Apples Again

We went apple picking again on Saturday. I couldn't help myself. It was a beautiful day.

Me, while drinking apple cider:"yum, it has a little kick to it."

Mimi:"yeah, it's making me kick."

Dino

Mimi:"When I watched Dino Squad, it changed my life."

Dill Chicken

Many years ago I babysat for a girl who was about 4 1/2, I'll call her Kay. She said funny things that we still quote to this day. Her funny sayings were one of the reasons I wanted to start this blog and I hoped that my kiddos would provide as much fun as she did. Today's quote is in her honor.

11 years ago, Kay, speaking about her Dill Chicken:"Who put GRASS on my chicken?"

Sunday night, Indiana, speaking about his Dill Potatoes:"This is HOT grass!"
__________

Me:"You are too silly"
Mimi:"I'm NOT silly enough"
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Me:"Let's go to Indiana's soccer game. I bet your friend Georgia will be there"
Mimi:"I don't want to go!"
Me*sing-song voice*:"I don't believe you."
Mimi*sing-song voice*:"I believe Georgia won't be there"

Dashed

Random smile before he cried because he wanted the camera. Movie at the bottom, Mom.
Just a few days after my mom asked for an updated picture of the fort (we added some swings and a sand box), a storm hit us. This storm even produced a tornado-ish thing just a few miles away! So now the roof is blown off--yet another project that I thought was done is now on the to-do list AGAIN!
We have a weird fence, we know that. In this post you can see some of what I'm writing about. Part of the fence is cute white picket, and this part is tall privacy. It makes no sense because it's only one wall that has the privacy to it and all 3 other walls are short. Also the house behind us is higher up on a hill then our house and can see right into our backyard anyway. Because it's so weird we had hopes our fence would one day blow over we would have to replace that part. Well if hurricane Ike in 2008 and the crazy tornado a few miles away isn't going to do it, we may just have to keep living with it.

So now this part has to be put back together... yes, another project, and it's tougher then I thought it would be.

Indiana:"How are we going to put the fence back together?"
Me:"It has what's called tongue-and-grove so it should just snap back into place."
Indiana:"What's tongue and groove?"
Me:"Well, you know what a tongue is right and what is a groove?"
Indiana dances--what a joker.

Apple Picking

Mimi:"My tummy feels kinda ricky-icky when I eat the green ones."

Apple picking after lunch...

Ice cream...

and duck pond in the afternoon...
church party at a family farm in the evening...

By the end of the day Mimi was so in love with farms and playing with farm animals she cried:"I want to LIVE on a FARM!"

Mimi's first day of Preschool

The day couldn't come fast enough for Mimi! She was so happy to get back to school. Of course she had two wonderful days, then directly got sick, and missed the next two days. She was super sad. Same school, class, most of the kids are the same and even her teachers are the same. She is in heaven.

2010 Crop

Math

Mimi:"1 and 1 make 11, NOT 4 and 7."
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Does anyone recognize that microphone?

I wish I will be there tomorrow by Mimi.

Mimi:"I wish I will be there tomorrow"
Greg:"I wish I will be there tomorrow... OK, let's start is up....Ready?"
Mimi:"I wish I will be there tomorrow. With me. When I get there tomorrow, I will beeeee like and this is it and I will SOOOOOOOO...."
Indiana:"Hold it, my guitar needs to be tuned again."

Labor Day and Chicago

When we moved to Ohio I thought we'd visit Chicago and our friends who live there many times. Two years later I'm kicking myself that we haven't gone before! Here we are with our friends the Broughs (from Boston) by their home and Lake Michigan. We had such a good time!
Greg:"When I was little and we would visit the city with my Grandparents, we would drive right here under the Chicago Stock Exchange."

Oak Park, SO amazing!

Mimi and Baby checking out one of the Frank Lloyd Wright houses.

Seriously, one of the best days ever!

Greg SO wanted a good Chicago Hot Dog--Super Dawgs

Playing by Lake Michigan.

Can you spot the 4 brides in this shot? We saw a few dozen this day.

The one thing I wanted to do was see Mimi see more Dinosaurs. On the advise of several people that know Mimi's love of Dinosaurs we visited the Field Museum. It did not disappoint.

There was even space for Baby to play. The sign read:"Infants and Toddlers, be aware"

The Art Institute of Chicago according to Mimi and Indiana

I miss talking about art, this was so fun.

David Smith, Tanktotem I, 1952

Indiana:"I don't know what it's supposed to be..."
Me, gearing up with a explanation and defense of abstract art.
Indiana:"...but it's pretty cool."
Me, just fine with that.
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Gustave Caillebotte. Paris Street; Rainy Day, 1877.
Indiana:"I think those people are in NYC, oh wait, they're in Paris."
My guess is he thought the building was the Flat Iron building.
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Grant Wood, American Gothic, 1930, Oil on Beaver Board
Mimi:"Those people look sad."
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Georges Seurat, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte -- 1884, 1884-86
Me:"What do you see in this picture?"
Mimi:"A snow man."
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Me:"Why are they all naked?"
Mimi:"Because they are getting ready for a bath for 6 days."
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Edward Hopper, Nighthawks, 1942, Oil on canvas

Me:"What is the feeling in this painting?"

Indiana:"There is none."

Me:"Does it feel kinda lonely?"

Indiana:"Yeah, it's late they should be home asleep."

__________

I'll never understand why someone would go to a museum just to take pictures of works of art. Pictures already exist, especially now with the internet, you can see what the painting looks like in photo taken by a professional. Besides there are all sorts of copyright laws and stuff, and almost no one knows how to turn off their flash, just don't try, people!

But two people that day took pictures that I really liked.

1- a couple had their picture taken in front of a famous painting-- now that's a good vacation picture.

2-a man took pictures of people's faces as they looked at and crowed around a famous painting. He actually took a bunch of me with the kiddos while we were talking about Nighthawks. My hope is that he got my expression when Indiana told me the people in it should be asleep.

magnetic

Mimi:"I'm going to stick things"
Greg:"please help set the table"
Mimi:"No, I'm still sticking things"
__________

Greg:"I think I fixed the weed-whacker, but I didn't test it"
Indiana:"are you going to do a test whack?"
__________
Random picture of Baby C with the plug-in night-light that he unplugs about 100 times a day. The best toys aren't toys.

A Plethera of Peaches

What we did with a bushel of peaches:
Bottled Peaches
Peach Crisp
Fresh Peach Bee Hives-The Kiddos favorite
Pork Chops with Peaches
Peach Syrup for Pancakes
Peach Curried Turkey Burgers-Greg's favorite
Peach Butter
Plain
Chicken with Peaches
Watching Baby DEVOUR them-my favorite