a quick family picture.

Olivia and I taking a picture on the steps of the Grand Hotel.

A view from the fort on the Island.

Watching the waves in the lake as we ride the ferry away from the island.

Mackinac Island was a really fun and relaxing trip, we got to ride bikes, explore a fort, try a fried pickle (weird I know, but it was pretty good), go on a little carriage ride, and eat fudge, they are known for having the best fudge ever, to me fudge is fudge but Jared thought is was great. We had a great time and I hope we can go again someday!

Can We Get Any Closer?

I know our T.V. is small and not a flat screen but still is it that bad that we have to sit this close! :)

3!?!

Before my little Olivia turned 3 there was one thing we had to do...

...take away the binky!!! (I know BAD picture)


Jared's mom gave us this great idea to take Olivia to Build A Bear and put the binky inside the bear and that way she will always have it.

Three days before her birthday we took her to Build A Bear and picked out the perfect pink bear. We stuffed the binky inside gave her new bear a bath, picked out an outfit and printed out a birth certificate with her bears new name "Binky".

And it was that easy! NOT we had two very hard nights with lots of tears, but after those two sad nights things have gone back to normal. And we love our bear.



For Olivia's 3rd birthday we went to a children's science museum.

In a big bubble.

Playing with our daddy.

This year we decided not to have a big birthday party and celebrate as a family with our big 3 year old!

Where has the time gone it feels like Olivia has been with us forever and at the same time I can't believe she is 3 already! I'm so excited to see what the next year will bring for my little Olivia.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!!!

In October...

...we went to Uncle John's Cider Mill and picked out a couple of pumpkins.

While we were there we rode a wagon, train and had the best apple cider ever! I've never been a big apple cider fan, but this was the best apple cider that I've ever have had.

Olivia riding a little apple car. This was probably the best part of the day for her. (for some odd reason she loves those quarter machine rides)

Of course we had to get a picture with the bus.

We carved our pumpkins with some friends.

And then the big day came Halloween!!! Olivia had been waiting weeks for this day to come.

She was a little purple fairy and dad and mom were boring and did not dress up this year.

She was so excited to get candy that she lost some of her manners and ran across the lawns!

Over all we had a great Halloween!

Fall Fun!

This last Saturday was such a beautiful day so our little family decided that it was the perfect day to go to the park and play and take some fun pictures. (Well maybe the whole picture idea was just mine).

Playing hopscotch.
Olivia is at such a fun age where she wants to learn how to play games and tries her very best to understand them.

We still aren't quite strong enough for the rings.

We love our daddy! He's so silly!!!

My two most favorite people. :)

And yes we like being just as silly as our daddy!

Don't you just love the fall and all the leaves!!!

Olivia is ready for the Halloween season to start, thanks to Granny!

Last week end Jared and I did a first. We were driving through our town after getting the oil changed in our car when we saw a yard sale and decided to stop and bought this little kitchen for Olivia for 5 dollars! She loves this little kitchen and has been playing with it everyday since we got it. We did have to buy the food and dishes at Toys R Us but we still think it was a steal all it needed was to be soaked in bleach :) to get all the icky germs off.

The best part was bringing it home! Jared was soo mad when he found out it wouldn't fit in the trunk. He told me to take it back to the lady and get our money back. But with lots of begging I finally convinced him that we could look like a bunch of wierdos and tie it to the top of the car. And so here is a picture of how silly we must have looked driving down the road. :)

Home

A few family members have asked to see pictures of the little place that we are now calling home. I've tried to post pone this post in hopes that they (you) would decide to just come all the way over and visit us. Two of them did, but the rest have failed to do so, so here is a peek into the place that we now call home. :) (I know we've only been gone for three months)

The top picture is the outside of our little apartment. I wish I could claim the wreath on the door, but I can't seeing that we live upstairs and that it's the neighbors door.

This is the entry into the apartment with a little Olivia waiting to greet you at the top of the stairs. (the door goes into the garage)

A view from the top of the stairs into our living room.

The top of the stairs takes you strait to the kitchen table.

Just in case you can't tell this is the kitchen. ;)

A closer view of our bare living room.

And one more view of the living room just for fun.


And last but not least







my most FAVORITE room in our





home...















Olivia's room!

This is the first home where Olivia has had her own room, I never got to decorate a nursery for her or anything so this has been a treat for me. (poo hoo, do you feel sorry for me:)

Our bedroom, is just a boring bedroom, so I failed to take a picture. And no our house is not always this picked up. It would be nice if it was but that's almost impossible with our two year old.