Pumpkins!

This past weekend Luke and I met my parents and dropped the kids off on our way to Red Wing for the weekend. We went down there to celebrate Dan's birthday with friends. It was a great weekend! We stayed at the St. James Hotel, in a very nice room! Friday night we had a wine pairing dinner. Saturday we biked to a hike, had lunch, relaxed a bit (Luke and Dan biked another 20 miles) and then had a low key night "in" playing Celebrity! It was a riot and we all laughed a lot!

Sunday morning we got up, had some breakfast and met the kids to spend the rest of the day together. The kids had an awesome time at Nana and Papa's and they were super busy. They did it all....raked leaves, bought donuts, went to a pumpkin patch for 3 hours, went trick or treating at the grocery store in town and then trick or treating along the path in the afternoon. They ended the day going out to eat at the Kernel and they were all in bed early! :) I missed them a lot since I had been traveling a little for work lately, so it was fun to have Sunday together as a family! We played in the leaves, hung out and ended the day carving pumpkins! The kids were so excited to carve pumpkins--they both took their shirts off so they could help out (but they never got their hands dirty)! :) They did enjoy eating the pumpkin seeds though! 

The weather was gorgeous--it was warm and nice to be able to spend time outside in Red Wing!

 My parents sent me these pictures from their time at the pumpkin patch!

Bishop has really been into scary things this year! He loves Halloween!

Playing in the leaves together!

Excited to pull the top off!

Best Friends!

 Bishop has been obsessed with buying pumpkins this year--we got some at church, some at Apple Jack's and they got even more in Owatonna this weekend!

Apple Jack's Orchard!

After swimming on Saturday we headed out to Apple Jack's Orchard! We hit our favorite things to do--jump off the tires, crawl through the log, go on a pony ride, jump on the bouncy pillow, play in the corn pit, ride the cow train, buy popcorn, a couple pumpkins and apple cider!

The kids started the Cow Train in their own cars--got a couple pictures and then Nora quickly jumped in Bishop's car so they could ride together!

It was a beautiful day to be out and enjoy the orchard!

 We have gone with the Bormann's the past few years, but it didn't work this year--fall gets busy and weekends fill up fast! We missed them and we'll try to make it work again next fall!

Day date with Bishop and Underwater Adventure at the MOA

Last week was pretty busy with traveling to Michigan and trying to catch up with work before a 3 day weekend! I took Monday off as the kids didn't have daycare.

Rich and Eileen came down to deliver firewood on Saturday so I took Bishop to his swimming lessons--then we went shopping for some boots for me, had lunch together and I took him to a birthday party in the afternoon. It was a fun day together! I rarely get one on one time with the kids and I'm going to try for it more often as it's fun for both of us to have time one on one!

On Monday we went to Underwater Adventure at the Mall of America and then rode some rides. The kids were great and agreed to help me look for some brown boots before we had fun (I am trying to find a pair of brown boots that I love-I have yet to do that)! :)  Underwater Adventure was fun--although it was pretty spendy and it didn't take all that long to get through. I'm glad we checked it out as Bishop loves sharks and we saw some really neat sea life!

Lunch at Potbelly's! Yum!

At the birthday party with Henry Kruger

 Our church has an annual pumpkin patch with the proceeds going to the choir. We picked up a few small pumpkins after church and took a quick picture! :)

Underwater Adventure

Playing with legos at the MOA

The Ferris Wheel

Riding the Swiper Car

Nora loved it--we giggled the whole time!

After we got home we went for a walk/bike around the lake. Luke was home and he joined us! It was a great way to end our day together!

The Elf's home at the lake

 Bishop and Nora had a literary assignment from school with a list of items to check off (read a story before bedtime, visit a library, bookstore, etc)...one of the assignments was to write letters in the sand! Bishop accomplished that on our bike/walk! He's come so far with his writing in the past few months-his "S" looks so much better! He's also very interested in reading signs/letters when we're driving or going places! He seems to really enjoy math a lot (probably more than literacy) as he'll rattle off 5+5 is 10 and 2+2 is 4. It's fun to see him grow and learn at each stage and Nora loves getting into it as well!

Again, I had such a fun day with the kids! They're becoming more helpful and cooperative as they get older and it makes things so much easier and more fun! I was sad to see the day end as I had to travel again this week--this time to Chicago for a meeting.

Luke's fishing trip

Luke went on his fall fishing trip last weekend (Wed-Sun), so the the kids and I kept busy while he was gone. Nora missed him like crazy and continually asked if he was home (when I picked her up from school, before bedtime, when she woke up, etc). It was sweet and heart breaking at the same time. 

Wednesday after school we went to the Bormann's for dinner. It's always fun hanging out with them and the kids have so much fun together.

Thursday night it was raining--and Bishop had soccer. My parents came up to watch him play, but since it was raining they hung out with Nora at home and I played with Bishop. There were only 3 kids who showed up, so we got a lot of practice in!

Friday night we had a night with just the 3 of us. We got our flu shots/mists, had dinner, made cookies and had a movie (The Lego Movie) and popcorn! It was a fun Friday night "in"!

Saturday was a really busy day! We left the house at 9am and got home at 8:30! Bishop had swimming lessons then we raced to a birthday party at Pump It Up for Leo and Aliyana....from there we went over to Stillwater to visit Maxine (my grandpa's cousin) and we ended our night in St. Paul with Logan, Amelia, Teddy and Molly! It was a jam packed, fun, beautiful day!

Sunday we went to church, out for brunch, to the park and then Luke was home in the afternoon! We were all really excited for him to be home! He had a great time and caught more fish than his last trip (they didn't catch any this spring)! :)

Soccer in the rain

After soccer the kids put on about 10 layers of clothes-they had a ball together!

Baking Cookies on Friday night!

All the kids at the birthday party

Bishop and Danny at the birthday party

Nora and Maxine

Bishop and Maxine

She is such a sweet woman!

Bishop, Nora, Logan, Teddy and Amelia

Logan telling stories in the dark

Breakfast after church on Sunday

 The kids were so good while Luke was gone and every time he leaves things get easier and the time goes faster. I'm glad he has the opportunity to get away with his friends, but we always like it best when he comes home!

He got home on Sunday afternoon and I left EARLY on Monday for a work trip to Michigan!