For Grandpa Mike & Grandma Lisa

Trip to the Farm

We went to visit Grandma & Grandpa Ross on the farm for the weekend.  Emerson had told them she wanted to "go to the corn" so we ventured out to the harvested corn field to see what we could find.  Emmie found lots of ears to take home and to "peel" (her words).  She took a short ride on one of Grandpa's tractors and had a fun time running around in his "little red wagon" too. 

On Sunday after church, we had a big family dinner, which at Grandma & Grandpa's house is always followed by dessert.  Emerson wasn't interested in the pie, but had a great time devouring the ice cream sundae--and making the biggest mess you can imagine.  I'm pretty sure her whole face was in the bowl at one point!  She entertained us all and loved the attention, of course :-)

I love this face!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the pumpkin patch and apple orchard a few weekends ago with Aunt Pam, Uncle Steve, Mackenzie, and Madison.  Can you tell Emerson loves spending time with her cousins?  We had a great time picking pumpkins, petting the animals, playing in the corn, and of course, having cider and doughnuts!

ArtPrize 2010

Jeff, Lesley, Noah, and Koen came from Chicago to visit us this past weekend!  We all had a wonderful time together and the kids had soooo much fun playing with each other (and provided the rest of us with lots of laughs!)  After church on Sunday, we all went downtown and walked around at ArtPrize.  We saw some amazing sculptures, paintings, photographs, etc.  We had the most gorgeous weather this weekend...we thought about sitting outdoors at lunch but it was too warm!  Really--in Michigan in October!  It was a fabulous family weekend!

Emerson was tired of walking so she decided to push her own stroller instead



She loves the water and fountain by the Gerald R Ford Museum.  One of my favorite ArtPrize entries is in the background.  Check out the website 20 Liters for more info on the meaning behind this piece!



One of the exhibits was called "Play Me, I'm Yours".  It was a group of pianos (all decorated differently) placed around the city for people to sit down and play. 

Jeff and Lesley pushing Koen and Emerson

Uncle Nick pushing Noah



Sweet Corn

Emerson discovered that she loves sweet corn, just like her Grandpa Ross!  She devoured it every time we had it for dinner.  Notice the corn on her cheek?  Like I said, just like her Grandpa :-)

Bowling

This video pretty much sums up Emerson's first bowling experience :-)  On one of our last summer vacation days, we went bowling with our friends Jayce, Mrs. Golden, Bethann, and Aaron.  Emerson and Aaron are daycare buddies and helped each other bowl...it was very cute.  Emerson let me help her with the first few attempts but when she did it alone, it took FOREVER for her ball to make it all the way down the lane!  The two older kids were done with their game by the time Emerson and Aaron were in the 5th frame.  Thank goodness they are both so patient!  We had lots of laughs that day!

GRCM

Emerson, Jayce, and I took at trip to the Grand Rapids Children Museum last week.  It was Emmie's first visit and she LOVED it!  They currently have a Curious George exhibit going on plus their regular activites: bubbles, musical instruments, a beehive, dress-up clothes, magnets, mirrors, a post office, bank, grocery store, farm, fishing pond, etc.  Everything is hands-on and we had a great time!

Emmie got her picture taken in the Curious George rocket photo booth.  She's holding his hand!

She was a big fan of the ATM machine...this may not be a good thing!

I love this shot in the mirrored tunnel!

They have a classroom in the museum where they offer different special activities each day.  The day we visited, they were helping kids make shadow puppets.  Emerson (and Mom) made a fish, of course!  Jayce made an octopus and they got to try them out before we left.