October 17 at Deer Tracks Junction

Saturday:  We made it out to Deer Tracks Junction by about 10:45 Saturday morning. Their very last day of the summer season is 10/18--tomorrow! I think I got the most out of my membership this year because I am pretty sure I used it 6x; so instead of paying $20 each time for my entrance fee, I really only paid a little over $12. PLUS, they gave me four "free" passes for grandchildren! What a nice place. I swear that it is 10x better than anything Disney has put together! Whoever built this place was an absolute genius.

Since Aidan will have absolutely nothing to do with the Budgies (!!), we didn't purchase any seed sticks; instead, we purchased 1 cup of apple slices and 1 cup of carrot sticks to feed to the animals (mostly the pigs, because the pigs are Aidan's favorite animals).

We started at the pig enclosure and stayed for a very LONG time. The pigs are so cute! They were VERY hungry today. Aidan was very careful with our food supply and broke each apple slice into littler pieces, as well as doing the same with the carrots. He explained to another visitor that this was how to make the most of your food.

It was a perfect day to visit out here. Nice and cool, no rain, not even a cloud in the sky. It was little bit chilly, but that was just fine. I love this place.

In order to get to the pigs, you have to walk past the EMUs--these guys are SO aggressive! They are truly hilarious animals. I wanted to touch one SO badly but they kept snapping at me for more food, and when they SNAP, it's really with a lot of force!

But then two ladies approached the Emu with open hands full of pellets and the Emu actually ate right out of the hands of these ladies! And they let the ladies touch their heads and backs and everything. I watched them carefully to see if they were getting hurt, but they weren't ... so I snuck up on one (very hard to do) and touched the back of it's neck. Their hair is very coarse and thick--not at all soft. But their EYES! Yikes. They look right into your eyes like they've got your number or something! I felt so glad that I actually got to TOUCH one of them though. NEXT YEAR I am going to be braver and see what happens.

The sheep are behind fences that abut against the pig enclosure, so we got to feel them too. Aidan was VERY into the sheep today. They are SO cute, and it's not hard at all to pet their soft heads.

The baby goats were super hungry today. We fed a few of them, but most of our food was gone by the time we came back around to their place.

Aidan had the duck game going really well, but figured out that only the middle pump was actually working. He didn't remember that this play house had an upstairs, so he went inside and climbed up so that I could snap his picture.

They have the BEST playgrounds here. See Aidan at the very top of this climbing apparatus? There are so many different levels, with tunnels connecting, and even tunnels underground.

While Aidan was climbing, I visited with the turkeys for awhile. 

Aidan had a lot of fun in the tube pretending he was a hamster! 

And then we went back to the sheep and pigs for awhile.

I love this picture of Aidan ...

We picked out a few very small gifts at the Gift Shop. Toys were marked down, probably because it is the end of their season. I picked out four more tiny 3-D printed animals (a cardinal, a penguin, a raccoon, and the cutest little beaver--for a total of $5.99!), and Aidan was able to choose a 3-D printed dragon with movable wings, kind of purplish in color, very nice for $7.99!

We were super hungry when we got to Culver's and enjoyed a very nice meal together. Aidan gets a grilled cheese with fries every time we eat here; along with root beer, and then vanilla ice cream which he combines with the root beer to make a float. He also dips his French fries into his root beer and ice cream, which I find a little bit odd--but he actually ate every speck of his meal, so I really had no complaints.

What a nice sleepover, Aidan! Thanks so much for coming to my house! I love you to pieces.

October 16-17 Aidan's Sleepover

Friday:  LAST week was SUPPOSED to be Aidan's sleepover, but it was also Homecoming weekend and Aidan really wanted to go to the football game over at the high school. So we postponed his sleepover until THIS weekend--much to the worry of Erin, who did NOT want HER sleepover to be delayed by an extra week just because of a football game.

When we arrived at my house, it didn't take Aidan long to come up with an activity. He went to our shelf that stores all of our blank paper, as well as the books we've made in the past ... and Aidan proceeded to read each and every book, cracking up as he went along.

But THEN, he "ordered" that we each make a book right then and there! So we did.

Aidan titled his book "The Small Book", and I called mine "The 1/2 book." We spent the next hour (!!) writing and illustrating our books (see above two pictures--Aidan's is yellow, and mine is orange). It was very fun to sit at the table with Aidan while creating our books and watching the birds feeding outside of the window. What a lot of birds came by to feed today!

For dinner, we had delicious French toast (homemade), and while we ate we discussed the map of the United States. Aidan kept claiming we only had 49 states because every time he counted them, he came up with that number. Consequently, Aidan announced that Washington D.C. should be the 50th state. I argued against that because we already have FIFTY states, and Washington is a government district. Aidan was not at all convinced of my position. I could have used a much more political argument against the statehood of D.C., but I certainly didn't want to get into politics with this kiddo.

Weeks ago, I ordered this new toy. It's a clear heavy plastic "board" that you can write on (with dry erase markers) and then you can make it light up in different ways. I very quickly scribbled Aidan's name on it before I picked him up, and then Aidan added some other things to the picture--like the rainbow over his "A", and the little duck under his letter "d".

About an hour after dinner, I made us a root beer float to enjoy before we sat down to watch some Looney Tunes (instead of a movie). We watched about 20 minutes of the Road Runner, and about 30 minutes of Bugs Bunny, and then we did a few funny cat videos that cracked us up.

We were in bed by about 10pm and slept all through the night and into the morning. I got myself up and showered by about 7, but Aidan didn't wake up until about 8:15--probably because I was playing the piano. We ate a little bit of French toast, played a game of CHESS (which I narrowly won), and then got out the magnets to mess around with for awhile. I love to play with magnets. So does Aidan! Look at the very high tower he made!

We planned to leave for Deer Tracks by about 10am, but Aidan requested that he make a video on Photo Booth before we did that; so you can't really see it very well in the picture below, but Aidan's video was all about some kind of rescue of his stuffed animals.

We had such a nice time at my house! Aidan will be TEN in March. There is no telling how long he will want to do these sleepovers; so I am going to take them while I can! What fun it is to be a grandma.

October 13 A Good Day

Tuesday:  We had a really good discussion this morning in our Bible study group. We focused on Hebrews 1.5 - 2.4 about the supremacy of Christ and particularly, above angels. We studied many interesting cross-references that teach the exaltation of Jesus above everything, and I was so thankful that God loves us so much that He came in such a lowly way to reveal Himself to us, identify with us, and pursue a relationship with us through His life, death and resurrection. It's been good to meet a handful of new ladies too in our small group. It looks like it is going to be a really interesting and challenging study this semester.

Julie and I had our usual fried chicken lunch over at Russ'. Yum! I love Julie so much. She has just turned 80 this year and we have such a good connection between us. I love to talk with her and listen to her. Her friendship has really blessed me.

Nothing was unusual about the rest of the day. I did a few dishes over at Dylan and Kelly's and waited for the kiddos to come home from school. It was another beautiful weather day, so the littles played outside for the most part. Brendan was at cross-country practice, so I didn't get to see him for very long today.

Aidan invited his friend, Aaryan, inside for a piece of cinnamon toast--which they ate and then played outside ...

Erin ate her toast as well, and then we hung out together for a bit. Erin was reading some Calvin and Hobbes to me, as well as another book (but I can't remember the title). We also cuddled on the couch together and watched some funny animal videos on my phone (on Youtube--which I forgot that the kids are not allowed to watch). 

As I walked past their refrigerator, I noticed this self-portrait of Erin--I love it! Erin has really gotten into drawing and painting this year, and really enjoys it. I'm so glad!

Once Dylan and Kelly came home from work, the kiddos ate their pizza, and Aidan and I drove over to his school for the Book Fair that was going on. Kelly gave him a designated budget for purchases, and he stuck to it pretty closely; in fact, if it wasn't for taxes, Aidan would have been almost to the exact penny!

October 10 Rogue River walk

Saturday:  I have had two weekends in a row without a Friday night sleepover. Aidan was scheduled to come over this weekend, but it turned out that it is Homecoming weekend for Forest Hills Schools and Aidan desired to go to the football game Friday night and postpone his sleepover for a week. 

It was a beautiful weather day today. Total sunshine and 80 degrees at one point! I took a bunch of clothing that I no longer fit (and have firmly come to grips that I will NEVER again fit), folded them up nicely, and donated them to a place over on Plainfield. I forget the name of the place, but Bev has told me about it numerous times--how clean it is, how decently priced items are, and that it is a mission based thrift shop. I've been doing the old switching out summer clothes for winter ones in my closets, getting the warmer ones all washed and ready for wearing. After going through every single piece of clothing I own, I decided it was about time to get rid of those things that no longer fit (like I can't even squeeze myself into them--and who wants to be squeezed into their clothing anyway?). While I was at the shop, I did a looking around. Bev is right. What a nice place! 

After I was finished over at the thrift shop, I drove over to Rogue River drive, just off Northland, where they've been doing all of the road work as well as an extended walking path with a little walking bridge over the Rogue River. I parked my car off the main drag on a side street and took a nice, long walk.

This little cutie was watching me as I was gathering my keys and phone to go to the car ...

So this walking path has been here for awhile, but the county added fencing and I think they resurfaced it as well.

This path is directly by the golf course (the name of which I can't recall), so you can kind of look through the trees and see the golfers ...

This is a tiny creek that flows off from the Rogue.

Some dainty little blossoms that the Lord designed ...

Here is the walking bridge over the river. I'm not really sure it was necessary to build this--except recreational bikers had to use the shoulder of Rogue River drive to cross the river before. Now, no one has to worry about any traffic whatsoever.

This is from the bridge ... I'm going to have to come back when the colors are at their peak ... we have a ways to go yet for that to happen.

Can you see the rocks on the riverbed? The river is not very deep here, at least by my estimation.

It's a very pretty spot--don't you think?

I managed to walk two miles with my sore feet shouting at me with almost every step. However, I have found some exercises that are at least helping my knees and strengthening my quadriceps; so that's a good thing. I was really thankful to be outside enjoying the beauty of the day.

October 8 51+ years ago

Thursday:  I was surfing around on Facebook the other day and ran into this picture. I was truly excited to be able to copy and save it for my own memory's sake. 

The bride is a dear friend from college, Shirley. She and Dan got married in August 1975, and I was in the wedding. Can you find me? I had ZERO pictures of this occasion and I was always sad and regretful about that fact. I'm so glad to have this photo! See the pretty bridesmaids dresses? The day AFTER the wedding, I was touching it up with an iron and ironed a huge hole right in the front of the dress. Guess who never wore the dress ever again. Sad.

Shirley grew up in Tonawanda, New York (a suburb of Buffalo) and that's where she got married as well. Shirley is a year older than me and we met my freshman year and immediately connected. My roommate, Robbie, Shirley, and I all used to hang out together. Shirley and Robbie were in singing groups together, and they were also on the Homecoming court my sophomore year, with Shirley being crowned queen! It's good for me to remember the good things about those years, even though there were so many sad things going on in my personal life. Shirley was a real gift to me. We are rather out of touch, and have been for years now. Shirley and Dan moved to California (I think Dan had a ministry opportunity), but in their retirement, I believe they now live in N. Carolina. I haven't seen her face to face since her little Jeremy was about a year old--she came to Grand Rapids to visit me and stayed with Jim and I for a few days ... so long ago!

October 6 Pretty Flowers

Tuesday evening:  Mr. Ted notified me that he picked up flowers for Beverly (she and Ted are "special friends", with no intention of marrying at 92 and 91 respectively), and I while he was out shopping this afternoon. This is an almost weekly gift he gives us very blessed ladies! I guess since I was the one who introduced them and drive them to their "dates", he includes me in the flower giving. I appreciate it!

Look how lovely they are! Aren't the colors stunning?

Thank you so much, Mr. Ted. You are so kind.

I deliver Bev's to her when I pick her up to grocery shop every Wednesday morning. We bring the flowers into her "home" so that the other ladies can see them, and then we bring them upstairs to her apartment. She likes to show off her bouquets to the other ladies in the home, who LOVE to gawk over them. 
 

October 6 Study, Lunch, and Kiddos

Tuesday:  I had opportunity to pick up my friend, Feyming, for Bible study this morning. Some day, I will write an entire post just about her. She is my friend from Indonesia and I love her. She is one of the godliest people I have ever met, and she has lived through much hardship with such grace.

We are studying Hebrews this year in Women's Bible study. What a rich letter it is. I can't wait to dig deep into it! Our small group (which isn't very small at 17 people!) went well, everyone participated, and we learned a lot from each other. My friend got a ride home with her daughter-in-law, so Julie and I met for lunch at our usual place. That is, AFTER I finally located my car in the parking lot -- which took 15 minutes. Yikes. Julie and I had our usual yummy fried chicken lunch with such refreshing conversation and laughter.

I drove over to Dylan and Kelly's by about 1:30 and cleaned up the kitchen a little bit. Their house looked great, having had it cleaned just the prior day. There really wasn't much for me to do to improve it!

The kiddos came home at their usual time. We had our cinnamon toast and visited for awhile, but then they were in the house and out of the house for the next hour or two. Aaryan (I finally asked the little guy how to spell his name! It is pronounced like this: "R-A-On" ... at least that's the best I can do with it). I didn't get many pictures today, but here are a few of Gregory:

This is my Tetrus tower game, which we never did play. Cal preferred to build something with all of the shapes. Every one of these kids have high aptitude when it comes to building things.

Cal is very particular about his building too.

Dylan and Kelly came home with pizza, so the kiddos all ate their dinner. Kelly had to go back to work, so I stayed for just a little while to visit with them while they ate. Erin had been over at Emmy's the whole time, but since she was now in the kitchen with me I got to spend some time with her too. No pictures though, but we did have a sweet time together.