Fall Color Tour

Yesterday we had a fun family day. We drove up north a ways to enjoy the fall colors. We were told that the colors were peaking in northern lower Michigan this weekend, so we decided this was the time to go. We didn't go too far up north; only as far as Big Rapids, but it was lots of fun and we saw some really beautiful fall colors.

We followed signs to a dam near Croton. It wasn't as exciting as we thought it would be.

But there was a nice walking path through the woods there.

What's that saying . . . . "Speak loudly and carry a small stick"? That must be Lena's motto.

Eva enjoyed walking with Daddy.

Action shot!

Lena found an acorn and took its "hat" off.

Our happy girl.

The girls with Daddy.

The girls with Mommy.

The Croton Dam.

Pretty scenery.

We stopped in Howard City for lunch at The Lackadaisical Moose.

Coloring the moose. When the waitress came over to introduce herself, Lena butted in saying, "I Carolena!" then yakking about a bunch of other things.

Eva being goofy. She takes after her sister already!

Jim ordered the "Canadian Burger". Two pieces of bread, topped with a hamburger patty, then fries, then covered in gravy. That's apparently how they eat burgers in Canada! It was the perfect dish for Jim! Of course, the waitress happened to come to our table as I was taking this picture, and she said to Lena, "Your parents are silly, aren't they?"

Cool moose cut-out.

After lunch we found a playground where Lena could play and get some energy out after sitting in the car for so long. I didn't get any pics of that because I was in the car feeding Eva. But she had fun on the merry-go-round, the slide, the swings, and she ran the bases on the baseball diamond.

After that we drove up to Big Rapids and shopped at the Goodwill. My dad will be happy to know that I found Lena a nice pair of snowpants for $1.99. :)

On our way back through Grand Rapids, I stopped at one of my favorite stores, Penzey's, before heading home.

Today we are taking the girls to a movie. The theaters in Grand Rapids have one movie a week where kids get in free and adults are only $3.50 each. So today we are seeing Despicable Me. It will be Eva's first movie, and technically Lena's second, but she was only 3 months old for the first one. We think she will really enjoy it.

Then tomorrow Jim will be baptizing our nephew Noah. What a great weekend!