Fun Times...

The trees are changing and the weather is beautiful. There are so many things to do here.
We went to a tree place this week....THE MORTON ARBORETUM....

They had acres of trees and gardens to explore...
We went with Joel, he had trees to climb and mazes to explore.


Around the lake they had scarecrows...lots of scarecrows in Illinois...


Sunday after church we went to a small petting zoo.
JohnMark could not resist rolling in the hay...
Petting the horses....
they had a pumpkin patch....each one took time to pick the perfect one...

Once home Sierra and JohnMark decided to carve their pumpkins.



Finished pumpkins were pretty cool....
I think one of the best parts was grandpa's seeds...


Recipe for seeds....
clean seeds
boil in salt water for 10 mins. drain
coat the bottom of pan with olive oil
spread seeds in layer across pan
sprinkle with season salt
bake 350 for around 30mins.until toasty brown
stir at least once
ENJOY...
We Did....

Check out my teeth....

Joel woke up this morning and was hiding from me.

"How did you get so cute?" I asked him.
"The dentist, " he responded with a toothy smile.

He has the dentist on the brain, he made his first trip this week.
He wasn't happy about it, but ended up doing okay.
Now he is proud of his smile, and keeps showing anyone who will look.

What the big kids are doing.....

All of my grand kids have grown. I was surprised how much in only three months. They are busy with school and homework. JohnMark is taking art and guitar lessons.
sweet Sierra is busy on the running team, and has qualified for state. That girl has some legs.

David likes school, and is enjoying soccer...I had fun watching him practice

Can you tell who likes having his picture taken.
Joel needed to pose with all his brothers and sisters.

CANTIGNY

Yesterday morning we decided not to let a little rain detour us...
instead we headed out early morning to a place called Cantigny.
The place is named after the first World War I battle that the Americans won in Europe.




It had a museum with replica's of battle scenes, soldiers dressed like the above from the Civil War, movies, and games.
The grounds boasted of tanks from different wars that the kids could climb on.

And Gardens with beautiful flowers....

People....
Pumpkins.... I know one is in here someplace...
Caterpillars????
Vegetables to eat...
More flowers ....





the sun came out before we left...
but we didn't care...great fun:)

Sunday in the City....

Sunday we decided to take a little excursion...a trip into the city.
Rather than drive and try to figure out the parking etc. we took the metro from Wheaton. some of us brought books, some of us just brought ourselves.

Some of us brought bags filled with books and camera's etc. ...
and back packs with food
Once in the city we rode buses...thank goodness...
because the walking 20 miles (maybe an exaggeration maybe not) about wore me and my knees out:)
Downtown Chicago




We made it all the way to the waterfront..
Beautiful day...a few people...we had lots of fun...