The Chronicles of the Hawes Kids : October 2010

Monday, October 18, 2010

Wasem's Orchard, Lakeside Park & Pumpkin Carving 2010

It was yet again a beautiful Fall weekend so you guessed it; off to the orchard again! We actually didn't plan on going, but it was so gorgeous (and we were out of cider) we figured what the heck! Justin's favorite words these days are car, apple & pumpkin so as imagined he was using those words quite frequently throughout our adventure. We went out to Wasem's which isn't as "touristy" (is that a word?) as other orchards. By that we mean they don't have all these estravagent bells and whistles, charging up the ying yang type activities. Not that those other places we went to weren't fun, but Wasem's is very relaxed, down on the farm. This place is nestled away in the country with the meat and taters being you pick apples and pumpkins and eat some donuts (amazing by the way) and drink some cider. Simply put. We went out and picked half a peck worth of granny smith apples and let Justin pick out his very own baby pumpkin (RIP to the baby pumpkin Grammy Hawes got him; it had a run in with a very evil and hungry squirrel). We took out cider and donuts and went over to Lakeside Park enjoying our treats and playing on their awesome playground. I'm telling you, mommy and daddy had a blast too! BUT As mama was twirling around with Justin and rolling in the leaves she was quite disgusted to realize she rolled right into some dog poop! Oh joy. The fun pretty much ended there as at this point mama was cranky about the poop and Justin was ready for a nap! So, home we went and napping we did! Later that evening it was time for pumpkin carving and Justin was super excited to be able to participate more helping pull out the guts and seeds. And of course he made the decision on the pumpkins name......and....it....is...Ta-Da! Yes, he named it Ta-Da. We looked at it and surely it did look like a "Ta-Da" so that became its name :) Enjoy some pictures for our festive day and of course, Ta-Da! ;)

Justin baking and decorating cookies with daddy

Justin and Mommy.

Pumpkin guts!

Want some?

Muah, love ya baby!

Proud daddy & his little helper...and Ta-Da of course.

Yes....we paid for that apple...really we did :/

"Say Cheese"

Daddy helping J-Man reach for those apples.

Finding that perfect pumpkin.

On a mission....

Jungle Gym

Weeeeeeeeee!

Cutie-patootie!

Working those muscles on the climbing wall.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Apples, Pumpkins & Hayrides-Oh my!

It's our favorite time of the year in the Hawes household-FALL! With that comes a plethora of fun and visits to as many orchards and farms as we can visit. Here we are only a few weeks into Fall and we've been to 3 already and we're hoping to go to a few more next weekend. So, maybe we enjoy it a bit too much but how can you NOT have fun!? Crisp cool air, fresh donuts and delicious cider oh and the hayrides! Perfect family time activities if you ask me ;)

Last weekend we were on our way to visit Grammy & Grandpa Hawes and stopped at Uncle John's Cider Mill near Mt. Pleasant. This place was great-free parking, everything was reasonably priced and they had a huge kids area. They also have a winery for "big kids". ;)

While visiting Grammy and Grandpa we went to Heritage Farms in Fremont. Grammy and Uncle Bud (Uncle Butt as Justin calls him) came along too. We had a hayride and saw some buffalo & elk. We took the cider and donuts back to Grammy & Grandpa's house to share with Grandpa since he couldn't join us. As you'll see in the pictures below Justin was pretty pooped after the long day and fell asleep snuggling his baby pumpkin from Grammy.

Yesterday, Justin's godparents (Mike & Tracy) and their son James were visiting from Grand Rapids so we all went to Three Oaks Orchard in Northville. That place was an enchanted storybook land with a nursery rhyme themed play area where live animals roamed. The kids loved it! They also had tons of toys and playground climbers for the kids. Again, great prices and lots of fun and yumminess!

Enjoy some of the pictures from our festivites and enjoy your Autumn season! Cheers!