Apples and Tomatoes

Brett and I had a farm day last week. We visited the apple orchard and selected some perfect apples for making apple crisp for dessert that night after dinner. We checked out all the trees and even enjoyed an apple turnover for a snack....it was great! Today I made applesauce and tomorrow night am attempting apple turnovers of my own for a dessert. Brett got to tell all about the orchard at preschool and they even used apples as stamps for their art project so he felt he was somewhat of an apple expert. We spotted pumpkins at the orchard as well and will have to make a return trip in a week or so with Reagan and Daddy to search for the perfect pumpkins for carving and for a ride on the hay rack and tractor!! Here are some pics of Brett checking out the apples in the trees and of him enjoying his snack at the orchard.

After the orchard we continued on to our vegetable cooperative for our weekly pickup. We visited the wall of cherry tomatoes for Brett to sample. Reagan got to do so the week before while Brett slept in the car. He was excited for his turn to eat them right off the vine, not that you could tell by the photo......I think I took 10 pictures and this was the best one. Apparently the dogs and kittens running around the farm were more interesting than Mom trying to take yet another picture of him.

Of course no drive in the country is complete for Brett if we don't HAVE to stop on the side of the road to pee. He thinks its the best thing ever...I'm pretty sure he holds it all day on veggie trip days just so he CAN do it. Seriously. On these particular days when Scott comes home and asks what he did today the very first thing from his lips is he peed in the grass. Choose your battles, right?!!?

Family Weddings

One definite advantage of being so close to home is that we get to partake in family events that we used to only hear about. One of Scott's cousins got married on Sept. 20 so we got to go to that and help them celebrate. Reagan and Brett had an absolute blast dancing around. Brett is still trying to do the Macarena (sp?)and copies what he thinks he saw Scott's cousin Luke doing on the dance floor!!! Interesting stuff, for sure!! Here's a picture of Reagan and Scott's youngest brother Jeff. One of Brett dancing with Grandpa Tom. I should say Brett only danced once he asked Scott if it was OK for boys to do so....such a funny little man. Here's another of Rea and Brett on a slow dance I'm sure. They think parties like this should happen every weekend....with as many cousins as Scott has they happen often, but never enough for the youngsters. It was great to see family we hadn't seen in a few months.

On Sept. 20 we also were blessed with a new niece. Scott's brother Philip and his wife Misty welcomed Zhara Brielle into our family. We're anxious to get to snuggle on her the next time we get home again.

Dining in, Kelly's Birthday

Scott and I attended a dining this month for his unit. The kids (and Buddy) got to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa Schmitz, which is always a hit. We had a great time or it could be that we hadn't been out alone in quite some time, but whatever!! I really enjoyed being around other Marine wives, and actually didn't really realize how much I missed doing so until that night. I rarely see anyone from his "unit" since they are all over the state recruiting. Here's a picture of us from that night. Also in the pic is Scott's Gunny and his wife and his MSgt. They're a pretty good bunch to hang with when we do get together. I look forward to the ball in November to hang out with them all again. I don't look forward to the size my belly might be by then....yikes!!!

I turned 31 on September 18th..yeah, not a big one, so no big deal. Reagan had a school function that night so we did that and then came home for dinner and cake. Rea helped blow out the candles, I'm positive Brett only spit on it....he means well!

Move it, Dig it, Do it.

The Children's Museum that we frequent had a fundraiser this weekend. There were a bunch of large machinery, trucks, and tractors for the kids to "try". Brett loves driving things so he had a ball. There was also a bouncy maze, crafts, and an animal area. At the end we got to go inside a hot air balloon.

Here are some pics of the kids driving various things, one of me with them to show the belly progress, and one of Scott and them in the balloon.

Brett's first day of preschool

Brett started at Ladybug Preschool on Sept. 2. He's been twice now and cried both times I left him...which wasn't fun. He's always fine when I go to pick him up and actually tells me to not get him yet. Who could figure him out? We had a little chat and he's promised to not throw a fit tomorrow when I drop him...we'll see. Here's a picture of him on his first day with his Spiderman backpack.

World's of Fun by day. KC Royals game by night.

Scott spent last week in Kansas City for work. The kids and I drove there after school on Friday to hang out with him over the weekend. On Sat. we got up and went to World's of Fun. I was having a pregnant day so didn't ride on many rides. The weather was nice and the kids went on a majority of the rides that were their size. Reagan likes the thrill rides....Brett prefers to go on things that he can "drive".

After the theme park we headed to the KC Royals baseball game. George Brett is Scott's favorite baseball player and Brett's namesake. They ended up losing, but the experience was worth it. Both kids said, "WOW", when we walked into the stadium/field area. Good times.

We came back home to Iowa City on Sunday and then attended the ice cream social at Brett's preschool. He'll start school on Tuesday and is very excited to go to Ms. Ali's house two mornings a week. Reagan loves Kindergarten...as I predicted, and adores her teacher...a true blessing.

Take care.

Museum of Natural History

Since Rea didn't have school today we adventured to the Museum of Natural History that is on the University of Iowa campus. We learned about the Indians and creatures that used to live in Iowa. We also learned about native wildlife and their habitats here in Iowa. They have a mammal room that displays all sorts of stuffed life sized animals from moneys, to zebras to a moose and swan. The kids were a bit taken back but thought it was cool. There is also a fossil area which is were they saw skeletons of mammals, from rats to humans to a whale, which is in the photo. Reagan appears to be supporting some attitude, not much new there. They both said they liked it though and want to go back and had a lot of questions. Reagan is very interested in Indians. The first photo is of a sloth. They were a bit afraid to stand by the railing even....too funny. I guess sloths lived in western Iowa over 9,500 years ago...Rea says that's a long time ago, before even I was born..........hilarious.