northwoods orchard

I have been wanting to get to the orchard this fall and this weekend was our last chance before they all close up for the season. imagine my happiness when the weather cooperated...well sort of. it was sunny and clear, but pretty chilly. I think the temp in the car read 46 degrees. we could see our breath! we had to get to the clinic at 9:20am on saturday morning for miles' H1N1 shot. he was a trooper! he cried hard, but then took a sticker and walked down the hall sniffing and saying "all done". the nurses felt bad for the little guy. anyways, we decided to kill some time while auntie jess, beth & josiah got ready to meet us so we headed to panera for some coffee and treats. thank goodness we had something warm to sip on at the orchard! I had heard of many orchards around town: some a little more commercialized (and expensive) than others. we settled on the northwoods orchard and were very pleasantly surprised!
besides having free admission, they also have a free petting zoo and hayrides for $1. however, with the insanely wet weather we have had as of late, the tractor was unable to navigate the muddy paths. luckily miles was just as happy with some time on the old stationary tractor!

miles' idea of heaven
no tractor crossings today :(

bunnies and goats

so this sign reads "How Tall This Fall?" - but miles wanted nothing to do with standing still...
...but climbing on the hay bales was A-OK!family foto

miles & josiah

"punkins!"
adorable little josiah

after we checked out the rest of the sites we went inside and had some scrumptious freshly-made-before-your-eyes donuts, nachos, and caramel apples.

no words needed

we discovered that one bonus to coming on the last weekend of the season is "buy one get one free" on apples! both jess and beth took advantage of the bargain. we highly recommend this orchard and look forward to visiting next year!

thanks for coming auntie jess!
and when the 17 month old insists on walking/running away?...put him to work!

the sun'll come out

after days & days of clouds, rain, and SNOW...we finally had some lovely weather today. I headed out to take some seventeen month "fall-ish" pictures of miles. we are still hoping to make it to the orchard, but time is running out. he got a little antsy toward the end... thank you bribery & candy corn. I swore I wouldn't use that tactic, but it works EVERY time! he turned seventeen months on the 22nd and has definitely turned into a little boy. he is a walking tape recorder and feels the need to label (say the name for) everything. he goes around saying "dog", "window", "airplane" (when he hears one), "tv", "doggies", etc. what he sees, he says. unfortunately for mom & dad...what he hears, he also says. yikes! he's starting to put words together. he pointed at my sweatshirt when he came home tonight and said "jacket off". he'll be rattling off sentences soon! his new favorite game is to be chased. he says "get you" and runs away. adorable. we are in the final stages of moving him into his new "big boy room" - pictures soon. but in the meantime...I hope these will do. enjoy!

my favorite

leaf

confused as to why this pumpkin isn't orange like his!

miles, what's on your socks? "punkin!"

"peace out"
(this is his newest phrase...thank you uncle brian!)

first haircut

ok so "first trim" might be a more appropriate title. it is obvious that miles doesn't exactly have a head full of hair, so we honestly thought he would be two years old before needing any sort of haircut. however, he has developed something resembling a mini-mullet as of late and both kyle & I decided that this was NOT the look we were going for.
I was going to line up an appointment at some adorable little kiddie cuts salon, but decided that this would a.) be a waste of money given the few strands of hair he needed cut and b.) traumatize miles. he's in a stranger-danger stage and has a meltdown when any sort of person in charge gets too close. exhibit a - he fell apart when I had to stand on the scale at last week's OB appointment. he was sitting in his stroller and apparently got pushed too close to the scale. I wanted to cry too but for a whole different reason of course. oh I digress...we opted instead for a mommy haircut.

miles did GREAT and sat in the stool like a big boy.

both great grandma's observed and nana caught the hairs to preserve in his baby book.

miles was a bit skeptical at times, but we managed to snip off the mullet and trim a couple of stray hairs here and there.
and the best part of the whole experience for miles? candy corn.

t-minus 99

we've hit the double digits in the baby k.2 countdown!! I'm feeling great and cannot believe how much my belly has popped straight out. these are the 24 week pictures from two weeks ago. yes, I'm larger now.

who's bigger?