A Covid Halloween

Covid may have cancelled a lot of things this year, but we were not about to let it ruin Halloween. We knew trick-or-treating would probably be a no-go. So we planned to have some friends over (one family from school who is already in our "bubble") for our own Halloween fun.

We made slime, had Halloween-themed snacks and treats, and had a candy hunt in the backyard. 

It was SO fun! We may have to continue this in the years to come (but obviously still go trick-or-treating).

Fall Bucket List

I've always ("always" as in the last five or six years) made a summer bucket list - a list of all the things I want to do on my summer off with my kids. I often have a lot of the same things on it, like visit Leland and Alden (the towns), go to the beach as much as possible, etc. But I try to come up with some new things each summer.

I make a mental bucket list for Christmas too, but I'm not sure why I never thought to make one for any other season or holiday. So, taking a page out of Kelle Hampton's book (or blog), I decided to make one for fall. 

{If you don't follow Kelle on Instagram or read her blog, you totally should. She inspires me to be more like me if that makes sense. I think she and I have a lot in common in that she's so "extra" and I - well, I am in my head, but I sometimes feel uncomfortable showing it to the world. I love decorating for seasons and holidays. I love planning themed birthday parties. I love getting crafty and pinteresty, even if it doesn't turn out. But sometimes I get criticized for these things. For wanting to do more and for being "extra." Because I made my kids' baby food or because I have made their Halloween costumes before, I get called "Super Mom," but it's not meant in a good way. And that has led me to hide that part of myself sometimes. I don't do these things to show off or to make someone feel bad - I do them for me. And Kelle has helped me feel more comfortable sharing this side of me. I am a little "extra" sometimes, and that's not a bad thing.}

Anyway, I could use Kelle's bucket list that she shared on her blog, but I wanted to make my own. Because there are some things I would like to add and some I don't have the desire to do. And because I'm not quite as extra as she is, mine has fewer items to check off. But I definitely used hers as inspiration!

All that to say...I made a fall bucket list! And I'm sharing it here. Perhaps I'll share photos as we check things off, if I remember to hop back on the old blog before next summer.

No judging my art work...I never claimed to be an artist. ;)

Spring Hike

Spring has finally arrived in Northern Michigan, and like most people in this area, the boys and I set out to enjoy the sunshine this weekend. On Saturday, we headed out to Empire (about 30-40 minutes from our house) to hike the Empire Bluff Trail. Somehow, in my 31 years living in Traverse City, I have never hiked this trail. Since Dave was working, the boys and I enjoyed this adventure just the three of us.

Within 15 seconds of our hike, Leland found a walking stick that he carried the entire hike, and I had to practically pry it out of his hands when we got back to the car at the end. He loved that thing. Alden found one too, but quickly tired of carrying it around.

Leland made up his own song and kept singing "We're going on an adventure, we're going on an adventure!"

They pretended there were bears in the woods, and Leland hunted them with his walking stick. Alden's face below is him saying, "Oh no, get da bears!"

Maybe halfway up the trail, we stopped here to rest and enjoy the view. Leland said, "Wow! It's beautiful. Who painted this?"

A little further along, checking out the view again.

And sometimes, when you're adventuring with your kids and no other adults are around, you need to pull out the selfie stick so you can be in a dang picture with your kids.

This was as far as we went - I'm not sure it really goes much farther, this is kind of the culmination of the hike. There was a boardwalk surrounded by sand with a big dune behind it. We played for a while.

Again with the selfie stick...

Panoramic

Climb up, run down...

...or scoot down on your booty.

We had a lot of fun. The boys did amazing the entire way up. On the way down, they wanted me to carry them, which was impossible. They cried and whined enough for me to carry each of them for five minutes. Then, at the bottom, Leland said he wanted to go again. I hope we can go again this summer sometime. Maybe next time Dave can go too.

These boys are my favorite little adventurers. I love that they're always up for whatever shenanigans I may have in mind. We have so much fun together.

Operation: Do ALL the Christmas Things (part two)

Saturday morning, we slept in a bit after a later-than-usual night downtown. Yeah, you read that right. We slept in! Until 7:30. That's major sleeping in for us, folks. But once we woke up, we got ready right away because we had exciting plans to have breakfast with Santa!

A little cafe near our house does this event every year. They have the sweetest Santa, an adorable location, and yummy food. Leland and Alden couldn't wait to meet Santa.

We got there about 20 minutes before he was supposed to arrive so we could eat first. The boys had pancakes with red and green sprinkles, Dave had a breakfast skillet, and I actually ate at home (21 Day Fix here). I did get a couple of bites of pancakes though. The boys also got some cookies for later.

Then the big man arrived. When it was Leland's turn to sit with him, he could hardly contain himself. He was SO excited. I wish I could have gotten it on video. He covered his face and then would cover his eyes. And then would just stare at him with his mouth open. It was the cutest thing...I had tears.

He told Santa he wanted a Rescue Squad Mater and Santa told him he'd see what he can do. Then Alden hopped on his lap too. This is the first year Alden cooperated with Santa (except for his first Christmas when he was two months old). He hasn't wanted to sit with Santa the last two years, but this year he gave him a fist bump and lots of smiles.

I was pretty bummed that I forgot to charge my camera battery, so I only got cell phone pictures and many of them are blurry.

After visiting with Santa, we did some crafting. The boys each made a candy cane out of pipe cleaners and beads. I'm surprised at how long this kept Alden's attention; he's usually so "on the go" but he had a lot of fun with it. And even spent some time organizing beads on the table.

This is such a great event. Five minutes from home, busy, but not super crowded, and there's food involved...that's always a plus! I'm so glad we were able to go this year.

Operation: Do ALL the Christmas Things (part three)

Saturday night, my mom and I took Leland to The Christmas Journey. It's a live tour that tells the story of Jesus' birth. It's put on by a church just outside of Traverse City and it takes roughly 200 volunteers to do it. 

We had to wait for about an hour for our wagon to take us to the tour, but there were fun things to do while we waited. Someone was playing Christmas music on the piano and there were cookies, photo booths, games, and coloring.

We boarded our wagon and the driver offered to let Leland sit up front with him.

Leland always seems to luck out with things like this. The wagon took us over to another building nearby, and inside we did a tour that talked about how God created the world, Moses sharing the Ten Commandments, and more. Then we went outside where we met Mary and Joseph and we were told their story through music.

We followed them to the Roman guards who yelled at everyone to pay their taxes. Leland cracked everyone up by saying "That guy's a grumpy one." We continued to walk through the woods to hear about the star of Bethlehem and saw Baby Jesus in the manger, and then we stopped at a few different places to hear about the meaning of different Christmas symbols, like the star, the candy cane, the Christmas tree, and angels.

It was a really neat experience and I am glad I went. Leland had fun, but I don't think he got a whole lot out of it yet. I would love to take him and Alden when they are older and can understand it better (and maybe don't disrupt the group too much).

Operation: Do ALL the Christmas Things (part one)

Soooo, hey there. It's been a little over a month (!!!) since I last blogged. I never intend to take a long break, but sometimes life just gets busy and this here blog gets put on the back-burner. I know everyone is very distraught about this, but fear not. I am back - for today, at least - to share some of the Christmas events we're hitting up around town.

On Friday night, our little town had their annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony and celebrated Santa's arrival. We had never been to this event before because it's always WAY too cold. This year, since it was 40 degrees, we figured we'd give it a shot. Funny thing, every single person in Traverse City had the same idea. It was packed.

We stood around with the boys and sang Christmas carols for about 10 minutes while we waited for Santa (he lights the tree), but the littles started to get restless.

Alden did not want to be held - he wanted to RUN and EXPLORE. And I can't blame him. So we gave up waiting for Santa and started walking to where we heard there were live reindeer.

On our way there, we came upon TC's antique fire engine. This 80-year old engine usually gives kids rides around the block at events like this, but this year it wasn't running very well, so it was just there to sit in and look at. The boys climbed into the front seat and enjoyed just sitting for quite a while. Then, as the crowd started to clear out a bit, the driver said they needed to head back to the fire station a few blocks away, but there was still quite a crowd. Because of where it was in relation to the events, they had to drive in reverse a couple of blocks to get out, but the driver couldn't see behind him. So Dave walked ahead to tell people to get out of the way and I stood on the side bar and let the driver know when it was clear. And the boys got to ride along in the front seat. Leland kept saying he was riding on Mayday (the fire truck from Planes: Fire & Rescue).

Once we got to the point where the truck could turn around and drive forward, the driver said we could ride with him to the fire station if we wanted. Our car was parked near there, so Dave and I were all about it.

What could have been a disappointing night turned out to be a pretty awesome one for our boys. I don't think we'll head to that event again until the boys are older and can wait a few minutes and appreciate the "ceremony" part of it all. They just wanted to see Santa, and with that many people, they weren't going to see him up close at all. So thankful for that fire engine!

Stay tuned for more of our Christmas adventures!