Passing September Days

With the start of the new school year September has gone by so quickly, and I've barely had time to post!  Here's some catching up for everyone:

 It's Apple Season!  We all enjoy visiting the Brookdale Orchard down the road and picking Honey Crisps. 

It just so happens, Great Grandpa lives in a nursing home adjacent to another orchard.  So we stopped there for a snack before visiting him one afternoon.

Here, Claire is playing on the floor in his room, and Stella is showing him her puzzle book, which although smaller than his, is the same activity he loves.

Some other fun this month:

Watching a visiting show "The Tardy Brothers"
at school one Friday night

Rolling down the hill @ the St. Regis Falls Club
while at a party for Mom's friend Amy

Celebrating Halloween a little early @ the Brasher Falls
campground with our neighbor Lorri

 Checking out AWANA Club!  We had the privilege of being invited to our communities christian youth program at the Baptist Church.  The girls had a wonderful time and before it even ended both came to me whispering 'can we come back next week?'.  While it helps that Claire's bff Kennedy is there, there's just a whole lot of fun happening so we'll be looking forward to this on Sunday evenings.

 We ventured out into the woods behind the school one Sunday afternoon to get some fresh air and enjoy the fall season.  The girls enjoyed our nature walk and collected some leaves, rocks, and things along the way.

Daddy catching up with
his Coach from HS

The man of the hour!

This past Friday evening we were fortunate enough to attend a celebration for my high school track & field coach John Casserly.  Many family members, friends, and former athletes gathered in honor of his induction into the CHS hall of fame.  Coach is one of the most special people I'll ever know.  I've benefited so much as an individual from his encouragement, support, and wisdom over the years.  The girls came along for this family party and entertained themselves and danced with the live band while mom and dad caught up with some friends from HS.  It was a really great event! 

Fall wouldn't feel right in the North Country anymore without a visit to Fobare's Fruits - a must see destination when you have little people!  The girls, of course, had a ball!

 New this year: racing car slides for toddlers, and a Mining Sluice.  The girls founds lots of Gemstones to bring home!  Claire loves dirt and rocks, so this was right up her ally!

We also went through the corn maze, and when daddy wanted to split up, Stella was elated that she and Mom beat the others out!

The Start of School

We rounded out a really awesome summer with a weekend of fun with our cousins who were visiting over the labor day holiday.  Here are some photos of worship at Canton UMC.  It was a treat to come "home" and see so many familiar faces.


















Grandma decided to throw a birthday bash for Great Grandpa this year, who turned 89.  He really enjoyed the gathering.  Unfortunately he's since not feeling well but this was a special day we will all remember.














We had some happy girls ready to start Kindergarten and First Grade this year!  We are so glad our girls love school!


Mom's teaching a graduate class this year and it just so happens the first day of school was on a night I would be on campus late.  We wanted to keep our 'first day of school' tradition alive though, so I met up with daddy and the girls at the Cactus Grill for dinner before going over to Dunn Hall for class.  It was so great to hear about their day!

 To celebrate Mom's birthday daddy took the girls to mom's office the night before without me knowing.  Here's a pic of the note they left on our conference room bulletin board!  And, on my actual birthday, daddy skipped golf league to stay home and make me a steak dinner.  He even bought a cake, which the girls, especially Claire, were excited about.  It was a great first week back to school!