Grand Rapids...

Saturday, the kiddos, Lance and I were off to Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was a beautiful day for a drive! After we arrived and got Lance's race packet picked up, we wondered the downtown area with the gang. The kids enjoyed playing in all the nice park, museum and river walk areas. Grand Rapids really does have a nice, scenic downtown with the river running through it. We saw several museums, including the President Ford museum. We also saw a wedding party, and several fisherman near (and actually in) the river.

The kids playing and rolling down the hill...

I thought this was cool picture with the flag in the background:)

Lorelle, Levi and Liam with the astronaut statue...

Lorelle, Levi and Lilyan by the fountain...

Liam, Levi and Lorelle in front of the giant penny made of pennies;)

Lance and the gang, minus Landan (he went to the Purdue football game with a friend:)

River walk...

Back at the hotel for a drink on the outside balcony. My handsome Leytan...

Liam and Mom...

Another GORGEOUS fall weekend!!!

Carving Pumpkins...

After dinner this evening, we let the littles carve their pumpkins. Since it was nice out, we had them carve outside. Levi especially enjoyed the process;) They all had a good time and their jack-o-lanterns turned out GREAT! The biggest challenge was keeping Chip from eating all the pumpkin guts. SILLY dog!!! I hope he doesn't get sick:(

Well, that's one way to carve...You GO girl!!! LOL!

Liam pulling out his pumpkin guts...

Levi and Lilyan working hard...

Levi with his masterpiece...

Lorelle's work...

Liam with his jack-0-lantern:)

The pumpkins after dark...

Notice Lilyan's "Trick or Treat" pumpkin. I helped a little with that one;)

Fall is HERE!

My littles decided to rake the backyard tonight. They were having so much fun and did a GREAT job. They raked up about 6 kitchen bags of leaves. Then piled up some leaves on the trampoline to jump in:) They took a break for dinner and then were back out until it got dark. It was such a beautiful, relaxing, cool, fall evening and the sunset was gorgeous shades of pink, oranges and purples. SO pretty!!! Welcome Fall;)

Lorelle and Levi...

Liam and Lilyan...

Thank you Lord for the beauty all around us!

My China boys!

These two are quite a pair. They are alike in many ways and are actually the same size. Levi does seem taller because Liam rests down on his short leg most of the time. Like the girls...they wear exactly the same size clothes, a 6-7). The girls are in a size 7-8. They both LOVE costumes, Nerf guns and action figures. They are becoming such good buddies:) I guess I sorta have 2 sets of twins now instead of triplets;) I am so blessed to be their Momma!

My twins...

Are they cute or what?!

Playdate...

at the park! Levi and I met some of his school buddies and their moms at the park on Tuesday.

Levi had a great time playing with friends outside of school. I enjoyed the adult conversation as well;) It was a BEAUTIFUL afternoon!

Playing in the sand...

Levi with some of his buddies...

Chemistry and Crafts:)

Levi chose a chemistry kit at the book fair this week. He and his siblings are having a blast with it. So far...they haven't blown anything up either;) BTW, what happened to only books at the "book fair"?! My kids wanted all the other FUN stuff...NOT books! Go figure...LOL!!!

My little chemists...

One of Levi's favorite things to do is crafts. He makes several things everyday. I try to take pictures of some of his projects. Here are a few:

House...

Flower...he even sprayed it with perfume:)

Made entirely with colored pipe cleaners...

Our yearly visit to...

The Fashion Farm!!! The Fantasyland theme this year is "Memories Through Songs". The kids really enjoy looking at all the different displays. They had lots of Disney songs from movies and cartoons. TOO cute!!!

Levi and Liam with the Backyardigans...

Little Mermaid and Eric...

The butt...ALWAYS a favorite;)

My China littles...

They did 2 hay mazes and a corn maze...

Group shot minus Leytan (he decided paintball with friends would be more fun;) A little too bright out for ya Landan?! LOL!!!

The kids also picked out pumpkins to carve and gourds. And we ALL enjoyed some pumpkin donuts:)

We also took a horse drawn wagon ride through the pumpkin fields. Afterward, we had a late lunch at Pizza Hut and took the "littles" to Walmart to pick out costumes:) Below you can see:

Lorelle, the wizard; Levi, aka Spiderman; Liam, the warrior; and lastly, my little devil, Lilyan. They are officially ready for Halloween now. Bring on the candy!!! It was another perfect weather day...and the first time I can remember being able to wear our shorts to the pumpkin patch;) Kinda nice...