Carving Pumpkins

After being traumatized by the snow.....our pumpkins sat on the porch all alone for almost the entire month! Finally, I pulled them in and started cutting! Ascher decided to paint his again, and put Daddy on his! So there he is, Immer in all is glory....on a pumpkin!

As soon as I found the white pumpkin, I knew I had to have it. It was different, and really cool. I was excited to cut it and see what was inside. I wasn't sure if it would be orange or white. But once I cut it, I smelled something familiar. I couldn't quite get it...then it hit me. It smelled JUST like a cucumber! So my house had a nice melony smell for the afternoon!

Apples Apples Everywhere!

I don't know about you, but this was my first time on an apple farm. I figured you would walk out into a field, find a tree, and pick an apple. But this farm, this farm had over 30 types of apples, all labeled and organized. The best part was....they encouraged you to sample all the apples! And if you didn't like it, throw it on the ground (Ascher's favorite part)!!

Immer loves apples, so of course,he was in heaven!! We really enjoyed finding different styles that we liked. Gotta tell ya....most of them we didn't like! We fell in love with the Sensu apples. They are small, tart and very crisp. So we just kept picking....until Immer told me to stop.

Ascher liked picking all the small apples. Like him.

I totally could have fit another dozen apples in that bag....but Immer made me stop :(

Apple Picking (take 2)

Well, we decided to try the Apple Farm again...during the week. It was the only day in a 10 day forecast that didn't have a chance of rain. So much better!! The weather was perfect, nobody was there, and we had fun!! We enjoyed the playground....and really enjoyed feeding the cows! We were just picking up random leaves and peaking them through the fence. Ascher liked watching their tongues stick out and grab the leaves. Ascher had a great time playing, and was almost too tired to pick apples!

House of Cards

Occasionaly, our neighbor comes over for a visit. One visit, he was trying to build houses from cards, and wouldn't share with Ascher. So once he left, Ascher pulled out his flashcards and started building. With no guidance from me.....he aced it! There were some times of frustration, and throwing cards around.....but he did really good at it! Another hobby for Ascher that he has mastered!

SNOW!!!

While at the farm freezing....I noticed something falling from the sky. At closer inspection, I saw that it was snow! We couldn't beleive it! It was snowing the first weekend of October! What is giong on here! So we decided that we were not going to pick apples ( due to lack of proper attire). We quickly hit the pumpkin patch, grabbed a few pumpkins, then headed inside to warmth and lunch! It was such a great place, the food was great, atmosphere amazing and the people were so friendly. So we made plans to come back another day....when it was warmer.....and we were more prepared.

Apple Picking (take 1)

A long time ago....Immer had a client that owned a little farm with apple trees. He always talked about how cool it was, how it was a place he wanted to take me....blah blah blah. Every year, I bring them up, but get nothing from it. Finally, I kept bothering him about it, and he looked them up. Turns out, they are about 30 minutes from our house. We are going!!

So we made plans to head out one Saturday morning. We dressed in apple picking attire, sweatshirts and jeans. Grabbed the camera and headed out. When we got there, it was a little colder than expected. She we rushed through all the outdoor exhibits, and relaxed at the indoor ones!

Don's Vehicles

We love our mechanic. Apparently a little too much.

Ascher loves to play with his cars, and spends lots of time playing with them downstairs. Well, he has started offering oil changes and tire changes to his cars. He opened Don's Vehicles, which is our mechanic's name. It's fun to watch him set everything up, put cars under there, and go about business. Of course, when I told our mechanic, he said shame on me for bringing him here so much! But was also really touched and honored that he idolized by a 3 year old!

Home at Last

The second we got home....Ascher ran upstairs to his trains! A week without them was obviously too long! Here is a picture of Ascherville, and little town we created together. We set up a city, built a music store, put up an aquarium and even a little hotel! It was really fun to set everything up and watch his imagination go! Unfortunately, lack of sleep and a hot temper gave this city a short life. It was destroyed by Hurricane Ascher....and has yet to be rebuilt to its grandeur state.

Saying Goodbye

Here is the van.....on the last day of our trip......


See....it's saying "Don't take me home. Let's live here!"

The trip to Colorado was amazing. It is one we will never forget. I still try to convince Immer to move there about once a week. At this rate, it will take a few years, but is definately someplace I want to visit again!

Rocky Mountains

Once we hit the Rocky Mountain National Park....we headed to find a waterfall. It was a small hike, but really pretty. Immer really liked the smell, and just kept sniffing everything. Which of course, Ascher had to mimic.

The waterfall was really pretty, and quite relazing. Of course, Ascher's favorite part was throwing rocks in the water! Immer even found fresh bear markings on trees across the river. We saw lots of signs saying they were active, but never saw any. Guess that best!

Immer was really getting into his role of protecting us. As soon as we were out of the car, he ran around looking for the "perfect" stick. Once he found it, Ascher had to have one too! Unfortunately, Ascher threw his in the water as soon as we got to the waterfall.

Estes Park

Based on reccomendations, we headed further North and West to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a long trip, but beautiful! Lots of mountains, scenery, and cool buildings. The trip was steep, but this time we used the low gear.

Golden Colorado!!

After hitting Red Rocks, we headed a little North and had lunch in Golden, Colorado! This is a really cute little town, and we enjoyed it! We walked down to the River and we took a little dip in the water. It was sooooo cold. My feet were frozen for the entire walk back. Ascher really enjoyed throwing rocks in the river, and Immer was taking photos of weird things. After lunch, we headed back to see whatelse we could do!

The Red Rocks

Last time Immer was in Colorado, he visited Red Rocks. But he wasn't aware that you could really walk around and enjoy everything! So we walked around, taking it all in. They had a really great museum with all the musicians that have played, what makes it so great...and watched everyone workout. It was really interesting to see just how green all the concerts are. They sort the trash, built everything around nature, and give back to the environment. Now I just need to see a concert there and complete everything!

Day II- Colorado Dinos!

Day 2 started off just as great as Day 1! We decided to do whatever was left that we didn't hit the first day! So we were going to look at Dinos....but realized that it was a mile walk around a huge mountain....and decided to head to the next location! At least we did see a few fossils at the welcome center, and Ascher was able to dig up fossil bones!

Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods was a really cool park. It's like the forest preserves we have around here....except WAY cooler. People were running the trails, riding horses, and people were actually climbing the rocks! Really cool place to just, relax. We drove around checking the sights out, walked around for a little bit....then headed to Chick-Fil-A for dinner! I basically demanded it!

Cave of the Winds

Immer went spelunking! After hitting Colorado's highs....we decided to check out the lows. We headed to Cave of the Winds!It was neat to see all the cool creations underground. Too bad it was in poor shape. I've seen caves in better condition in Tennessee, and Immer has also been in better caves. But for a cave, it was nice, and interesting to see what's growing under there. Ascher had a great time, but didn't like the dark too much. Maybe next time he will enjoy it better! (and not have to be carried everywhere because of steep steps and jagged edges)

Adventures at Pikes Peak

Pikes Peak was a really great adventure. We weren't really sure what to expect though. We knew it was a mountain, it was big, and you could go up it. When we got there, we got a map, and were told to have fun. Done!


The adventure was basically a 20 mile trip, straight up. This was the first stop. It was about 9,000 ft elevation. The water was beautiful, and so glittery. When I got closer, I noticed that it was gold dust on all the rocks in the water! It was so peaceful, and quite too. Something you don't hear all the time!

View from the top. Here we are, 14,000 feet high! Boy, did we feel it! Once we got out of the car, we all started to feel dizzy. Ascher was tripping, I was spinning, and Immer was trying to maintain his cool. One bonus was the doughnuts at the top. The only place to get them, and they were good! Needless to say, we didn't stay at the top for very long. We headed down as quickly as possible.

Here he is, my crazy husband at about 12,400 feet elevation. It was a really cool view. From the car. I could barely watch him get so close to the drop edge over there! Once he got that out of his system, we headed back down the mountain.

Now, its a steep drive down, and you are going basically 3 miles an hour riding your brakes. So, what happens when you drive like that? Exactly. You burn your brakes. Luckily, there is a mandatory brake check half way down the mountain. We smoked the lady out, and were told to sit in time out for 30 minutes for not following the signs to drive in low gear. But our brakes cooled, and lasted the rest of the trip! Now on to the caves!

Good Morning Sunshine!

****SSSSIIIGGGHHHH***

Need I say more?!?!?! Besides, my view from the hotel

On the road Again!

After the wedding, and a filling breakfast....we hit the road again to COLORADO! It was a nice drive, but kind of boring. All we saw was corn. We had to stop for gas, and apparently I picked a stop that was a little shady, and Immer was convinced that we were going to die there. Funny, I thought I had just found Radiator Springs!

Wedding Day!

We had such a great day at the Zoo on Friday, we (Ascher and I, Immer had too much fun the night before) decided to return the next day! This time, we went with the rest of the extended family. We had a great lunch overlooking the rainforest, saw more great and interesting animals, and was more physically exhausting for me, since I had to pull the wagon ALL by myself.

Once we were done with the Zoo....we headed back to the hotel to clean-up and get ready for the reason of the trip. Tim and Angela's Wedding! It was at the Museum of Art, in front of a beautiful Chihuly piece. I really liked the venue....different from other's I've seen. I was just freaking out every other second when the kids were running around and well, just being kids.

The Dome

Along with an indoor Rainforest, the Zoo had a Desert! And it was in a huge dome! Luckily for us, it wasn't too hot in there. There weren't many animals there, but hey, its the desert! Ascher saw his first cactus....and also touched his first cactus!

My new man

The fun part of this zoo was how close you could get to the animals. They had plastic domes that went into the exhibits (the penguin one was the best. But Ascher wouldn't go in there with me, and Immer didn't want to take my picture). The animals could come right up to them and interact with you. We had a few gorillas checking us out....and this one just kept looking at me. Until he got mad and hit the glass......

I guess he didn't want to talk to me, I was trying sign language with him.

Omaha Zoo

OK....if you are ever in Omaha, you MUST visit the Zoo! It was absolutely wonderful! Everything about it was great! We started at the Rainforest exhibit. You walk through three levels of exhibits. The best part....the entire thing is the exhibit. Animals are everywhere! Birds are flying, and some monkeys are out just walking around. They had waterfalls, fish, birds and live trees everywhere. Totally cool. And of course, they had vines that you could hang from. See the cool monkey we saw?

We also saw a little girl drop her favorite doll over the edge, right into the monkey pit. It was really cool to watch how the monkies reacted to something new in their cage. They didn't attack it, but watched it, smelled it and gently touched it. On the other hand, it was not cool to watch the girl in hysterics wanting her animal back.

Day before the big Day!

I'd heard great things about the Omaha Zoo....so I definitely put that on our list of things to do! Luckily for us, it was right down the street from our hotel, and parking was free! When we pulled into the lot, look who we found!

(if you look closely, it looked like my mom and Amy! Mannerisms and all!)

Nebraska here we come!

The time finally came for our long awaited vacation! I packed all kinds of fun stuff, good food, games, toys and anything else you could think of for this trip. Too bad we didn't use ANY of it! I went so far as to get Ascher a really cool tray for the car, with a cup holder and a spot just for his crayons. Of course, he insisted on using his Magna Doodle for everything. Even eating his snacks. So, I have a Taby tray here if anyone is interested!

This is Ascher's first car that he drew. Pretty cool!

Building Birdhouses

Ascher has gotten into this.....hiding faze. Whenever he doesn't get his way, he likes to run upstairs and "hide" in his birdie cage. He gathers all his blankets and animals and lays in the bottom shelf of the bookcase. It's quite funny, and I've almost caught him sleeping a few times. Hopefully its a trend that won't last too long.....