Apple picking!

My friend Janelle and I hauled out to Tuken's fruit farm and picked a wagon-load (yes, literally!) of apples with the kids (well, only Vera Gail was with me this time since the boys were in school). It was a tad toasty out, but a fun experience (and a yummy one...we made a big pot of fresh applesauce out of all the half-eaten and partially gnawed apples, heheh). :-)

The intrepid Axel-man scoping out the pumpkins upon arrival!

Janelle and the kids in the orchard. (It was amazing how much fruit was on such small trees, as you can see behind them!)


Vera Gail by our apple wagon. :-)


Janelle and Axel and Lucas taking a little water break (it was a bit hot out!).

Me and Vera Gail just before we rolled our apples in to weigh and pay.

What have we been doing?

...besides NOT updating the blog regularly, heh... Well, mostly we've been busy busy busy with school since the boys started in mid-August. I need to try to post some vacation pictures from the summer and Emmett's birthday pictures for sure, and in the meantime here are few shots of this past week and weekend. :-)

Gareth proudly displaying a recent Lego creation.

Vera Gail with her home-made purple play-dough.

My glorious ginormous apple pie cooling on the deck (and fall has yet to officially begin, bwahahahaha!!) ;-)

Emmett and Gareth with their volcano kits (and making expressive volcano gestures). :-D

Vera Gail with her crystal kit.

All three kiddos on the deck.

The boys working away at plastering those volcano cones!

(Slightly fuzzy) hugs for Mommy! :-)

Little Miss Cutie Pie. :-D

Dave finishing up installing a canoe rack in the garage (photo courtesy of Vera Gail).

Gareth's 6th Birthday! :-)

(First, my apologies if the type is difficult to read, my pretty background disappeared on me and I'm in a terrible rush to get ready to leave on vacation tomorrow, and I currently haven't time to satisfactorily reformat the blog. That is also why I did not get to removing the red-eye in the photos either!)

The birthday boy out on Caesar Creek Lake! Daddy took the kids canoeing while Mommy got everything ready for the party at home. :-)

Emmett paddling his heart out (he LOVES paddling around in the canoe!).

And Vera Gail wishing she had kept on her cowgirl hat.. ;-)

The "Transformer" birthday cake! (We got the figures and sprinkles and put them on ourselves, because Graeter's didn't have themed ice-cream cakes, and we knew Gareth would be over the moon for a Transformers cake - though of course, he hasn't seen the movie!)

Big birthday grins!

Blowing out candles...

Gareth lost his first tooth on his birthday! (I actually don't know that it really was ready to come out - a few weeks previously, he had a blanket or towel or something in his mouth, which Emmett pulled, thus loosening the tooth, which never really firmed up again, and it came out on their way down to the lake.)

Mr. Cake Face with his pile of birthday loot!

Everybody ready for presents! :-)

Technic Legos!! "Just what I wanted!!!!" (Gareth is incredibly keen on the old set of Technic Legos that Uncle Peter gave him and Emmett for Christmas a few years back, and he was super excited to have another set.)

The kids and Daddy with their new slip-n-slide!

Mommy and Vera Gail with her Barbie dresses.

Birthday bow-head!! (It's a family tradition on my side to stick your present bows on your head, heehee.) :-D

Vera Gail's Birthday! :-)

We decided to have a barbeque out at Taylorsville Metropark for Vera Gail's birthday this year. (Though that did mean no ice cream cake...well, good thing we have three summer birthdays, heheh.)

Janelle and most of the kiddos eating some lunch (no lunch, no cake! Ah, the magic motivational power of sugar...) ;-)


The birthday girl with her personal balloon and party baggie. (We saved the gifts for later at home.)

Lucas, Vera Gail, Gareth and Emmett ready to have some fun!

Party time!

Vera Gail showing off her birthday lei. :-)

Bubble-blowing (more accurately, dripping-bubble-liquid-all-over, hee. But she looks so cute doing it.) :-D

Gareth dubbed these 'light-saber' bubbles.

Bubble tube inspection. (...has she managed to pour it all out yet?)

Janelle blowing bubbles for Lucas and Vera Gail.

Lucas catching bubbles!

The eagerly anticipated birthday cake!!

When one is only turning three, one can blow out the candles individually and still make a wish. :-)

Me eating cake. (Dave picked a wonderfully photogenic moment, didn't he? Haha!)

Vera Gail and Lucas flashing frosting-coloured smiles!

Emmett and Axel having some good laughs with the party blowers.

Present time at home! (We waited till before bed, hence the pajamas and damp hair!)

Vera Gail having a blast opening her gifts.

A popsicle maker! Now that generated some big grins from this group of frozen treat enthusiasts!

Ooh, girly clothes!

I think Gareth is part Calvin. (And the long body would be the part Hobbes, lol.)

Candy, as requested. Vera Gail very specifically informed me that she desired candy for her birthday. ;-)

A very cute bumblebee backpack from Grandma!

Now Vera Gail is all ready to go on vacations! (Her new toys are already packed in there!)