Apples, Apples Everywhere

We went apple picking with our Earthkeeper Farm friends, Rachelle, Andrew and Baby Liam yesterday.

Here's the story: Michigan has too many apples this year, so some companies have stopped picking entirely.


The farm next to Andrew and Rachelle is one of those orchards, and it was abundant with fruit. We had a great time, and we came home with a few apples.

OK, 250 pounds of apples.


Seriously!
100 pounds of Golden Delicious
100 pounds of Northern Spy
50 pounds of Red Delicious

Halloween Spooks

Don't be fooled. The beast looks tame in this picture, but you should hear him ROAR!

My sister, the banana.

Jed and I prefer the minimalist approach.

ROAR!!!!!!

Owen discovered the joys of free candy this year. At first, I think he thought the whole thing was a little scary. We went trick-or-treating on Brower Lake with Aunt Ginny, Uncle Bob, Spencer and Greta. By the third house, Owen was RUNNING (often he was running in no particular direction and needed to be herded to the door of the house) in excitement.

He's already asking when Halloween will come again and planning for his costume. This morning he told me he's going to be an owl next year. I told him that I think we have some time...

5 Months Old!

Can't you see how much Julian adores his big brother?

Scott Family Cousins

Little Tiger

Grandma Brooks made Owen's costume this year! He spotted this tiger costume in the fabric store and couldn't wait to start ROARING!

Owen really wanted to be there to see Grandma sew it together, so here is a glimpse of the last stages of sewing a tiger costume. Once he got it on, he was a very scary (and very loud) tiger.


Cousin John John surprised us this weekend by coming to Grosse Pointe, and we just happened to have our old Pooh costume with us to mail to them. John was so excited that he couldn't stop jumping up and down. Once Owen got his tiger costume on they literally started running in circles and hugging until they fell over.

Our camera had a foggy lens from coming inside from a cold car, so it looks like they're hugging in some kind of dream world...one where they get to where their Halloween costumes all day, every day.

Dreams Really Do Come True!

I know that many of you may think that we are crazy to support this habit at such an early age, but Owen has been passionate about drumming for quite some time, and well...we just can't help ourselves. This drum set is from Owen's "mentor drummer," and our dear friend, Mr. Bob.

Mr. Bob found this tiny little, pint-sized drum set on Craiglist for a steal and he fixed it up just for Owen. Man, are we lucky.

Owen is thrilled, and he frequently runs down to the basement to get a little drumming in before dinner. Honest, we're not even annoyed (yet). It's just cute to hear all his drumming "songs."

In a performance earlier today, I asked if he knew any quiet songs. He looked at me like I was nuts and said, "Mama, I like LOUD songs."

Mama's Boys