Hop in Mom...I'll Drive!

Hadley and I had to take the car into town today for an oil change so we decided to meet up with daddy for lunch.  I think Hadley wanted to drive herself in her shiny red push car!  

Okay mom, lets go...I guess I'll let you drive!

St. Joseph County Fair, MI

For some reason I love going to the St. Joseph County Fair in Michigan.  It might be the fall like weather compared to the heat of summer fairs in Indiana, or it's just the simple evening that we get to spend with Austin's parents and sister.  Either way, it's always a great evening filled with fair food, checking out Grandpa Reames's tractors and the greeting of animals, particularly horses. 

Grandpa Reames has two vintage Allis-Chalmers tractors that he brings to the fair every year.  Last year we wanted to get a picture with them but it got dark too quick. This year we took pictures first!

We got to see Grandpa Reames for a few minutes when we first got to the fair.  Hadley had fun playing with him and her new bear.

After we ate some pulled pork sandwiches and Hadley munched on most of Aunt Shelby's french fries, we headed over to the horse barns to check them out. 

Grandpa took Hadley on her first pony ride.  She sat on the pony long enough for us to grab a few pictures and take a short video and then she was done.  As you can see below, she started out on the pony, rode around the circle about 3 times and then ended the ride in Grandpa's arms!

Here's the video of her pony ride!

Hadley and Grandma entering one of the horse barns...

We stopped for a little while to watch the 4H-ers ride their horses around the arena.

Hadley enjoyed climbing on the fence.  Lots of the riders would bring their horses up for her to pet and she loved it!  Austin tried to grab this picture but it turned out blurry...I'm posting it anyways!

...and here are a couple of pictures of me and Hadley.  You can see her petting the nose of the horse in the bottom picture.  My sweet child has no fear!

 

Wow...check out the difference a year can make. Hadley was 1 month old when we came to the fair last year and she was 13 months old this year!

   

Little Miss Hadley Martelle

We Officially Have Ourselves a Walker!

Hadley spent the last month perfecting her walk.  I think it's safe to say that at 13 months old, we officially have a walker on our hands.  She started out with just a few steps and her arms straight up in the air for balance.  Her arms are slowly finding their way down to her sides, and she is walking everywhere...and I mean everywhere!  Check her out... 

(I can't get the video to flip upright so you'll have to watch it sideways.  Whoops! At least I've figured out how to get a video downloaded.)

Happy Birthday Austin!

Austin's birthday is this Saturday, so we decided to celebrate early by having a small family get together in Michigan with Austin's parents, sister and grandparents.  We don't usually get together for birthdays but this one was a little special...or at least the present was.

Austin's mom made dinner and dessert at his request: Swiss chicken casserole, and pound cake.  It was yummy!  Here is a picture of the "birthday" cake. 

Austin's grandparents came to the rescue with the perfect gift.  We were in desperate need of a longer extension cord to reach the boat for sweeping, and they got a 150 foot one for Austin's birthday, complete with a reel.  Hadley helped daddy open his present.  She was fascinated with the bow on top! 

The partygoers:

Austin got half of his winter ski pass from Shelby for his birthday.  He's excited to hit the slopes again this year and spend some time with his little sister!

Is the suspense still there?  Are you still wondering what the special birthday gift is?  Does this picture provide a clue?

The special present is Rose-Hulman cornhole boards!  Austin has been wanting Rose-Hulman cornhole boards for quite a while, so I bought some in June and then had to get a little sneaky in order to get them to his mom for her to paint.  Whew, it was a bit of a challenge but we got it done, and they look AWESOME!!!     

Austin loved the boards, and it was a great joint birthday present for me to give with his parents.  I definitely could not have painted these boards like Kim.  She's so talented, and I'm very lucky to have that talent in a mother-in-law!    

 ...and some pictures of my little goofball horsing around with Grandpa and Aunt Shelby!

She cracks me up...and apparently they crack her up!

Happy Birthday Austin!

An Apple a Day...

Last day in Virginia Beach...

This was our last day in Virginia Beach and we definitely spent it relaxing!  We are leaving tonight to drive through the night so that Hadley can sleep.  I didn't take very many pictures because I just wanted to enjoy the day and not be stuck behind the camera.  Here are the few that I took while we were out at the beach...

Toes in the sand...

As I went to put my camera away, I turned around and saw my husband and daughter enjoying the sand and ocean together and it melted my heart!  Believe me when I say, I could not get my camera out of the bag quick enough.

 

Goodbye Virginia Beach...it's been a great vacation! 

The Virginia Aquarium...

What to do today?  Hmm. 

Here's a picture of Hadley waiting patiently for mommy and daddy to decide. 

After getting out of the house for a little while last night, Austin and I decided to take a little drive today.  Our original plan was to go to the Virginia Beach boardwalk, but as we drove around we discovered that parking was limited and it didn't look like there was much to see...so we went to the Virginia Aquarium instead. 

Before we entered the aquarium they had a viewing area for Harbor Seals, so we pushed Hadley up close to see how well she would pay attention.  As you can see from the pictures, she thought it was pretty neat, so we decided to venture further inside.

We saw lots of awesome animals inside, but unfortunately I cannot remember what we were looking at in each picture below...

This is one of my favorite pictures of Hadley and me...

One of my favorite pictures of Hadley and Austin... (she was not at all afraid of touching the crab!)

We had a fun day at the aquarium, but we were really happy to spend the rest of the evening relaxing back at the house!