Apple Picking

One chilly Friday morning in early October we decided to take Elle apple picking.  Eric and I were both off work since our anniversary was that weekend.  We were actually supposed to be boarding an early morning flight to Nantucket but plans changed, flights filled up, so late late late Thursday night we scratched that idea and decided Eckerts for apple picking was the next best thing. :)  Actually we decided Chicago was but didn't plan to leave until Saturday morning.  Which gave us a fun family day out with Elle Belle!

 

We took the Ferry to Illinois and made a stop at a restaurant on the water for lunch.  As soon as I opened the door to get her out of her car seat she she said "apples?", she couldn't wait to start picking.  At lunch Elle was fascinated by a bird that was flying around inside the restaurant, girl couldn't focus on anything else.

 

 

I had never been to Eckerts or apple picking, since it was a Friday morning we pretty much had the place to ourselves.  We started with a hay ride to the apple trees.

Once we got there all I could picture was the Wizard of Oz and the trees slapping our hands for picking their apples...the weird places my mind travels.

 

 

Elle absolutely loved it!  She was great at picking the low ones and sampling the goods.  I don't know if it was just the excitement of picking your own apples but they were delicious.

After we filled two bags we went to the little country store to pay, Eric and I were both on an apple high so we also left with Apple Cider, Apple Butter, Pumpkin Butter and a new scarf (I was cold :).

They had a cute little area with rides and some animals (chickens, pony's, etc.) but the wind was blowing so hard and it started raining (which again made me think of the Wizard of Oz, this time the tornado scene) so we made a mad dash to the car.

Elle had such a fun day, I want to make sure a trip to Eckerts lands on our to do list every fall.

MIZ

This September we took Elle to her first Mizzou game.  Eric has been showing her videos of Truman Tiger so Elle was pretty excited to go see him.

Eric found us amazing seats that came with a parking pass in one of the tailgate lots.  Our set up was quite tame compared to everyone else.  We had a blanket, tiny grill and some chips and cheddar turkey sausages.  It was so neat seeing the pro tailgaters in action, flags flying, TVs set up, huge spreads of food.  I'm pretty sure this is Eric's dream for our family.

 

 

It was a pretty hot Saturday so it was perfect that we had club seats so we could also go inside and sit in the a/c for a bit.  Elle enjoyed a nap inside at one point and Eric enjoyed a beer.  These seats are the only area in the stadium where alcohol is served so Eric was pretty pumped.  I told Eric this is the only way I'm going to be able to come to Mizzou games now and he quickly let me know we will most likely never be in these seats again.  He went all out for Elle's first game.

 

 

We received a lot of compliments on our adorable sleeping cheerleader :)

 

Elle was able to spot Truman on the field a few times but never got to meet him.  After the game we were walking back to the car and she noticed all the tiger tails, we told her Truman was taking a nap in people's trunks so she loved going up to pet all the tiger tails.  Eric learned that our car needs a tail of it's own and I learned that having Elle with us helps soften the blow of a Mizzou loss for Eric.

September 2014

In our house Fall starts September 1st.  Which means decorations go up, fall candles are burning and candy corn is being enjoyed (by me, Eric hates it!).

We didn't have a super crazy September.  We celebrated Will's 25th birthday (which I have no pictures of) and we found out we are having a baby BOY!  High five if your excited to meet baby brother!

We had Henry over one day to spend the night while Mary and Nick were at a wedding.  He loves coming over and playing with the "puters" (Elle's toy laptops) and loves putting on this tutu and any headband he can get his hands on. 

 

Wrestling with Uncle E

 

I love this face.  Look at that little smirk, he is about to do something crazy...

 

he flashed me...that was the crazy thing.

 

We celebrated Auggie's 1st birthday.  Baum was sweet and found Elle a balloon to tie on her wrist.  The kiddos were crazy this day.  Elle was a cupcake monster.  Eric had to leave the party early to go to work which left Mary and I with the 3 babes.  Our ride home was interesting!

 

 

 

A bad cold ran through our family in September.  I was the first to get it in our house and it knocked me out!  Daddy dressed Elle this day while I was sick in bed...that's a pj shirt. 

 



Elle loves Vito and Hermann but is still pretty strict with them. I LOVE hearing her yell at them when they are outside ("puppy dog no!" "in the grass" "inside puppy dog!")

When Elle takes baths (always in our big tub) she lays on her stomach and says she's swimming.

Eric and Elle went to a Cardinal game one afternoon and they stopped by my office on their way to say hi.  She was so shy with all my coworkers but I loved seeing this little babe in the middle of my day!

Trying on her new fall boots

Up to no good I'm sure...

Soaking up this amazing Fall weather

Purina Farms

We had a fun little Saturday this summer at Purina Farms.  We had never been before so we were excited to check things out. 

We arrived right as the dog show was starting.  They play fun music and bring out several different dogs to do some tricks (catch frisbees, dog runs, jump in the pool, etc.).  Elle had lots of fun watching and clapping her hands along to the music.

After the dog show we walked around to check out some of the other activities.  We got to see some of the dogs in the show as well as some farm animals.   We actually spent a good chunk of our time waiting in line so Elle could get her face painted.  She ended up going with her arm instead of her face and after showing the painter a picture of Olaf she was able to recreate Elle's favorite snowman.

Elle braved going down the big slide...with daddy of course.

Then her lifelong dream :) of riding a pony finally came true!  Seriously, before this Elle had started saying she wanted to ride a horse after seeing them on TV so I was so excited that they had pony rides.  She was bit timid at first but warmed up to her pony very quickly.  We learned his name was Buddy and now every horse she sees is "Buddy".  She could have hung out with him all day.

Starting off a bit nervous...

 

30 seconds later she loved it!

 

Not I just need to convince Eric into buying her a pony for Christmas. :)