Sesame Street Live!

Sunny day, sweepin' the clouds away,
On my way to where the air is sweet.
Can you tell me how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?

The characters on stage together:

Family photo, Mati with her Elmo Magic Wand.

Sesame Street dance number:

Snacks are an important part of the experience. Cotton candy, yum!

Tuned in with dad.

Mary Had a Little Lamb

Mati with one of her favorite activities, singing and "playing" piano.

Halloween

Halloween night we only went to a handful of houses to see friends. Halloween night was Mati's 4th time trick-or-treating. The first time was in my classroom as part of the preschool celebration, the second time was at the John Ball Zoo goes Boo, then at the "Fall Fest" friend party, so Mati was well sugared by the time the official trick-or-treating time rolled around.

Here she goes, the seasoned pro hitting the first house.

She made herself right at home at one friend's house, heading upstairs.

Knock-knock. She did a great job of saying "trick-or-treat" and "thank you."

Doug's pumpkin he created with the jigsaw.

My "Dora the Explorer" pumpkin I created without a jigsaw and with a lot more time.

Happy Halloween from Dr. Schafer and her parents!

Pre-Halloween Festivities

This is Mati after having one piece of chocolate the day before Halloween. She plopped in front of the TV and zoned-out... sugar crash in action.

"Fall Fest" party with fellow MHS teachers and their families. Mati loved the trampoline.

All the kids after backyard trick-or-treating.

Mati's first ride on a quad. She was a little tired at this point and moments after this picture was taken she drove it into the deck.

In the shop, carving pumpkins "Doug Style." Lots of tools involved.

Yup, that's a Jigsaw he's using. Needless to say his pumpkin took far less time to carve than the one I did by hand.

Mati assisting in the pumpkin creation.

The Fair

The fair was a blast! It turns out Uncle Eric is a ringer at carnival games. With just a few tosses he won Aly an elephant. We went through 2 buckets of rings with no success; Eric tries again, a few tosses and we get the snake. Mati could not be more thrilled with this snake. The tail even rattles! She wanted to carry it which is nearly impossible so Doug picked her up so she could "ride" it.

Mati tried putting the snake's tongue on everyone that walked by to give out snake kisses.

Up, up, up in on the giant ferris wheel.

Mati and Aly giving the circus train a try.

The all-star pony rider. No walk-along needed anymore.

Driving the jeep. Every seat has a steering wheel, which is why the kid in the back cracks me up, sitting back like Mati is his chauffeur.

I love this picture, it shows the total joy she took in every ride. Smiling, laughing, squealing all afternoon.

This time she got to drive the circus train.

Mati and Aly riding the rockets:

Doug & Mati on the spinning strawberry ride.

Fair Results

2nd place Peanut Butter Fudge

2nd place sugar cookie

3rd place - "Any other drop cookie" Pumpkin Chocolate Chip

The blue ribbon winning peanut butter cookie:

Blue ribbon winning banana bread (the bottom one):

Blue ribbon winning sweet roll:

Blue ribbon winning white bread:

The runner-up sign at the fair. Aren't you impressed by the blue paper stapled to the doily?

Two major accomplishments this year: Runner-up Super Cook and everything I entered, all 12 items, placed.

The results are:
6 blue ribbons for 1st place in: white bread, banana bread, sweet rolls, lemon poppy seed cake, peanut butter cookies, and English walnut pie.

5 red ribbons for 2nd place in: chocolate cake, sugar cookies, brownies, peach pie, and peanut butter fudge.

1 white ribbon for 3rd place in "any other drop cookie" - pumpkin chocolate chip.

Next year's goal: Super Cook.

Dairy Expo

We attended our third "Great Dairy Adventure" at the MSU pavilion.

Mati gravitated right toward the tractors first on a John Deere then on a 1940 Farm All.


Then off to pet a calf, Mati even got licked which she thought was pretty cool.

Then the highlight, milking a cow.

Coloring a cow picture.

And our last stop, chocolate milk, yum!

Here is the milking a cow video:

Meijer Gardens

We started our tour in the Victorian Garden where we made a wish in the fountain.

Aly and Mati running through the water sculpture.

The entrance to the Children's Garden, the perfect height.

Sailing and fishing the "Great Lakes."

Nice day to catch some shade one a walk.

Aunt Jen had to tickle Mati's feet to get her to smile for this picture.

Exploring on her own.

Aly and Mati splashing in the fountains. It always pays to bring a change of clothes.

Independence Day!

We typically go to the Lansing Independence Day parade because it is a daytime parade. This year, because Mati can stay up a little later, we gave the Mason parade a try. It was wonderful. We packed a cooler with drinks and snacks of popcorn and gummy bears and enjoyed a great parade in beautiful weather.

Too busy enjoying her popcorn to pose for a picture.



Standing and waving her flag for the veterans who paraded by.

Twice during the parade some old US Army blue and yellow planes flew over. Mati sat chomping her gummy bears watching the fly-over.

One of our favorite parade entries, it was like a tractor tricycle.

One more cool entry, the draft horse!

When we got home we did our own fireworks show, a few small fountains and sparklers. Doug said "She can probably hold a sparkler, right?" I have to admit I was nervous. We lit 3 or 4 and demonstrated to Mati how to hold one before letting her give one a try. Thank God I married Doug because he is far more brave than I. I would have Mati bubble-wrapped and still carried around in a Bjorn if it weren't for his influence to let her explore.

This is her first glimpse of fireworks, a 2" fountain. It put out some pretty cool fireworks.


Here is her first sparkler! Notice the straight arm, away from her body, following her training.

Oh yes, we (mainly Doug) let her try two sparklers!

Putting on a show for us.