Kalamazoo Nature Center

Nana and Poppa came down to Kalamazoo recently and we went to visit the Kalamazoo Nature Center! It was our very first time and it was really fun! They have an indoor area to walk around that has lots of Michigan exhibits (animals, reptiles, fish, plants, birds, etc - some alive and some stuffed) plus a bug exhibit and a indoor tropical rainforest area too! Plus they have multiple hiking trails. So we walked around inside a bit and then went for a hike outdoors - it was an absolutely gorgeous fall day - sunny and mild. We hiked to the Kalamazoo River and then back. The ground was just blanketed by yellow leaves - it was so pretty!

Here are some photos from our visit!

Tanner and Poppa:

Tanner and Nana:

Tanner loved riding on Poppa's shoulders!

Beautiful fall day!

The four of us with a golden forest in the background!

Michigan Lakeshore

One thing we really love about Michigan is all the lakes and the miles and miles of shoreline! Last Saturday, we went to Lake Michigan to see the lake again for the first time in about 5 years! It was great - and if we used our imaginations, we could pretend we were standing at the Pacific Ocean again! :) The day was perfect - sunny and mild. It was pretty windy though so we had sweaters and jackets on while we were by the water. We went to South Haven and walked the pier and then went back into town and ate lunch and walked around a bit. It was a great day!

Little Explorer

Tanner is quite the little explorer! He loves to crawl around and get into things - lots of things! Some that are good and others that aren't. Well - our little explorer discovered something exciting the other day and I caught him on camera!!

The funniest thing about it was that the whole time he was unrolling the toilet paper - he was saying 'nah no nah no'!! Like he just knew it was something he wasn't supposed to do! :)

"Look what I found!"

"It just keeps coming and coming!"

"Let me just get this last little bit here..."

Tanner is One!!

Tanner turned one on October 13 and we had a big bash to celebrate! It's hard to believe that a year has already gone by but it's been a wonderful year! Tanner had lots of fun at his party! He didn't 'get' the unwrapping of gifts part but we figure it will be the last year that he doesn't get into that! Daddy made a super cool birthday hat but Tanner didn't like it much (probably had more to do with the straps under his chin than the actual hat). He did like his cake though. I put a whole piece on his tray and he picked it up and put the whole thing in his mouth and just sucked on it! :) Was pretty funny to see!

Here are some photos of the big day!

Mama showing Tanner how to rip open that package!

Tanner got a little help from Ella (20 months - on the left) and Elise (2 1/2 - on the right)

Drum cake and maracas!

Tanner eating his cake!

When Fall is like Summer...

...you spend it outside!!!

We've been blessed with some really, REALLY nice weather this fall! It's been in the 70's this week still! :)

About a week or so ago we were playing outside and Tanner discovered something really fun.....

Oh wow - look what is under the grass!

Look Mama - DIRT!

If I stick my finger way down there - I can get a good clump!

This is so much fun...am I allowed to do this??

First Things First...

So - I'm sure you are all itching to see birthday photos but first things first! I haven't been good about updating the blog lately again...sorry about that! We've had a bummer thing happen - our storage unit with all our stuff got broken into and we lost a bunch of items - so we've been busy figuring that situation out. Yuck!

However, we have some super cute photos to share with you!! A few weeks ago we went to the pumpkin patch (Gull Meadow Farms in Richland) and introduced Tanner to pumkins and donuts! :) It was a gorgeous day - we had a great time! We'll have even more fun in the coming years - they have lots of rides and games for toddlers and older kids!

Here is Tanner sitting amongst the pumpkins!

Look what I found Mama - a STICK!!!

Our little pumkin:

A pensive moment:

Picnic Downtown with Nana!

Last week Thursday, Nana came down to Kalamazoo to visit! We went downtown and had a picnic in the park and then checked out the library and browsed the shops! We had a great time!! It's such a blessing to be able to spend time with family again!


Here we are having our picnic!

Nana can always get Tanner to giggle!

Thanks for a great day, Nana!