Pumpkins, Pumpkins and more Pumpkins

It is that time of the year again where the leaves start falling, the weather gets cooler and you guessed it...we get together with Aunt Jenny, Uncle Mike and Tristan to have our annual pumpkin painting contest. We were lucky this year, we had plenty of pumpkins to choose from to paint and did not have to go out and buy any. My father grew some in his garden and brought some over in July with all of our names on each pumpkin. We were super excited to get them, thought it was very thoughtful of him and we especially liked that he wrote our names on the pumpkins. Surprisingly, they lasted through the summer and made it to October without rotting. Bob also grew pumpkins in his garden and produced a total of 3. One for Isabella, Baby G and myself. I think we may have had four, but it's quite possible I could have accidently ran it over with the John Deere. Isabella enjoyed picking her pumpkin out of the garden and so did I. There are a few pictures of us snipping our pumpkin out of the garden. This weekend all of us painted our pumpkins. Once we are done, we post the photo on facebook and ask our friends and family to vote for their favorite. The winner receives a prize : ) Something fun that we all do together and the kids love the opportunity to play. Bob and I have been carving/painting pumpkins for 9 years now. We started this tradition together when we were dating. We have a few pumpkins leftover, so I think the Vail family may have a carving contest next. I can just picture Giselle throwing the guts of the pumpkin at her sister now as she carves......she is spiteful like that. Enjoy the pictures.......

A Weekend In St. Joseph, Michigan

Last weekend, we went away with our friends, Eric and Sharon and rented a house on the beach in St. Joseph, Michigan. It was a perfect getaway for our four kids and what made it even better was that it rained the entire weekend. I don't know about you, but when the weather is nice and the sun is shining, we just wanna rock it out. BUT when it's raining, it gives you a reason to RELAX and ENJOY. We played board games. We read stories. We made smores. We built forts inside. We had cooking competitions in the kitchen. We took naps. We built fires, only to be put out by the rain. We visited the beach. For all of 10 minutes until we all got soaked in a downpour. All in all, we had fun, created memories, laughed and relaxed. What more can you ask for?

I Pledge Of Allegiance by Giselle