Summery Fall Fun

Almost every day we've lived in Iowa so far, it's been in the mid-80's. In October. (!!!) I was getting upset about this, wondering why no one told me why it was so hot here before we moved, and then I looked at the weather back in Michigan. The same thing! So it's an autumn heatwave, and just as unusual here as it is back home. Don't get me wrong; it's sunny and beautiful...but fall is supposed to be cool. Sweater weather, you know? Despite the thermometer's reading, we've been enjoying some great fall activities. Today we joined a few other couples with small children at a nearby orchard. What a place! Apple picking, pumpkin patch, petting zoo, bouncing yard, chemistry shows, and much more. Oh, and Cassidy's favorite part of the day: the corn pool! Have you ever heard of such a thing? A huge "pool" full of corn! This is Iowa, after all. :)

Pumpkin thought the turkey's feeding tube was a periscope.

Fashionista Pumpkin.

Travis dozed much of the afternoon at the orchard in the stroller, but here he is before our first day at our new church.

Fun family day

We made it to Iowa! After two looooooooong days of travel, a day of unloading the moving truck, and a few days of unpacking, we needed a fun family day. We decided to get out of town for the day and just focus on the four of us and having some downtime. We spent the day in West Des Moines for church, lunch, shopping, and walks. Here are the kids, enjoying a special treat: lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Yum!
French toast, bacon and strawberries. Wowee!

She did a pretty good job with her lunch, but Travis helped out a lot by eating a good amount of her french toast. :)

Last days in Michigan

The last month is really a blur, spent packing, organizing, and planning our family's move from northern Michigan to central Iowa. It's amazing how much there is to do. And all the while, the kids kept growing and changing. I regret not taking more pictures in the last weeks and months due to busy-ness, but here are a few from our very last days in East Jordan.

10 months old

10 months sounds like a lot. And there are days when it feels like it's gone by quickly, but mostly it feels like Travis Aaron has always been with us. At 10 months, he is speedcrawling, pulling himself to standing on anything or anyone he can grab onto, and cruising around the furniture with ease. He often stands with just one hand on something for support and occasionally lets go without thinking and stands strong all on his own...until he realizes what he's done and then thump! He's down on his behind. He has yet to take a step but we don't see that being too far off. He is, of course, VERY anxious to catch up with his big sister! He laughs at everything Cassidy does and wants to play with whatever she is into at the moment so he can be part of the action. He eats everything we give him to try but still loves his warm bottles of formula too. (Though daddy and mommy are looking forward excitedly to a couple of months from now when he can drink milk instead of formula. Oh, what will we do with the money we'll save?!) He's already had two haircuts and is probably due for another. This last week, Trav finally got his first tooth. Well, I should say teeth. Four are coming in all at once! The bottom middle two are through and the top left middle tooth is through with the other one about to make its first appearance. Luckily, he hasn't had much trouble with teething. We've been really fortunate in that area with both our kids. Here are some pictures of our smiley guy showing his new pearly whites:

One of Travis' favorite spots to stand is by the low windows in our living room. It's great that he's tall enough to peer outside and watch the world go by.

This Suttons Bay sweatshirt is my favorite hand-me-down. Cassidy wore it too, and now it fits Travis perfectly. But not for long!

Tunnel O' Fun

I wish I could get better pictures of the kids in the blue tunnel, but they're either moving too quickly or just plain not cooperating for the camera. So try to imagine...both kids crawl in here at the same time and rollrollroll the tunnel and laugh! Travis is smaller but very hearty so luckily this is all done without incident, thus far. Cassidy often asks me to set up the tunnel "downstairs" (in the hallway). They just love it!Trav has that happy little tongue out so much of the time when he's having fun. I've started calling him "puppy". :)

Boxes!

These kids played for a loooooooooooong time today, each in their own box. What could be more fun?! We're looking into the cost of shipping and handling this fragile freight. :)

Collins Reunion Weekend

This year for the first time we hosted the Collins Family reunion in East Jordan. Aaron, Sheri, Kayla and Khloe came up for the weekend. In addition to the reunion, we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary, Kurt's birthday, and Sheri's (early) birthday! As usual, Kayla and Cassidy had a blast together. Here they are, bleary-eyed, cuddled up under a blanket together, watching a movie to wind down before bedtime. Travis is very interested in his 6-month younger cousin, Khloe. He loves to crawl over to her and gently (or sometimes not gently enough!) touch her face or her arm. Here they are together, mere seconds before the swing Khloe is in bonked Trav right in the noggin. He survived without much drama, but let me tell you, that girl is lethal in that swing! (Ha ha ha)The day of the reunion was sunny and warm. We had rented the beach building so we could be in or out. The girls had fun blowing bubbles with cousin Ted's girls.Then it was on to playing in the sand.

Cassidy, preparing to blow mommy a kiss!Our little water-loving girl had so much fun in the lake!

Another outdoorsy baby

Just like his big sister, Trav loves to play outside in the grass!

Grandpa and Grandma visit

Grandpa and Grandma Faust came up for a mid-week visit.

We drove up to Harbor Springs to have lunch (okay, really to get some Tom's Mom's Cookies!) What a beautiful day! We did a little shopping and had a great lunch overlooking the harbor. Travis had a great time demolishing orange slices at lunch.