Long ago in a far away land...

And now, before this next batch of pics, that possibly filled my heart with joy and made me wish for a better camera and mad skills to use it, a little anecdote. Long, long (long long long long long long) ago when I was a teenager, full of winsome vigor and zest for life, I was out shopping with my mom and aunt in Michigan. I don't remember what store we were in, but I came across this line of kid's clothes called "Rachel's Kids." It was even spelled right, with no "a" added. So I thought, in all my youthful, winsome, vigor, how sweet would it be to buy something and save it for the day that I might have my own small fry that could wear it? Then her tag would say "Rachel's Kids" and it would be true, except there would only be one and not 2. But I digress. So, reaching back into the farthest recesses of my memory, I recall picking out something I thought was cute, bought it, bagged it, and stashed it away in my hope chest. I'm sure you can tell where this is going, so without further ado - today's photo shoot.

We went back to the aforementioned park. Wait, latter mentioned park. It's be gorgeous here for over a week - very warm and sunny every day with beautiful fall leaves. Natural light is SO wonderful! Way better than trying to take pics inside where they're either too dark, or glowing white from the flash. And you don't have to use red eye reduction and all that. And being outside with more distractions was nice because she didn't just pound on her chest the whole time meaning she wants the camera.

Her hat stood up in funny ways and looked like misplaced rabbit ears or something. but hey, you'd be a little bent out of shape too if you spent the last 20 years in storage

I was surprised she left her hat on a lot of the time.

The larger, not resized pics look better, but oh well. I was pretty happy to get some good outdoor shots. And after not seeing fall leaves for years, wow, this place is just gorgeous right now! I'm just loving it.

Middle post

I always get annoyed with blogger because of the wierd order in which they post posts. I know, I should just switch to Wordpress. I'm thinkin about it. Feeling guilty about thinking about it, etc. So here's some random recent pics. nothing too exciting. My friend Sue came this past weekend and did a pile of painting for us. Bless her soul!!! It really improved the look of the bedrooms and hallway. Still have the stairway walls to paint. All the painting makes me really want my own house! Would be so nice to fix things up like you want them. But anyway, if we could just get rid of the rodents once and for all and stop ruining laundry with the nasty water here, it'd be a fine, temporary place to live. Sigh. I have had days of wanting to scream my head off not knowing what to do about those 2 things. Cleaning all the mouse terds off the counter shouldn't be a part of anyone's daily moring routine. shudder. Anyway, on to cheery things - We've had lots of weekend busyness - weddings, company, etc. This weekend my former roomie when I lived in IN (prior to this time of living in IN) is getting married. The weekend after that another friend comes to visit! Fun times! = ) So anyway, pics -

One of the very pretty park/gardens in town - we went on a wet/sloppy day and Aleah had fun running around.
There's even a little fish pond.
Love this pic.
great place to run!
And now for a little fashion show cuz Jenni wanted one. = ) This is why it's so hard to take her pic these days - this is her saying "Please" because she wants to play with the camera and push the buttons. ARG!

This pic cracks me up - she's not really posing as you might think - she was just playing with toys and stood up and that's what happened. She's now officially way more stylin than me - check out her boots. They were from a free craigslist gig.


look ma - no hand! eesh.
She's soooo helpful, like when I'm trying to clean out the fridge, for instance. like a lil puppy, always underfoot. = )
On Friday I went with a couple friends to an apple orchard close to here. I forgot my camera. = ( But anyway, it's a really fun little place with a petting zoo, farm toys for the kiddies to play with, and amazing food. They are known for their pumpkin and apple cinn. donuts (2 different kinds, lest there be any confusion). I now know why - SO good. Anyway, I tend to not give Aleah much sugar. Friday I plunked her in her high chair, and gave her an entire donut to demolish. She probably doesn't know what hit her.
Boy, we really are slipping around here - more sugar. Aleah's first beater. = ) Actually, it was whipping cream so not the worst thing in the world. Ok, this concludes the middle post. Stay tuned for the 3rd post. Or the 1st, depending on how it works out. Also, I have a ton of painting pictures but I think those will have to wait for another day.

New York Trip

I've started several blogs many times in my head, but they've never made it to the screen. So now I have a ton of posts to post. So I'll just get started. Probably won't get them all done today. A few weekends ago Dave and I took a trip to New York (the state, not the city) for his cousin's wedding. His parents and one brother were there as well. So, here's some pics from that -

reading stories with Grandpa
Downtown Sherman, New York, where Dave's mom grew up and where Dave has many memories of spending time with Grandparents (side note - the place makes me feel like I grew up in a pretty big city - we did have ONE stoplight, after all.)
nah, I'm sure they're not related

4 generations outside the town diner
Sitting around waiting to leave for the wedding. Great uncle Dan providing toddler entertainment

Wow uncle Alex, you have a very fancy tie!
Fist bumping with the bride. = )
cousins, the bride and groom, and grandpa
4 generations again
so precious
Aleah in the apple tree in Dave's grandpa's yard - the grandsons climbed this tree many many times, so I hear.

We left for New York after Dave got off work, and of course it took longer to get on the road and get there than we planned. So we arrived at 2 our time, 3 in the morning their time. yikes. Aleah who had been zonkered in the car for hours, woke up and thought that would be a good time to start the day. She was awake till 6, when she finally slept on and off for awhile longer. Fun times. We enjoyed spending time with family and introducing Aleah to her Great Grandpa and his wife and her two great uncles on Dave's mom's side of the family (that sounded like a very clunky sentence - hopefully you can figure it out). We drove home Sunday in the day light and made a little bit better time.