Trains and trails...

Last weekend we took a drive up to Peninsula to visit a couple of pumpkin places and to see the trains and walk some of the metropark trails.  Crewsie had been talking all week about going to "the pumpkin patch to pick pumpkins" and kept asking about the Polar Express.  Well, it's not quite time for the Polar Express, but we figured we could at least try to take him somewhere to see a train.  So, we headed to Peninsula to kill both birds with one stone.  It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of fun!

First, we stopped at Heritage Farms and walked around a little and then headed down the road to Szalay's, which is an awesome little farmers market.  They had tons of pumpkins, gourds, and food!  We got some roasted corn on the cob and Crewsie loved chowing down on it on our way to the metropark.  We walked around the parks for a while and even got to hear the trains and then saw one.  I cannot tell you how much Crew LOVES trains...he was sooooo excited to see the big trains and to hear them!  Then we walked to Fisher's to grab a bite to eat and then headed home with our pumpkins!

Crewsie doing his best Chris Farley imitation!

Crewsie was about 38" when we stood him up straight, Mommy measured at about 5'9" and Daddy at 6'2"...it was actually right!

Crewsie loved the giant swing and walking around looking at the enourmous selection of pumpkins!

The pumpkins below were called "Cinderella pumpkins" and they were so pretty...but they were about $40 each, so we passed!

I couldn't believe how cheap their gourds were...and they were HUGE!

Crewsie loved this place!

I love places like this!

He devoured his roasted corn on the cob!

Beautiful autumn day!  I wish the Fall season lasted about six months of the year!

We could start to hear the train coming, so we tried to get to an area where we could see it through the woods.

Downtown little Peninsula....

Polar Express tickets go on sale this Monday morning at 6 a.m....and I will be up waiting on the computer to buy ours at 5:45 a.m.!!!!  Can't wait....we are soooooooooooooooooo very excited!

Aunt Taytay is...

PREGGERS!!!  That's right!  I'm so excited/happy/thrilled/elated to announce that Aunt Taytay and Uncle Joejoe are expecting their first baby!!!  YAY!!!  Aunt Tay is 14 weeks along and doing great!  Unfortunately, morning sickness (it's really all day sickness!) runs in the family, but hopefully she will start feeling better soon!  She has already had 2 doctors appointments and all is well with the little Momma and baby!

The above picture was taken on the morning of Blake and Casey's wedding day...and it was the exact moment that Aunt Taytay told me she was pregnant!  She was suspecting that she was pregnant, so the morning of their wedding she took a pregnancy test and sure enough it was positive!  All the bridesmaids were meeting before the wedding to get ready together and I was a little late because I was putting Crewsie down for a nap and getting ready for the wedding.  I get to the Blair Center and I could tell Tay wasn't quite herself, but I didn't say anything.  Well, we are finally alone and she blurts out to me that she is pregnant and gets emotional!  She said she couldn't hold it in and had to tell me!  Only me and my mom knew that day because she didn't want to take away from Blake and Casey on their wedding day.  WOW! It was a very, very hard secret for me to keep!!!!

We are all so happy and excited for them and I CANNOT wait to meet my niece or nephew...I can't wait to be an Auntie!!!  And the funniest news...she is due on Crewsie's birthday...March 27th!!!!!!!!!!!

She also started a blog!  http://ourlittlepifer.blogspot.com/  You can also find the link on the left side of my blog under "Blog List."  They are listed as "The Pifer Family."  Below is what Tay wrote in the section of her blog "About Me"...thought I would share!

Joey and I were married June 7, 2008 after dating for 9 years. We have been excited to start a family for a while now but were waiting for the right time. We wanted to plan for the spring of 2012 because that would allow me to have nearly 5 months off with the baby before returning to work due to the school calendar this year. We feel very blessed that our plan is working out so well considering our due date is March 27, 2012! We are very lucky to have had a lot of experience with children since we have a combined total of 10 neices and nephews. As fate would have it, my due date is on our nephew Crew's third birthday. My family sure knows how to plan things in 3's! Each my sister, brother and I were married 3 years apart and here I am having my first child exactly 3 years after my older sister, Brittney, had hers. We look forward to keeping this site updated througout the pregnancy and the experiences of our little baby.

Joe and Tay will be such great parents!!!  Joe has 9 nieces and nephews on his side of the family, so he has had lots of practice with the little ones!  And Aunt Taytay is caring and compassionate and sensitive and will make a wonderful mother!  Below Aunt Taytay getting some practice with Crewsie when he was a newborn.

We also celebrated Aunt Taytay's birthday this past week!  She turned 28!  Happy birthday Aunt Tatie!

She got some new things for the little bambino!

Johnny Appleseed Festival...

Sunday morning we headed to the Johnny Appleseed Festival in Brunswick. Me, my mom and Tay have been going to this festival for several years and now it has become tradition!  It is a really fun little festival and they have greatly improved it this year.  They added a TON of fun stuff for the kiddos and Crew really enjoyed himself!  My brother and Casey came along and brought Aunt Casey's niece, Natalia.  Crew and Natalia are about a year apart and they get along very well...they both had a great time!

The upside down "apple tree" in the restaurant!  The brunch buffett they serve is DELICIOUS!  We were all STUFFED!

He loved the big boy tractors!

This huge jump pad thing was awesome...it was 75' long and all of the kids were having a blast!

Climbing up the huge hay stacks!

Johnny Appleseed!?!?

Aunt Casey and Natalia

The jump pad from a distance!

Crew and Natalia caught in the spider web!

We didn't wait in line to go down the slide, but it looked like so much fun!

Crew kept asking if we were going to pick pumpkins on our hay ride...he can't wait to go to the big pumpkin patch!