ROFD

After a lovely morning at the Farmer's Market and Library, we headed to the Royal Oak Fire Department. They had an open house today so all the little kiddos could see where the magic happens. Chloe came ready, fire hat on head, to explore the fire station!

They gave out free cider and Michigan donuts and
Chloe even ran into her two best friends, Sammy & Isaac.


Sheer terror.

The kids even got to spray a real fire hose!

Troy Historic Village

I had no idea this little gem (only 10 minutes from our house) existed until this week. We had such a fun time exploring all the historical buildings...it was all very hands-on. Plus it only costs 3.00.

Chloe would meander from house to house and say, "What's in here!?" as she opened each door. She especially loved the schoolhouse.



The Dunce.




Her absolute favorite was, randomly, the gazebo in the middle of town. What a weirdo. She ran "round and round" it for 30 minutes.

October, 80 degrees...no big deal

The weather here has been AMAZING....which prompted us to bust out Chloe's beloved water table...let's just say by the end of the day she was running around buck naked while Britt was spraying her with the hose.

Blakes Big Apple

Blakes comes highly recommended by our family: a great apple orchard/pumpkin patch/cider mill/family-fun-place extraordinaire.

Coco started the day off with a little pony ride. The girl has absolutely no fear - I admire her.

She hopped on a fake pony too.

Then we visited all the barnyard animals.

She loved climbing with Daddy.

...and has always dreamed of driving a train.

We have no pictures of the 'haunted barn' we took her through. She dug her head into my shoulder and clung like a monkey virtually the whole time. I thought she was terrified... after all I was terrified. But all she said after coming out was "Too loud, Mama...................that's fun!" - takes after her father.

We had lunch, then grabbed a hayride to the orchards.

Where Chloe picked her first apple right off the tree. She was so proud.


It was an awesome time.

a short visit

We had a quick visit from cousin Matthew on Saturday - short but very very sweet!

Chloe misses him so much - she was beside herself with joy to have him for a few minutes!

Painting

I've started doing a bit of homeschooling with Coco....based on the alphabet. One of our activities for the letter "A" was to make some pretty apple stamp paintings.
She loves doing any kind of art project. She'll sit and color or paint for hours a day... reminds me of myself as a child. She has been particularly proud of her new ability to draw circles and will do it over and over and over again.

our shady garden

Our little shady garden has surprisingly produced some delicious tomatoes, peppers, jalapenos...and just a few baby carrots. Here is our entire little crop.

Chloe loves to say, "I pick it....and I eat it"