Carving Pumpkins

Tonight we decided that we would carve our pumpkins. The boys were really excited to do it. Isaac enjoyed digging his pumpkin guts out and Eli thought it was alright at first and then he decided he wasn't too thrilled about the feel of the guts! So he went to watch Nick working on his pumpkin and I finished gutting his pumpkin. Nick and Eli carved his pumpkin and Isaac & I worked on his. The boys had a really fun time. Nick even got into it carving the third pumpkin and cutting out a snowmobile. He thought he was pretty awesome being able to do that!

Eli was checking out how their pumpkin was turning out with his dad at the knife!This is Isaac and my finished product! Isaac actually did most of the carving of this pumpkin!Eli was so very proud of his pumpkin. Him and his dad did such a great job!Here is the finished products the first being Isaac's, middle is Nick's snowmobile, & the last is Eli's pumpkin! We all had so much fun and the pumpkins stayed lit the whole night and the boys are really looking forward to trick or treating. Tomorrow I will post trick or treating pictures!!

Nature Walk

The other night my friend Tara had invited us to go with her and her family to the Emmet County Nature Center which was hosting a Creatures of the Night Nature Walk. It was pretty cold and rainy but we decided to brave it out and go anyway cause we knew the boys would think it was pretty interesting. So our walk was scheduled for 6:25. We meet Tara and her family there and waited for our turn to go on the walk. You started and meet your group at a bonfire and they gave all the kids glow sticks. We then walked into the woods and learned about different animals.

Our first stop we learned about the horned owl and got a chance to feel its wings and hold an owl foot. The boys were a little unsure at first about touching it they left their gloves on to touch. After the lady was done telling us about the owl we moved on further into the woods and our next stop we learned about the white tailed deer. The boys got to touch antlers and deer jaws. This time they took their gloves off to actually take a feel. They thought that was pretty awesome. They got to hear the sounds of a fawn, doe, & buck and what it sounds like when to bucks are fighting and hitting their antlers together. They were impressed. The third stop we learned about raccoons. The kids thought that stop was hilarious and laughed and are still talking about what the people talked about while pretending to be raccoons. They liked how they were going to have dessert at the trash can! Our last stop was a bat stop. The two guys we up in a tree and at that point it was really dark so we could only see small lights in the tree and barely the outline of the gentlemen. They found that interesting too but still the raccoon stop was their favorite.

We then walked out of the woods and back to the bonfire to end our journey. It was then time for us to go. The 4 of us got back in the with shoes covered in mud and coats wet from rain but decided it was all worth it. The boys had so much fun and actually learned and remember what they were taught.