Pumpkins!

 We had a lot of fun carving pumpkins this year. Both kids like pulling the 'guts' out of the pumpkins and as usual we took requests from the kids for carving. Peter requested a scary pumpkin and Emi wanted an alligator.

 I of course took some time out and stuck the littlest member of the family in the pumkin!

Happy Birthday to Emelia!

We had a busy busy birthday weekend for Emelia- lots of visitors, trips to the pumpking patch and to the river and then a small party with some good friends and family!

Little Biker Gang

Now that school has started and the kids are going to more daycare this year than in the past, we haven't had as much time to play with friends- especially during the day- but we did sneak in a picnic over MEA with Julia, Claire and Evan- oh and Shana - at the fountain park. It was a rainy cold morning and I was sure we were going to have to eat at our house- but then the sun came out and we were set to go!

This was what Peter spent the entire time doing- riding his bike on the ledge around the planter.

Always time for some snuggles!

Look out Winona!

Biking at SMU

Biking up at Saint Mary's has been a once a week thing for us all summer. The kids know the loop around campus and the places to visit. We took an adventure down to the trails the last time we were there and rode on the bridge as well!

By the time we were leaving, it was getting dark, but the best part of the night- and I don't have pictures- was finding a large pile of ice shavings in the parking lot from the zamboni- the kids were THRILLED to find a mountain of snow to play in and ride their bikes on top of.

Pumpkin Patch with Friends

We had the warmest trip to the pumpkin patch- I kept thinking while we were there that this is how people in California do these "fall" activities. This was our last week of this warm weather though, so I'm glad we made the most of it!

 This is funny- the moms were all talking and not really supervising this activity. As you can see, the boys had taken it upon themselves to "load" up the truck with as many pumpkins as possible- the lady that owned the patch was NOT pleased and said to "not touch the pumpkins unless we were going to buy them!"

 But, as you can see, we had quite the troupe of kids along- 8 kids and 2 babies (Lainey and Evan who missed out on the picture taking!)... it was like our own little day care center!

M I double S I...

We love living on the River. The kids like to go boating, swimming, ride their bikes next to the river and go to the parks that are near the river. We went down to Prairie Island the other night and played at the park there- as usual, we were the only ones there- Peter even stopped to ask me- why isn't anyone else here? Then we walked down to the spillway and climbed on the rocks, watched the sunset and the river.

Saturday Morning Fun

The 'big' kids and I were up early today, reading books and one happened to be about donuts. I thought- man I wish we had donuts today... So a little field trip was created. We hopped on our bikes, grabbed some "cash" (as Pete would say) and off we went to Bloedow's (best donut shop in MN!) which is across town.

We hardly even go there so this was a fun treat- plus I told them they could pick out whatever they wanted!!

Going home was hard for them, since I think they were expecting to get to eat them right then and there, but I told them they would get to share with dad at home. When we got home, Lainey and Garrick were up and waiting for us-- Later, Emi was telling my mom on the phone about our morning and she told her: I got sprinkles and dad had BACON. Which is true. Maple glazed long john with two pieces of bacon on top.