Apple Picking

The last Saturday in September we went to pick some apples.  Even tho Greg picked most of the apples, it was a fun time!  They had a kiddie area with a playground and bouncy house, rode in the wagon and got to eat some yummy apples.  It's the thing to do in fall and I got to make apple crisp which is soooo good.  Apples from the grocery store just don't compare to Niemans.

I can almost reach.....

So many on the ground, but only pick the ones from the trees.

Yum yum apples!

Look at all my apples!

Fabulous Fall Weather

We've been really lucky with some great fall weather!  For such a crummy summer, wasn't sure how it was going to be. These pics are from September 19-25th. 

I can ride my bike

Having an ice cream cone in the tent

I love this pic, Aaliyah with a ponytail!  She never lets me do her hair, it's so cute when it's all up.  I had to to take a pic because she usually rips it out pretty quick.

Violets 1 year portraits

First Day of School

Aaliyah had her first day of 3K last week.  I can't believe she's in school already!  I know it's only 2 mornings a week, but it's a big deal.  Once she started to cry, then I lost it.  A week before school started, Greg took her to open house where she got to meet the teacher again and see her classroom.  I kept talking about school and how fun it's going to be.  All she kept saying is mama stay at school and I had to tell her no, mama will come pick you back up.  The first day was definitely hard, but now it's easier and she finds things to play with as I leave.  The cutest thing was when I picked her up on her first day, I was a little early and got to see the kids walk from the playground back to school holding the rope!  I'm happy we enrolled Aaliyah at First Immanuel; she's going to have a great school year.

Showing me what she made at school...I think this was from the 2nd day.

Jesus loves me

Zoo take two

We went to the Zoo a second time this summer with Jamie and Hayden end of August.  And again for free, thanks to Jamies work!  It was another fun hot day; I felt we got to see a lot of things we didn't see the first time.

Lunch time

Checking out the fish

She loved the fish!

Hayden and Aaliyah getting close to the animals

It's hard to tell, but the carousel is her favorite!!

Just in time

I can't believe I'm saying this, but Aaliyah is potty trained!!  I never thought this day would come.  I can easily say potty training is the hardest thing ever.  It was just a week before school started and it happened.  I can't say she's accident free; she dribbles here and there, but for the most part she goes on her own.  Everyone said, one day she'll just get it and that day finally came!  I started when she was 2 1/2 and I guess that was too soon for her.  Some kids do it at 2, others not until 4 and Aaliyah was just a couple weeks after her 3rd birthday.

Swimming Lessons

Aaliyah took swimming lessons for the first time this summer.  We put her in a baby class, even tho she was almost 3 years old.  I didn't think she'd be okay with going in the water by herself.  This class I went in the water with her.  Towards the end of class, the teacher would just take her for 5 minutes after class with out me to get her ready for the big girl class.  She got better week after week.  There were between 3-4 kids in the class.  The first class she cried a lot but then she eventually got excited and liked wearing her goggles Grandma Linda gave her.  There's a slide they can go down after each class, but Aaliyah surprisingly was not a fan. 
Last week she had her first mini me class; I'm happy I don't have to go in the water with her anymore.  It's just her and 2 other kids.  She cried at first when Tyler took her, but quickly stopped crying and did great!  Can't wait to see her keep improving on her swimming!!