Hotel Fun

When I was filling Kaitlyn in on our upcoming trip to Chicago and told her that we were going to stay in a hotel, she excitedly asked - can we swim in the pool? .... and can we jump on the beds? Of course! And that is what we did. The pool water was rather chilly so Jeff and Kaitlyn had the most fun splashing water onto the pool deck so Kaitlyn could jump in the "puddles". She also tested out the bounciness of each bed immediately upon entering our hotel room.... and multiple times throughout our short stay. Up early and watching cartoons... Playing with mom on the couch. Gotta love Springhill Suites!

Jollay Orchards

We took an overnight trip to Chicago earlier this month. On the trip down, we stopped at

Jollay Orchards near St. Joseph to have some fall themed fun. Most of the crowd at the venue was out picking apples but since we had already done our fair share of apple picking this year, we enjoyed all the kiddie activies instead. Kaitlyn loved peeking her face through all of the wooden signs that they had. She also was thrilled to find that they had not one or two or even three, but FOUR baby swings for her to swing in. Good thing she is such a peanut - I dont' think she'll even outgrow her love for baby swings. She also loved riding their "Penny Ponnies" although they costed $.25 instead of a penny like usual. And of course "Dirdsie" came along and enjoyed herself as well. It proved to be a great little stop to break up the drive to the Windy City.

Caramel Apples

I decided to make caramel apples to bring as a treat to a family reunion we had to go to in September, since we had a surplus of apples. Who knew making caramel apples could be such a messy task! They ended up tasting delicious so it was well worth the disaster!

Kaitlyn helping me get some apples for our treat.

The finished product... I forgot to take a photo until I was grabbing them out of the van to bring into the reunion.

An Apple Day ...

One warm Saturday this month, my mom and dad came over with a truck load of their apples to fill up our stand and some supplies to make signs to advertise apples for sale. I think I had the easiest job - snapping photos!

Grandpa taking a break to snack on an apple with peanut butter.Grandma and Kaitlyn working on a sign

Daddy working on another huge apple sign.

You're Invited....

One day this month Kaitlyn decided that she wanted to throw a party. So she got some supplies out of her art desk and a huge stack of paper and started making invitations. I got busy doing something else and when I ventured into the living room a little while later, this is what I found - every "guest" of any shape and size had received an invitation! Adorable!

Kaitlyn the Vet

Kaitlyn and I rounded up some of her stuffed animals a few weeks ago, set a "doctor's office" and played vet. I made her these little illness/injury tags that she can put on each animal so she knows what is wrong with each patient before she treats them. We both had a riot.

More Bounty for the Harvest

Besides gourds and mini pumpkins, Jeff also planted some rows of indian corn. The ears turned out just beautiful. Much to my surprise, Kaitlyn has had fun helping to de-husk the corn. She usually hates anything that makes her hands dirty, so I wasn't surprised that once she got all the husks pulled back, she wanted nothing to do with the "hairy" stuff that covered the ear. Thank goodness for Daddy!Daddy will you get this hairy stuff off my corn, please? :)

The First Time!

The other day when Kaitlyn and I were browsing the pantry to decide what to have for lunch, she grabbed the pouch of Ramen noodles and told me that she wanted "this." So I cooked it up for her completely thinking that once she saw the slimy, octopus-looking noodles, that she wouldn't even take a bite. Much to my chagrin, she ate nearly the whole bowl!!! Guess she fits right in with the the college kids in this town!

Peek A Boo!

Grandma got a steal on this tent and dropped it off to Kaitlyn a few weeks ago. After being slightly bummed that Mommy (and her growing baby belly) could not fit in the tent with her, Kaitlyn has had a blast setting up "dolly daycare" inside the tent. Thanks, Grandma!

All About Me!

Last week, our theme was "All About Me" so Kaitlyn and I had fun talking all about our bodies, how God made us special and all about things that were unique to us. Kaitlyn can already sing her address and phone number to you but I wanted to give her a fun twist to actually dialing phone numbers. So I drew up this huge phone (she got up earlier than expected so it still could use some work - :)) and made her a little phone book complete with the pictures and phone numbers of special people in her life. She flipped from page to page and jumped on each number that was listed to dial it. How fun! Later in the day I caught her reading her "phone book" to her dolls so the exercise has also turned into a great way to practice number recognition.

We also traced Kaitlyn's body on paper and had fun "decorating" her.

Gotta love home school - lots of learning going on and she was still just in her undies! :)

Farmer's Market

Kaitlyn and I have had a great time using some of our gourds and mini pumpkins to set up a pretend Farmer's Market in our driveway. I would scrub them off and then she would haul them away in the shopping cart and pretend to plant them in the field. Later, she'd drive her little tractor to the "field", pick some of the produce and then pedal over to the market to sell her goods. If only the bees and bugs weren't attracted to the sweet smell of our merchandise! I believe I heard this line about 25 times last week - "Let's go inside, Mommy. There are TOO many bugs!"

The Harvest

In just a few weeks, my parents will be dropping off a trailer full of awesome pumpkins for us to sell in our driveway. Jeff expanded our garden this year so that he could plant a large amount of gourds and mini pumpkins to sell also. He was very pleased with the "crop" that grew - this is only half of it.

First Day of Preschool!

Just like most of Kaitlyn's little friends, the beginning of September meant the start of preschool. But unlike most of her friends, Kaitlyn gets to go to preschool right in the basement of our house! And even better - Mommy is the teacher! Today we kicked off our weekly "Pint Size Playgroup" as we call it. This is a time when Kaitlyn is joined by two of her three year old friends to focus on learning some group and circle time skills as well as to explore the Zoo Phonics alphabet animals. We had a great time this morning. The focus of our lesson was "All About Me" and we talked and explored lots of different ways on how God made us each special! I was so proud of how Kaitlyn participated, shared, communicated, traced - she just far exceeded my expectations! The other kids were also a pleasant addition to the class. Kaitlyn and I will continue with a few more homeschool activites this week that stick with our "All About Me" theme. And we are already looking forward to our lesson on Apples and the letter "A" next week! Great to have you Connor and Hannah! Getting out their Show 'N Tell and hanging up their backpacks.Of course Kaitlyn had to bring a baby to class. And no surprise that she picked her Dora backpack to use for school! Kaitlyn talking about her "Horsey" that she brought for Show 'N Tell. The kids doing a great job with a listening activity and having fun building silly faces upon instruction. Snack Time! Gotta love food-writing markers! Kaitlyn did such a great job following directions with this activity! Notice her doll Rosie - seated so sweetly in the back of class! This is the first time I have EVER gotten Kaitlyn to trace letters on paper ... she usually refuses unless I somehow disguise the activity by having her write in pudding or applesauce or something. She eagerly took to this task today. I am SOOOO proud of her!

Our Time ... Again

Kaitlyn and I started music class this week. We actually signed up for the younger of the two classes that Kaitlyn is eligible for - Our Time. This is the class where Mommies get to stay the entire time and the class that Kaitlyn LOVES. So even though we have already done this section of the curriculum, way back when K was just 18 months, we are both enjoying revisiting familiar songs and finger plays. Lets just hope all the swinging, bouncing and jumping that I have to do in this class doesn't have an negative impact on my growing baby belly!

Apples, apples, apples!

A few years ago my Dad decided to plant a whole orchard of apple trees and do some "hobby" fruit farming. Well the "hobby" has turned more into a second job and is making the late summer/fall season an extra busy time for the entire Alt family. Jeff has been gracious enough to help with two of the "pickings" so far. My dad was able to land a contract to sell his apples at Potter Orchards so he was thrilled. We feel so blessed to have a place where we can just go and pick apples as we please. Plus Kaitlyn has enjoyed cruising the orchard on Grandpa and Grandma's golf cart and watching the apples grow from blossom, to buds to the edible, delicious apples that they are today! They also planted a couple fields of pumpkins. We are trying to convince them to setup a U-Pick apple and pumpkin business. Who knows... maybe next year you'll be picking produce at Alt's Orchard too! 25 half bushel of Galas

"Theater Room"

The other day when I was playing dollhouse with Kaitlyn, she turned around and told me, "Look Mom .. I set up a theater room." At first I wasn't sure what she said and I asked her to repeat it. She said, "You know - a room with all those laydown seats like at Carsyn's house." Sure enough it was a theater room just as we had seen in a friend's house a few months earlier. What a memory she has!

Labor Day Weekend

What a beautiful Labor Day weekend we had weather-wise. We had a pretty low-key weekend. Kaitlyn wanted to "stay home and play" everyday when we asked her what she wanted to do. We did manage to make it to my folks to celebrate my mom's birthday on Friday with the rest of my family, to Grand Haven on Sunday afternoon where we spent some time at the park after doing some shopping and having a nice lunch and then to Jeff's Dad's for dinner on Sunday night. Saturday night we had some friends over for hobo pies over the campfire - delicious - and Monday night we had pizza with my folks and dessert hobo pies to end the evening. All in all a great weekend. Now I am ready for fall! Let the leaves change color, the mums blossom and the apple cider be served!

Cinnamon rolls - a Sunday more ritual at the Robinsons!

Playing Peek-A-Boo with Grandpa Dale in her new Diego tent - thanks again!

Nothing says "summer" like Hobo pies!

Another Year

Last week I celebrated my 31st birthday. I can't remember having a nicer week of weather for my "birthday week". It was beautiful. The week didn't start out so well though. I stubbed my toe on Saturday night while carrying Kaitlyn and ended up taking a bad fall. Luckily I was able to lay Kaitlyn down as I fell but that meant that I didn't use my hands at all to brace myself and I landed completely on my shoulder. Ouch! X-rays on Sunday morning revealed just a sprain so that was good. And praise the Lord for my chiropractor who brought me much relief on Monday. I was blessed by my mother in law and a wonderful neighbor who both brought me meals so I didn't have to worry about cooking all week! And after another visit to the chiro this week, my shoulder is nearly pain-free! Jeff surprised me on my birthday by bringing me two of my favorites - breakfast from BK and a large caramel apple cider - yum! During the day Kaitlyn threw me a pretend birthday party. She filled gift bag after gift bag with countless amounts of toys for me. She even put little doll blankets on the tops of the gift bags to make it look like tissue paper - so smart. And then she told me that I needed to send her a Thank You card for all of the pretend presents that she was giving me - hilarious! We had my brother/sister in law and their kids, plus Jeff's mom and Grandma over for pizza in the evening. The kids had fun playing t-ball and soccer together. We also had a bonfire with s'mores and sparklers. Another year done. Where does the time go?My best birthday gift ever ... although she is less than amused that she had to pose for a picture. Grandma-Great with her little "Sweeties"!