A trip to the apple orchard

Last Friday the boys and I met my cousin Missy and her kiddos, Eli and Matea, out at Schwaillers Country Basket. Both Eli and Joshua were excited at the prospect of picking their own apples right off the trees. We picked up a half bushel and headed out to the orchard to find there were only two kinds of apples to pick since apples had come 3 weeks early this year; thankfully we all like Jonagold apples so when we found the trees heavy with apples the boys got right to work! Matthew could have cared less about the picking, but was more than willing to "test" every apple if we had let him; he was a pretty happy camper if he had an apple to bite in his hand at all times. Joshua and Eli filled our baskets to overflowing in no time! Then it was off to play in the hay and corn as well as see the animals; Joshua was enamored with all of the kittens would have loved to smuggle one home. No trip to an orchard would be complete without donuts so we ended our time with pumpkin donuts that were scrumptious! Nothing like a gorgeous morning enjoying God's creation and good friends! Time to make some apple crisp! Matthew loved the apples and the kittens!

Joshua lovin' on a kitty.

Matthew trying to pick an apple (notice the apple in his left hand with a bite out of it already).

Joshua was a fast apple picker.

"There's one mom!"

Eli and Matea and Matthew and Joshua filling up our baskets.

Cuties!

Check out all the apples Joshua picked for us!

Matthew enjoyed caring the empty basket and his apple to munch on of course.

Two little monkey climbing on the hay.

Weeeeeee!

Two other little monkeys playing in the corn.

Joshua couldn't get enough of these kittens.

Not so festive Pumpkin fest

This past Saturday my friend and neighbor Christy and I took our kids to the Zeeland Pumpkinfest. When we arrived there were very few people and activities out. We found their historical museum which had a few activities centered around the theme of corn for the kids to do which was great; they made corn bracelets, ate foods made with corn, planted corn kernels, played a bean bag toss plus we got to explore this really cool little museum. We discovered a few more kid's activities down the street, but we didn't feel like paying for our kids to play cheap little carnival games. The outing would have been a bust, but thankfully The Critter Barn had a huge area set up with tons of animals for the kids to see, hold and pet! We spent probably an hour in this area and of course this was a huge hit with all of our kids! Oh and who could resist the cute little candy store as we walked down main street?!?! Each of the kids got a little treat for the ride home. We topped the whole morning off with a trip to McDonald's play land for lunch and some time to rid themselves of their never-ending energy!

Making bracelets. Notice Matthew trying to do just what the big kids are doing!

Matthew putting things on his bracelet - love his little tongue stuck out in concentration!

It's rare, but Matthew can sit still!

Joshua and Hunter coloring in the old school room at the museum.

Holding 5 day old chicks!

Matthew thought the Angora Rabbits were funny!

Joshua loved the Angora Rabbits and all their fluff too!

Matthew tried to feed the goats hay.

All the kids caged with the goats!

Petting a duck.

Checking out the turkeys. We see wild turkeys all the time in our backyard, but never this close.

Holding more chicks and bunnies.

Art Everywhere!

We had planned to go downtown to see some of the art entered in the ArtPrize competition this weekend, but after hearing a number of people talk about the large crowds last weekend we began to rethink our plans. The weather looked perfect for Wednesday so Cory decided he'd take Wednesday off so we could go to ArtPrize and then he'd work on Saturday. There were definitely lots of people around downtown, but the crowds were not overwhelming and the weather couldn't have been more perfect. Joshua had a few pieces he for sure wanted to see which included the "Steam Pig", the mermaid and the giant penny. He loved it all, but especially the art pieces he could get close to and touch. He hung with the whole walking around thing very well while Matthew lost interest in sitting in a stroller or running around with nothing to do very quickly. Our family tended to enjoy the art pieces that were made from different mediums the most, toothpicks, straws, pennies, etc. In the end Joshua's favorites were hard to nail down, but the giant penny still remains at the top of his list (not mine though) and apparently a lot of other people agree with him as this sculpture is now in the top 10. Hopefully our little artist was inspired by all the amazing art he got to see at ArtPrize! Check ArtPrize out if you haven't already done so, it is so fun to walk around and literally see art everywhere! "Steam Pig"

"Pondering" made out of bronze.


"When We Are Mammoths"



"A Dragon for Jonas"



The artist encouraged people to touch his artwork which Joshua was very happy to do!

"Dancing with Lions"

Another favorite because the kids were actually able to touch these pieces and discovered they were completely made out of nails.

Not sure of the name of this piece but it said you could touch and make the bells ring. Again Joshua happily obliged.

Matthew was enthralled with the snake at the bottom of the sculpture.

There were two of these giant hand carved stones that you could roll around in sand and it would one made imprints of leaves while the other made imprints of fish.

Again, not sure on the name of these, but they were neat to look at.

"The Seven Days of Creation" created entirely out of crayons.

Walrus heads.

A giant bird in front of the public museum that Matthew really liked called "ENGULFED".

"Play Me I'm Yours" pianos were all over and the boys took time to bang on each one they saw!

"Pamlico" - a mermaid made completely out of toothpicks; she was amazing and one of our favorites! We actually got to meet the artist who made it.

"Wheelbarrows and Shovels" - we were intrigued by the pattern of dirt on the floor.

"Reef installation" - Joshua liked this one because it was all sea creatures made out of metal.

"Grand Rapids" - an amazing model of the cityscape made out of cut paper.

"Five Mouths" - another neat piece made entirely out of drinking straws!

"Grandfather Monk Luan" was a very cool life-size sculpture which looked so real it was incredible. Joshua actually got to meet the artist; the artist had Joshua crouch down and look at the sculptures eyes, again very life-like, which he thought was really cool.

"Dragon"

"River of Light" made of all hand-blown glass "stones".

Some cool sea creatures made out of recyclable materials.

Not exactly what I think of when you say art, but the kids loved these concrete recliners with audio speakers above them and flashing lights.

They found another piano to bang on!

Joshua's favorite, the giant penny otherwise known as "Helping Mom One Penny at a Time". Love the thoughts behind it, but wasn't really wowed by this one ; obviously others were as it has made it in the top 10.

Below is a video of a piece that Joshua really enjoyed mostly because he could touch it and basically play in it. It's literally just a bunch of plastic tubes hanging from the ceiling and some of them are attached to devices that create sounds. Interesting, but again, not exactly art in my book.