Fall fun and shenanigans!

I'm sorry I've been so delinquent in updating our blog lately. I have no idea how many of you out there check this on a regular basis, but to those of you that do, I apologize for not being better at keeping this up to date. And after fighting a cold and ear infection, Micah is back to his normal, "into-everything faster than I can keep up with him" self, so we'll see how long this post takes to complete! :)
Since the last entry, we've been having a lot of fun enjoying the beautiful fall. We've been to a few pumpkin farms and apple orchards... both of which make for some great pictures! ... Micah has mastered the art of climbing the stairs, discovered the kitchen cabinets are full of treasures to be discovered, and really become "mommy's little helper"! (and by "helper" I mean makes everything I'm working on take twice as long because as fast as I'm folding clothes or loading the dishwasher, Micah is right there, unfolding the clothes or pulling the silverware out of the dishwasher.) :) What's that saying? "Cleaning and scrubbing can wait to tomorrow..." :) I'm loving every second of being a mom and even loving doing everything twice because my little guy is "helping". :)
One thing I'm learning, as Micah is getting more and more mobile, is that I really can't take my eyes off of him for a second! A few days ago, I was doing something on the computer and turned around to see Micah surrounded by his wipes. He had pulled the top off of the container we make them in and had been having a ball pulling them out. What can you do at that point but laugh and get out the camera? :)


What a stinker! :) Well, without further adieu, here are a few pictures from our fall fun and shenanigans so far this season. Enjoy!

At the end of September, we went with our friends, Katie and Billy, to an apple orchard up in Wisconsin. It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun! Hats off to Katie who was our official photographer for the day. :)





On another beautiful fall day, my friend Val and I took our boys to Goebbert's pumpkin farm in Barrington.

At Goebbert's pumpkin farm with buddy, Logan

The giant chair at Goebberts ~

Well, at least they're both looking in the same direction! :)

Swinging with daddy ~


Kisses? or biting daddy's nose? You be the judge! :)


Playing in the leaves ~


How big is Micah? SO big!

We decided to get Micah an authentic Radio Flyer wagon for Christmas... which we did... but then decided we wouldn't get much use out of it in the middle of winter, so we thought we'd give it a test run.

I think it's a hit! :)

Aaron's parents were in town for the weekend, so we took another trip to a pumpkin farm near Kenosha. Nothing beats pictures at a pumpkin farm in the fall, in my opinion. :)

Coming soon to a theater near you... "Micah, Grandpa, and the Seven Dwarfs" ;)

Klingenmaier family picture in the pumpkins ~

Our little family ~

More fun in the leaves ~

And what is fall fun without carving some pumpkins? My main motivation is to get the seeds out for cooking and eating, but there are those who can really get into their carvings! :)

Yikes! Watch where you're pointing that thing! :)

A pumpkin carving "master" hard at work!

The finished products ~

I realize halloween is still a few weeks away, but Tracy wanted to get a few pictures of Micah and Emma in their costumes. :)



Aren't they adorable? :)

Well, to bring this post to a close, I have to include a few pictures of the "shenanigans". :)

Micah loves to pull himself up on our legs. Maybe someday he'll be able to give me a shoulder ride, but not today. :)

Helping with the laundry ~

The lid on those puffs is NOT childproof! :)

What treasures can I find in here? :)

Caught in the act!

Mastering going up the stairs ~

And stopping to play with daddy on the way

And one video to round things out... our little guy will be walking before we know it! :)

Well, it's almost 4:30, and I think I started this post sometime around 1, so 3 1/2 hours to finish a post isn't too bad. :) It could be worse, and at least our blog has been updated, FINALLY. :)

Our little athlete ~

Micah absolutely LOVES the water! Since he was born, we've been very intentional about pouring water on his face during bath time, so he doesn't mind that at all, and sometimes I think he'd stay in the tub and splash all night if we'd let him! :) He was having so much fun in the tub the other night that I had to get the camera out. I did my best to make sure Micah was well covered so hopefully he won't hate me for this post when he's in junior high! :)

Everything ends up in the mouth eventually! ... even a soapy wash cloth!

And one video of him splashing around ~

Since he's such a fish in the bath tub at home, we thought it would be a good idea to get Micah enrolled in swim lessons, which we did at our local park district. He's only had one class so far, and he had a blast! Aaron was in the water with him, and to be honest, I was a little jealous! They looked like they were having so much fun! :)






Micah even went under water with no trouble! I'm so proud! :) Here are a few videos of his first swimming lesson. The first one, I started the camera just as Aaron was bringing him up out of the water, but he splashes a little bit and even dips his mouth in the water. The second one is a bit shorter, and is just Micah going under water. You can hear his teacher sounding amazed at the end that Micah didn't cry at all. :)

We've been taking Micah to Gymboree since he was 3 months old, which he also loves. Unfortunately, it's a little too expensive for us to continue... so, here are a few pictures from his last official class. We have a makeup class next Saturday, but after that, we're done at Gymboree. :(

With his teacher, Miss Jennifer ~

Thankfully, Buffalo Grove Gymnastics is more affordable, so we've made the switch. We're able to save a little money this way, and Micah still gets to play with other kids his age. He is now in a 6-12 month class at the gym that I used to work at, and he is having a ball! We go once a week, on Tuesdays, and he gets to do all sorts of things. The program at Buffalo Grove is a little more gymnastics focused than Gymboree was. Here, in addition to climbing all over the place and working on obstacle courses, Miss Bonnie works with the kids on simple gymnastics skills, like forward and backwards rolls, log rolls, and the like. It's a little weird for me being there as a participant rather than an instructor, but I think I've made the transition fairly smoothly... hopefully I'm not one of those crazy moms the staff talk about in the break room! :)

Here's a picture of Miss Bonnie and the kids...

We've definitely got a little athlete on our hands! It's getting to be more and more of a challenge to keep up with Micah as he gets faster and more mobile, but hey... maybe we can save even more money by canceling our membership at the Y. :)

2 Weekends up North ~

We spent the last weekend in August and the first in September in the U.P. attending a staff reunion at Lake Lundgren Bible Camp, the camp Aaron worked at for a few summers and visiting Aaron's parents. Since the LLBC reunion took place first, we'll start there...

LLBC

What a fun weekend! We got to catch up with some of Aaron's friends from back home and introduce Micah to them, and Micah and I got to experience the wonders of Lake Lundgren Bible Camp. It reminded me a lot of Timber-Lee, the camp I went to as a kid, but I know this weekend meant more to Aaron than any time at Timber-Lee would mean to me. I have good memories of being a camper there, but since I never worked at the camp, my memories are somewhat limited. Aaron spent several summers at LLBC as a counselor, and I could just see the love he has for this place all over his face while we were there. Memories of LLBC run deep for Aaron and it was extra special for him to get to share this weekend with his son.

We went swimming in the lake

...and played on the beach

Working hard ~ :)

Played on the playground

...and anywhere else that looked fun

Made a bunch of new friends...

...and got to see some old ones with their new ones :)

Watched Aaron being a "fine musician" on his tuba

...and will be following in daddy's footsteps when it comes to chipmunks at camp someday. (ask Aaron for that story!)

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend, filled with great times, and great friends.

LABOR DAY

The next weekend, we were back in Upper Michigan for Labor Day. We got to hang out with Grandpa and Grandma K, and met their friends George and Rosie who stopped by to say hi on Sunday morning.



I don't have too many pictures from this weekend, but I did manage to get one of Grandpa, Grandma and Micah wearing their "cool as a moose" t-shirts that came from Maine ~


And when we got home, Aaron ran out for a bit, leaving Micah and me home to wait for him. Micah was very anxious for daddy to come home! :)


We had a lot of fun these two weekends away, but it's always good to be home. :)