A Seven Hour Drive (Part 1 of 4)

Caleb had two days off of school so daddy took off of work and we drove down to southern Illinois to visit Grandma and Papa Nikolai. We left right after school got out on Wednesday and drove 7 hours before arriving around 10:30pm. Caleb had fallen asleep in the car so we got his pajamas on and put him straight to bed when we got there. Sonya had dozed on and off in the car and was just too excited to go to sleep again. So she stayed up to visit with Grandma and Papa for a little bit.

Thursday was a pretty low-key day. We spent time at the house and ventured off to the farm where Grandma Nikolai volunteers. She showed us around a little and we all got to pet the horses. Sonya really LOVES horses, but is still a little shy when it comes to touching them (or any animal for that matter). I know she enjoyed watching them though and kept playing with the toy horse at Grandma's house during our entire stay there. "Neigh!"

At the farm

Papa and Sonya

Grandma and Caleb

Saying "hi" to Stanley

Petting Stanley

Chow time!

The mini's

Aunt Kelly with Caleb

Hello Buttercup!

Such a friendly horse

Friday was quite eventful. Before I go into that, I wanted to share a funny video of Caleb with his Papa. I crack up every time I watch it. Caleb's laugh is just so darn contagious. :-)

The Tickle Monster

VIDEO: Papa tickling Caleb (a pretty hilarious clip)

In the morning, we went over to the park to feed the ducks. Caleb was throwing bread right at them sometimes. When the bread ran out, the kids (and the adults) played on the playground.

Getting ready to feed the ducks

Sonya is throwing some bread

I think she actually got it in the water this time

Sonya has Papa wrapped around her finger

Look! A duck! 

Throwing more bread

Trying to figure out which one to throw it to

Swans, ducks, and geese

To be continued in another post.....

AWANA - Campfire Night

Caleb loves going to AWANA on Sundays -- well, most Sundays. He was pretty excited about the campfire night when they got to eat s'mores! All of the clubbers were supposed to invite a friend to come along and Caleb decided to bring TWO friends. I decided to stay and watch the Sparks club partially to see what they would be doing for the night and also to keep an eye on the extra kids. They talked about what fire and our tongues have in common. It was pretty funny to hear some of the responses the kids gave for the different questions.

Watching the fire

Listening to the AWANA commander

Roasting Marshmallows

Eating s'mores

Again

I enjoyed watching the kids play different games as a way to build each other up. It added excitement for the kids and entertainment for the spectators. :-)

Playing games

Posing for the picture

Caleb is a fast little man

This was before Caleb got "out"

Being goofy

Caleb stacking cups

He did it!

Now it's Gabe's turn

Stacking them back inside each other

Stevin gets to try now

Awesome job!

Go!!!

Picking out their team's victory treat

While the clubbers were in council time sharing the verses they memorized, the new friends got to talk to Pastor Seth for a little while. Caleb got to do his verses first so he could join his friends right away. They talked about what they are afraid of -- the dark, various critters, dying, etc. Death doesn't have to be so scary if you know where you're going afterward. Thank goodness for Jesus and the loving sacrifice He gave!

Listening to Pastor Seth

A Fall Day

We started out enjoying the Pancake Breakfast at church. Tim brought his Little Brother along so the rest of us got to meet him for the first time. (Tim is participating in the Big Brother/Big Sister program in Ozaukee County). There were blueberry, chocolate chip, and plain pancakes. Yum! Some of the men from church drove their tractors to the pancake breakfast so the kids got to ride around the parking lot. (I didn't have my camera with me though. Bummer!)

Our next stop was Spieker's Pumpkin Farm. Even though Sonya and I had been there a few weeks earlier, Tim and Caleb weren't with us and we've never gone to a pumpkin farm as a family. So we thought that'd be fun to do together. It was a perfect, warm, sunny day without a cloud in the sky. 

Feeding the goat

Daddy and Sonya

Daddy with the kids

Mommy and the kids
Kind of bummed that it turned out fuzzy :-(

Mom and Caleb

Corn field

Pumpkin Patch

Checking out pumpkins

Hay Ride

A beautiful day for a hay ride

Daddy and Sonya

Caleb scoping out a good pumpkin

Momma and Sonya

I think he found one!

Eyeing up Caleb's little pumpkin

My two kiddos

Scarecrow Daddy and his little pumpkin

Sonya wanted to be the scarecrow too

Look at all these pumpkins

The cutest pumpkin of all

Checking out some more pumpkins

Comfy spot to sit

This is the family pumpkin!

Bumping up and down in the little red wagon

When we got home, Caleb helped mommy carve the big pumpkin. 

Scooping out the guts

Posing with the scary Jack 'o Lantern

Caleb wanted to test out his camera skills

Halloween Costumes

Tigger and Elmo

Aren't they cute?

My little Tigger

As it got darker, we traveled to the Harrington Beach State Park where the Candlelight Halloween Hike took place. We chose to take the unhaunted route because the kids were too young yet for that. It was kind of neat to walk through the trails lit by torches. After the hike, the kids got to participate in a costume contest and both kids won prizes!

Elmo is showing off his pearly whites

Tigger is ready to roll

Some of the carved pumpkins along the trail

These were kind of neat

Caleb was checking out the torch.
There were hundreds of these!

Playing around with settings on my camera

Dusk

Enjoying a chocolate cupcake after the hike

Bonfire while kids were carving pumpkins

Just the fire

Caleb during the costume contest

Daddy told him that if he smiled, he might win

He took 3rd place for his Elmo costume!

Tired Sonya showing off the chalk and car that she won
(She tied for 1st since there were only two kids in her division)

Caleb was pretty excited that he won chalk too!