Apple Picking

This weekend was the 2nd Annual Wills Family Trip to Patterson Fruit Farm to pick apples. It was a bit blustery, but we decided to head out anyway. We braved the wind and came home with two big bags of apples. We also enjoyed an apple fritter, an apple dumpling, and some apple cider at a picnic table at the farm. Lots of apples! I guess it's time to start baking pies!

The pumpkin patch

Colorful mums

Family fun!

Ainsley sat next to Frankie the Scarecrow on our steps.
They're almost the same size!

Play Date

A few weeks ago, my friend Julie brought her son Cooper to our house to play with Ainsley. Cooper is about six weeks older than Ainsley, and it's so much fun to have them so close in age!

They're both starting to talk, but Cooper could literally run circles around Ainsley, since she's not quite walking on her own yet. The kids played really well together and had a good time. We moms only had to chase them around a little bit. ;)

Cooper came to our house last July, too, when Ainsley was only three weeks old. Here's a picture from that visit.

So fun to watch how they've grown and changed, developing little personalities, in only a little over a year. Hopefully we can all get together again soon!

Chalk Festival

On Saturday, we took Ainsley to the Chalk Festival at the Cleveland Museum of Art. There was live music, which inspired some Ainsley-style dancing, and many beautiful chalk drawings. We thought Ainsley would be interested in the colorful drawings on the sidewalk, but she preferred the fountain in front of the museum. Either way, she had fun, and that is what's most important!

Some of the elaborate drawings.

Labor Day Weekend

I think we crammed every last bit of summer into our Labor Day weekend.

Saturday and Sunday were spent at Edgewater - swimming, sailing and watching the air show. We all enjoyed a dip in the new pool at EYC on Saturday. It was SO HOT! Ainsley especially loved the little beach balls - just her size!

Sunday, we watched the Thunderbirds from a boat on Lake Erie. It was really cool to see them from out on the lake - a lot different than watching from the shore.
But the coolest part of Sunday was Ainsley's first time on a sailboat! She definitely got her Daddy's blood here. She wasn't afraid for a minute, and once Mommy saw that Ainsley was comfortable, Mommy was able to relax and enjoy the ride, too.

So, which direction is the wind coming from?

That way!

Li'l Skipper

Trimming the main!

Ahoy!

On Monday, we visited the Holden Arboretum to see the Gnome & Garden exhibit. There were 20 garden gnomes, all designed in different themes by local artists. Such fun! We can't wait to go back in October for the goblin exhibit.

Mommy & Ainsley with Vincent Van Gnome

Oompa Loompa Gnome

Ainsley & Daddy with the Recycled Gnome

Blueberry Gnome

Ferguson Fergus Puck

Down the Rabbit Hole

Gnome Improvements

Summer Fun!

Aside from our trips to Maumee Bay and Wisconsin, we've certainly had our share of summertime fun with Ainsley. Here are pictures of a few other things we've done this summer.

Swinging in the backyard.

My friend Andrea brought her daughter Addison to our house one afternoon. Addison is almost 3, so Ainsley was very interested in what "big girls" do.

We each get a little chair and a bird.

Would you like to hold my bird?

No more pictures, please.

That's right - I'm talking to you!

When Grandma Molnar visited in July, Ainsley enjoyed an ice cream cone. We had to show her how to lick it!

We took Ainsley to the Great Lakes Medieval Faire. She loved the horses and the different types of music played by live musicians. A shoppe keeper even sprinkled her with fairy dust (which was actually glitter, that took two baths to get out of her hair...). Ainsley also got a pink heart-shaped bracelet that she now wears whenever she wants to be "fancy."

Fun in the high chair.

 

On a particularly humid day, Mommy & Ainsley had some fun with water in the backyard.