October

 October was one of those months that felt like I went to bed on Monday and woke up on Friday.  We were so busy the entire month that it was hard to keep track of the days.  A lot of things happened, a lot of time passed.  And I was going to try to keep up with the blog better.  Ugh.  Oh well, here is a photo recap of the month.

 Lilly turned 7 on the 7th, which means it was her golden birthday!   She had 7 friends over for a party that included lots of outside play, a horse pinata, supper and cake.  They all had a blast!  (Marley also celebrated a birthday in Oct and it was her golden birthday, too!  3 on the 3rd!)

 

Lilly lost her first tooth on the top--literally lost it!  She doesn't like to pull her own teeth and will get them super loose, then have Dad pull them.  Unfortunately, he tied it with floss and when he made the knot tight to sever the last bit of whatever holding the tooth in, the tooth flew across the room!  Oops!  That was Friday and when we got to church Sunday, her best friend had lost the same tooth the night before!

 

 Alayna got an award through 4H for being the junior beef showmanship champion for the county.  She accepted the award in front of an auditorium of people and also has her name engraved on a plaque that hangs in the county 4H office.

 Alayna also got her braces off!  :-)

They girls didn't have school for a Wed-Fri in October, so we went on a mini-vacation to get some quality family time that had been lacking with all the busy-ness of the last several weeks.  We headed out Thursday morning for drive up to Ashland and around to Superior, where we stayed for the night.  We met up with our friends in Duluth for a visit to Enger Park and dinner.  Friday morning we woke up early to drive to Ely, MN, in the hopes of seeing a moose.  We didn't see one, but we still had a lot of fun driving around, checking out the shops, and playing at the park.  When we got back to Duluth, we did some shopping and then went swimming at the hotel.  Saturday morning my friend met us at the hotel with coffee for a visit, and we headed home late morning.  It was so nice to get some great family time!

The last weekend of October, we finally got our project day in!  We re-shingled our roof, put concrete in the barn, replaced my cracked picture window and cut down a tree in the yard that leaned toward the house.  It was so great to have everyone here, helping out and volunteering their time.  Thank you to everyone!

Of course, we ended the month with Halloween.  I don't know what's up with the picture, but I can't change it now.  Ugh.  Anyway, Mikayla was Belle, Lilly was Jasmine and Alayna was a punk-rocker.  The girls had a lot of fun and got WAY too much candy, but that's okay.  They already have plans for next year.  :-)

Girls Only!

Thanks to all the storms this summer and it being a normal fall, Daddy is now busy every weekend for about 2 months.  He's either shingling houses, doing farm work or putting up grain bins.  *sigh*  The girls and I just keep holding on, trying to find fun things to do and hoping Daddy will be done early on Sundays (which most Sundays he's been home around noon).  A few weeks ago, we decided to head to Duluth for the day.  I'm so glad that we did!

It was such a fun, beautiful day.  Duluth is usually cool, since it sits on the SW corner of Lake Superior, but it was in the 70s that day!  We have a family pass to the Minnesota Zoo, and it gives us reciprocity to the Lake Superior Zoo in Duluth.  We started the day there, looking at all the fun animals and walking around the grounds, which include a great little hiking trail to a river and waterfall!

After the zoo, we ate our picnic lunch in the park next door.  The girls had a good time playing on the playground equipment once done eating, and I was attempting to keep my cool with all the seagulls that were invading my territory, hoping for some leftovers from our lunch.  I don't do well with wild birds that get too close.

When we were done playing, we headed to Enger Park.  Duluth is right on Lake Superior, and part of the city is at lake level while the rest rises above the city on a huge hill.  Enger Park is at the top of the hill and has a tall observation tower that you can climb.  At the top of the hill you can see for miles, but from the top of the tower it seems like you can see for days!  It's always a favorite place to visit in Duluth.  When we were there, there was one wedding party just leaving in limos, another was just arriving, and another party was taking pics overlooking the city.  The girls thought that was pretty cool to see all the brides and bridesmaids in their pretty dresses!

View from atop the tower (zoomed in quite a bit)

 View from the cliffs the tower is on (zoomed in quite a bit)

We were going to go into Canal Park, but I had checked with a friend and there weren't any ships coming into or leaving port for quite awhile.  So we just decided to head home.  We stopped for ice cream on the way home and then sang silly songs the majority of the drive home.  It was a great Girls Only day!

We're Baaa-aaack

Did you miss me?  Yeah, I know it's been awhile...again.  But the last few weeks have been busy.  At first, I was busy doing tons of laundry, cleaning and packing for our trip.  Then we were gone for 8 days on our trip.  Then we were home and had to unpack, settle in, buy groceries, etc.  But we had such a good time!

We flew out on Friday morning and landed in Orlando around noon (after a slight medical emergency on board).  There were 10 of us--my 5, my parents, my in-laws and sister-in-law.  We met my sister at the airport, who had flown in from VA.  It was great to see her for the first time in over a year!  We had rented a house but couldn't get in it until after 4:00, so we got our rental vehicles and headed to Cocoa Beach.  It was the first time to the ocean for our family.  We had a great time playing in the sand and waves.  Mikayla didn't like the water (it's yucky!) but she really enjoyed playing in the sand on "Coconut Beach."  After the beach we checked into our rental house and then went grocery shopping.

Day 2 was spent at Animal Kingdom, but before we got there I had to buy a new camera--mine crapped out after the beach when I plugged it in to charge.  Of well.  We got the new camera and headed to the park.  We had so much fun walking around and looking at all the various animals, many of which (hippos, rhinos, elephants...) aren't even found in zoos around home.  We went on a few rides, including Lilly's favorite roller-coaster "Expedition Everest."  We also sat in on "It's Tough to be a Bug" in 3D by the Bug's Life crew, but Mikayla did not like that at all.

Day 3 (Sunday) started with waking up and looking out the window to about 10 hot air balloons flying over our neighborhood.  The girls thought that was really cool.  Then we headed to Magic Kingdom.  We got to meet Cinderella and Ariel, went on a bunch of rides (including Space Mtn and Big Thunder, which the big girls loved) and sat in on Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor.  The Laugh Floor was really funny and they even picked on us and our matching shirts, particularly singling out Grampa Bill.  We watched the Celebration Parade and ended the day with ice cream and fireworks over the castle.

Day 4 we went to Hollywood Studios.  It was our first day of meeting a lot of characters--Buzz, Woody, Green Army Man, Mickey, Lotso, Frozone, Mr. Incredible, Mater and Lightning McQueen.  We also saw Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid plays.  The girls each bought some souvenirs and we went on the Rock-n-Rollercoaster, which went 0-80 in about 2 seconds and went upside down!  Alayna didn't know what to think of it but Lilly, our thrill-seeker, loved it.  For dinner we went to Ponderosa Steakhouse and came back to the house to find out we'd missed out on 12" of fresh snow back here at home.  Oh darn.

Day 5 was the day to say goodbye to Bill, Lynn and Alicia.  They didn't get to stay the whole time, so after saying good-bye to them and getting them off to the airport, the rest of us headed to Epcot.  We were able to meet Daisy, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Pluto, Minnie, Snow White, Mulan and Marie from Aristocats.  While in line to meet some of the characters, we started chatting with a family that commented on our Packer jerseys (we were all wearing jersey's but my sister)  The daughter said she cheered for the Packers in the Super Bowl since the Panthers weren't in it.  Turns out it was Thomas Davis and his family--he plays for the Panthers!  After that we did the Nemo ride and looked at all the aquariums while Gramma Paula took a survey and received $150 to spend at the parks!  When she returned, we watched Turtle Talk with Crush and we completely recommend that.  It was hilarious.  Then we started the country tours and had some Italian gelato.  We ended the day with the ride that goes through the "big golf ball" and all the girls really liked that.

Day 6 we went back to Magic Kingdom.   The first thing we did was go back to meet the princesses because Belle was on duty.  Belle (Yellow Belle, to be exact) is Mikayla's favorite princess and she was so excited to meet her that she was shaking!  It was too cute.  We also met Aurora/Sleeping Beauty.  We did a few of the rides we didn't have time for the other day, like Pirates of the Caribbean, Jungle Cruise, rode the train around the park and finally, Splash Mountain.  Mikayla was so happy to make the height requirement (barely!) and loved the whole "roller-coaster" ride, keeping her arms up the whole time!

Day 7 was our last full day in Florida.  We took our time in the morning and then headed back to Cocoa Beach.  We played in the sand and water for a few hours, then anxiously waited for 4:50...when Discovery was going launch.  We were able to watch it launch and it was so cool.  The blast was VERY bright and it went so fast you almost could have missed it.  But we can now say that we watched Discovery launch for the last time in person.  Since the beaches were so crowded, the normally 45 min drive back to the house took 3 hours!  We got back to the house and got everything packed up to go home the next morning.

Day 8 was time to go home.  We gathered everything, did a quick tidy of the house and headed to the airport.  Our flight was delayed almost an hour, but we finally were put at a new gate and given our seating assignments.  It was hard to say good-bye to my sister, who had a flight later than us back to VA.  Our flight was uneventful and we landed safely at MSP.  Mikayla slept for about 2 hrs of the 3 hr flight, even sleeping through landing!

We had a great time and are so blessed to have such wonderful family!  I took about 450 pictures--actually, I probably took about 550 but each night I would go through my camera and delete the blurry or bad pics from the day.  I came home with about 450 on my camera.  I uploaded a whole bunch to FaceBook and honestly don't want to go through that again.  SO...if you want to see the pics, just let me know.  I can send you a link to my album on FB, even if you aren't on FB, and you can view the 125 I put on there.

Mountains of Pics

Or should that be pics of mountains? Either way, it's applicable. I have a mountain of pictures to share in this post, so sit back and enjoy. I also have a legitimate excuse for not blogging for almost 2 wks. First we went camping Memorial Weekend. I forgot my camera, but it was a great time. We came home late Monday afternoon, scrambled to do laundry and mow the lawn and put things away. Tuesday was a regular day. Wednesday Andy and I...

...went on vacation! We bought a truck down in Phoenix, AZ, so we flew out and drove it home. It was Andy's first time on a plane, his first time seeing the mountains, first time seeing a lot of things. It was only my second time with most everything on the trip, with a few firsts for me as well. We had a great time.

We started in Phoenix, landing early Wednesday morning. We got checked into our hotel, which was right by the University of Phoenix Stadium where the Arizona Cardinals play. We walked to a local outdoor mall, did some shopping and ate some fabulous scones. Then we hung out at the hotel, took a nap and went back to the shopping center for a late lunch/early dinner. That night we met with some friends of mine for drinks and some wonderful garlic french fries!

Thursday morning we hung out at the hotel's outdoor pool, and basically marvelled at the 87 degree temp at 9 am. The truck was delivered to us shortly before noon, so we headed to Sam's Club to buy some groceries and a cooler for the drive home. Then we were on the road. We went northeast out of Phoenix, towards Holbrook AZ, where we hooked up with I-40. We took I-40 to Gallup, NM, then headed north to Durango, CO. We saw so many beautiful sites, with some pretty funny ones sprinkled in (like the people who were pulling a U-Haul with a Ford Ranger and looked completely perplexed that they jack-knifed on the winding roads!) We decided to stay in Durango for Thursday night.

Friday morning we were up with the sun, so we headed out early. We drove through the mountains, which were amazing. At times we were on very steep grades or super sharp corners, there was still snow in the higher elevations, and the traffic was very limited. We loved it all! We met up with I-25 in Colorado Springs, then took that north through Denver and exited onto Hwy 85 just north of Cheyenne, WY. Hwy 85 was quite the road, with very limited gas stations and towns, almost costing us an empty fuel tank! Thankfully we made it to a station and eventually to Custer State Park in South Dakota, where we had a campsite for Friday night.

Saturday morning we were again up quite early, so we packed things up and headed off on the wildlife loop through the southern part of the park. We saw buffalo, pronghorns, "wild" burros (they were once domesticated, then released into the park) and lots of turkeys. Both Andy and I were hoping for an elk or mountain sheep sighting throughout the entire trip, but between Custer and the mountains, all we saw were signs warning to be cautious for each. After the wildlife loop, we did Needles Highway and continued on to Mount Rushmore. We got to Mount Rushmore shortly before 8 am, so we had the entire place to just Andy and I and another couple in their mid-50s. By the time we left 20 mins later, there were probably 100 people milling around! In Rapid City we got onto I-90 until Wall, SD. Of course, we had to stop at Wall Drug, then drove through the Badlands before again getting on I-90 to head east into Minnesota. We made it as far as Andy's cousin's house in the southern Metro, where we stayed the night. We debated heading home, but from that point on we would have been in different vehicles (Andy's car stayed there when we came down for the flight) and not able to keep one another awake.

Sunday morning we were up about 8 and left to meet my mom and the girls after church. It was so nice to be with the girls and see how excited they were to see us! They loved the truck and immediately began asking when they could ride in it. So we loaded them up and headed home. When we got home, the dogs didn't know what to do! They saw Andy's car, with me driving, following that unfamiliar truck into the driveway, so they kept looking back and forth, not knowing it they should bark or not. They decided not to bark, until Andy opened the truck door. Then both started barking wildly, until they realized it was Andy. They tucked their tails, dropped their heads and looked incredibly sheepish for barking at their dad! It was too cute. As soon as we said hello to them, they started jumping up and down, and Marley did 3 hot-laps around the house. I think they were excited to see us, too.

All in all, we had a great trip. It was our first vacation away from the girls, so it was different and nice, but we were very glad to be home, too. We're already planning when we can do it again...this time with 3 girls in the backseat.

View from the plane

Heading north out of Phoenix

Cactus-we've never seen them before!

Sunset in New Mexico

Mountains outside of Durango, CO

Somewhere near Silverton, CO

Awww, this was so amazing

The view and the road

The view, with a sign saying how steep it was

Storms over Eastern WY

Burros in Custer State Park

Momma & Baby Pronghorn

Oh give me a home, where the Buffalo roam!

Tatanka

Andy and the truck on Needles Highway

One of the tunnels on Needles, 8'4" wide

Suck it in!!

Mount Rushmore, in case you didn't know

Badlands

The Badlands were near the top of the trip for Andy

Let's See...

...where did I leave off almost a week ago?  Oh yes, our middle baby girl turned 5.  Oh, the things that have happened since then.  It seems like it was a few weeks ago instead of just 5 days.  In those 5 days we went on a mini family vacation, dealt with a very sick child, got SNOW!, bought some furniture, did some home improvement projects, and we hosted a birthday party.  Whew, I needed the week to start to give me a break from my weekend!

The girls didn't have school on Thursday and Friday because of the WI state teacher's convention, so we took advantage of the opportunity (and a great deal I found on-line) to trek north to Duluth and the Edgewater Resort and Waterpark.  We stayed Wednesday night through Friday morning.  My parents joined us and we had a great time playing in the water, swimming, doing a little shopping (including purchasing a few Christmas presents!) and spending time at Canal Park to see a ship come into port.  We also celebrated Lilly's birthday, since we went up on Wednesday afternoon!

However, on Wednesday night, Lilly started complaining that she was very tired and cold.  By Thursday morning she had a high fever and wasn't able to keep anything in her stomach.  I felt so bad for her, as she was the most excited about the waterpark trip and had been talking for a year, since our last visit, about going back.  She was able to play a little on Wed afternoon and Thursday morning before she was too sick to continue.  So while the other kids and boy adults played in the water, Lilly spent time with Mommy or Gramma in the room watching movies, coloring and playing games.  We took her to the doc on Friday when we got home and they tested her for the flu, did a finger prick and eventually a throat culture, determining she had a severe case of strep throat.  After only a day of antibiotics, she was back to her normal, spunky self!

Saturday morning we woke up to 2" of snow on the ground!  The girls were so excited to see the white stuff make it's first, very early appearance of the season.  They were hoping it would stay and didn't quite understand when I told them that it would stick around for a little while, but would melt by mid-afternoon because the ground wasn't frozen yet.  But it was fun to play in a little bit and look at.

Later on Saturday, I was listening to the radio on our way to my in-laws' house and I heard that a furniture store about an hour away was going out of business and having some great deals.  So, I talked with Andy and off the girls, my MIL and I went to see if there was anything good for us.  There was.  I came home a few hours later with a great cocoa colored micro-fiber sectional sofa.  We love it.  It's so nice and comfy and looks just great.  It's only the second brand-new item of furniture that we have purchased in our 9+ years of being together, our bed being the first.  The couches that we replaced had rips in the cushions and the slip covers and were bought at a garage sale about 3 years ago.  Yeah, it was time for new.  This new piece is big enough that it helps this awkward family room seem not so long and skinny, but not so big that it seems out of place.  So Merry Christmas to Andy and I! 

As most of you know, we have lived in our house for almost 5 years (we got the phone call from our realtor that our offer was accepted while I was in labor with Lilly!) and we've slowly been making changes to update the house and make it our own.  The bathroom light fixtures have always been a sore spot for me, in particular.  The upstairs bathroom has a large vanity and mirror, and the lights were globes on chains that were both hung to the left of the sink.  It made for an unevenly lighted room.  It also made for ugly because the globes had brown flowers painted on them.  Two weeks ago a light bulb burned out for the first time, so I pounced on it and pronounced it time for a new fixture!  So we found one we liked, as well as a matching dome light for above the toilet (there was a globe there that matched the others...bleck)  The only requests I had at the time of purchase was that my darling husband not try to install it when I wasn't there to help him or call 911 if needed, and I wanted it up in time for Lilly's party, which was yesterday.  So you guessed it, he chose yesterday morning at 8am, right before church, to install the lights.  But they are up and they are lovely, though the lighting is so good now that I can see every flaw in my body and bag under my eyes in alarming detail.

The old lights, though you can't see the "pretty" design on them.  It's the only pic I could find that showed them.

And all of that happened before the main event of the weekend--Lilly's birthday party.  This girl had me going in all directions.  First she wanted a lawn-mower birthday party, then a Dora party, then Dora on a lawn-mower, a pumpkin party like last year and finally she settled on a princess theme.  So I bought some princess napkins and made some princess cupcakes and cake.  We had a great time with our family and friends who came over to help us celebrate our little girl's life!  Thanks, everyone!