Apple Picking

We set out to Hillside Apples near Casco, WI on a cloudy September Saturday!  On the way and when we arrived, it was lightly sprinkling!  We Cerkas' are a hearty family, though!  We proceeded to get out there and pick nonetheless!  We had somewhat planned for this scenario, anyway!  The rain stopped once we had picked only one bag full!



Levi spent much of the time supervising the efforts from his stroller and putting on the cute show as usual.  He stayed pretty dry in there!





Alena enjoyed picking any and all apples that she could reach and scavanged through the bruised apples on the ground. She really took to "sampling" the different apples by taking one bite and then tossing it on the ground! Here she shows off her current collection.





Levi put in his 2 cents worth about the different varieties.  He liked them all... especially the ones that made it into his mouth! 



 



Alena thought this was a pretty cool one. Also though that she could actually carry it, ha ha! I think we brought this one home!



Daddy taught her how to chew on straw. I thought that she looked so mature in this one, like she's smoking in some elegant manner!





He also supervised the search for the perfect pumpkin! He is such a ham!!



Photo ops on the tractor ride.  Since we drove through the orchard, we didn't take the tractor.  We packed everything up, then took a spin around the whole orchard while pulled by a tractor.  Alena was hilarious with her permagrin!

Bay Beach 2011

 Levi got to go on the carousel!  He was just enthused that it was something new... and it blew his wispy hair up!

 We met Uncle Nick, Auntie Kerry, & cousin Aubrey there!  The dads were on ride duty, making sure the girls were all set for each of the rides!

 The planes with the annoying "guns/laser" sounds!  They tag teamed all of the invisible bad guys!  Don't mess with the Cerkas cousins!

 Aubrey & Alena worked together enough to drive a boat...

 and drive a purple bug!

 Levi was a stroller spectator!  His job as a little brother was to look cute!

 One of the favorite parts of the whole day was riding on the horses!  Here, Alena is saying, "giddyup giddyup horsie!  Neigh neigh neigh!"

 We withstood the long line to get on the little train.  Even Levi got to participate!  I remember going on this same train when I was a kid.  Even though we lived in Tomahawk, we still came to Bay Beach in Green Bay from time to time!

 Uncle Nick waves to Aubrey up a few rows.

 With all the excitement, Levi had to rest... while eating cheerios!  Notice the one stuck to his chin!

And the big slide!  The dads took their girls down twice!  A total blast from what I hear!

August Fun

We've had a fairly busy August, so I figured I'd just throw a bunch of pics on here to share them and get kind caught up. I still have more photos on my camera that I might add at a later date!

Random sibling photo from in July

Momma and Alena dancing while singing Camp songs at VBS!



Eating an ice cream cone at VBS

Alena got to swim at the boat landing on Birch Road. Of course, Grandma Hawkins' dog, Baylee joined in on the fun! They're sometimes like two peas in a pod.

And Levi looked on while Alena swam. He had his time, too, since we went a couple of times that week.

Alena got to hold a toad in Grandpa Cance's backyard. She thought it was pretty special, and so did we :)

Every time she goes to her Grandpa Cance's house, she finds the joker hat and puts it on. And, yes, that is dirt on her face. She is always dirty, it seems!

Checking out Grandpa's one remaining Corvette!

She wants to drive it already!!

Eating some lunch on Uncle Steve's pontoon at his cabin.

There are lots of rocks in the swimming area and dock, and Alena enjoyed picking them up and throwing them! We just try to keep her from chewing on the little ones! She had a blast just goofing around! She even went on a tube ride with mama and had a super duper thrill!

Levi just used said tube to take a nap. Cute little guy!!

Random funny shot of Alena while at Lake Wissota.

The fam overlooking Lake Wissota. We camped there for 3 nights. More pics from that trip to come! Lots of fun!!!

Our first family bike ride to Grandpa & Grandma Cerkas' house. They were great on the way there, but Levi screamed the whole way back :( We're hoping to do more of this in the future!

Levi and I went to La Crosse last Saturday to meet the newest member of the family! Auntie Ashley & Uncle Jake welcomed Quinn Dorothy Colstad on August 26th! She was 7lbs 15oz, 21 inches. She seemed so super duper tiny to me! Levi was royally intrigued by this little girl. He did hold her hand and it was so sweet!

Uncle Jake & Auntie Ashley were commenting on how big Levi was, and this was Levi's response... putting on the cute show! Just wait until Quinn is my age!!

Oneida County Fair

Alena got the pleasure of taking in the Oneida County Fair in Rhinelander. The kids and I were up in Tomahawk for a week at the beginning of August to help with my home church's VBS. Since the fair was going on, we decided to partake. Alena was super excited to be able to go on so many rides!! I made sure to get a pic of her on each one, like the good mom that I am (sometimes;)! Thanks for taking us there, Grandma Hawkins!!

On the train ride... she went on it twice and sat in the front seat the second tiem around.


Pulling the string for the bell!

Up in the air on a flying dinosaur!

Checking out the carousel!

On the caterpillar roller coaster before she got a totally concerned look on her face and we stopped the ride. She was the only one on it!

The infamous "horsie" ride. She loves to ride 'em!

Petting the tortoise.

Feeding the ear-less goat. Looked so funny!

Cherry Picking

Cherry picking at the end of July in Door County. We took a day trip up there while the picking was good and stocked up on Montmorency cherries for the rest of the year. It was definitely a challenge to pick while Alena ran around! She knows how to get into trouble and conveniently not listen everywhere! Levi wouldn't let us go too far away (especially Mama) so Daddy had to pick the bulk of the cherries. They are totally yummy and worth it!

Here's Alena checking what's in her bucket... or is she spitting her pit into it? We tried to make a game out of spitting out the cherry pits so she would feel less compelled to ingest them (although, in typical Alena fashion, she ate a whole bunch of pits) by spitting them out into her hand and throwing them.


And trying to help pick cherries. Most of the branches were just a bit out of her reach!

Levi supervised the whole operation from the comfort of his stroller.

Helping by climbing a ladder, just like Daddy!

Cute photo op!

Yeah, Levi got out of the stroller and got to ride in Mama's sling!

First Words

Well, kinda...