You know you are just a vistor to Minnesota when...

• It is September and you wake up to frost on the car
• You dress yourself and kids in long sleeves and pants but their cousin is wearing shorts and short sleeves
• The city trucks are already equipped with their snow plow blades and it is ONLY SEPTEMBER!
• You left an area where the leaves are all still green and come here to find most trees fully changed in colors
• The Sun stays out later than you think it should

Have a great week to all! The kids and I are in Minnesota for the week! Stay tuned for other signs of Fall in Minnesota.

Quarry Quest

Happy 3rd Birthday Kyle!

We were fortunate enough to attend Cousin Kyle's birthday party at Quarry Quest. They set up the quarry for kids to sit and move the equipment....a boys dream. It was packed but I think everyone had fun.

Apple Picking

Every fall growing up I went Apple Picking. It was a tradition for our family and one of my favorites. I have to say it is still my all time favorite fall activity. When we lived in NJ, we always went to http://www.terhuneorchards.com/ .

Now we live in the Milwaukee, WI area. We went to the Elegant Farmer, http://www.elegantfarmer.com/ . This is known for its apple pie in a brown paper bag. We went with Gram's, who also loves apple picking (hence I went every year growing up). The boys had a blast! I think the big highlight for Collin was us letting him use the ladder to get a few apples. Shawn's favorite thing was having the frozen apple cider pop at the end. I think for Micah, Gram's and I it was the yummy hot donuts.

If you have never gone apple picking....GO!

First Day of School

Both Collin and Shawn started school last Tuesday. Collin is in 4K (it is preschool but known here as 4 year old kindergarten). This is actually through the school district so it is at no cost to us. He will go 5 DAYS A WEEK in the mornings. I can't believe by Big Guy is going to school everyday. It has been a week so far and he loves it. He talks about one boy in particular but I think he plays with other kids. He spends most of his time at the water table (at least that is what he tells us).

Shawn is also going to school. He is going to preschool two mornings a week. He actually goes to the same school as Collin so he would like to go the other days we drop off Collin as well. I am sure he will get use to not going everyday but for now he still asks why not. He has gone two days now and seems happy. I am not sure if he socializes with others, but I know he likes doing the puzzles when they have them out. He also likes telling me about snack, as every preschooler does!

I am enjoying some quality time with Shawn as well as some time on my own. I know the kids both love school and their teachers.

The End of Summer

Summer is coming to an end here finally. The boys both started school yesterday. But before we get to that exciting day, I want to share with you what we have been up to.

We took a trip down to see my cousins in Illinois. The boys love spending time with all of them. This trip, we went to Chucke Cheese. I don't know who had more fun, the boys or . . .

Micah and K.C.!

We spent a week with my mom and dad. Of course we also saw Kirk, Betsy, Kyle and Brooke. Betsy and I took the kids to the zoo one of the days. I think they all had a great time.

At the end of the week, Micah came up and we spent a day away, just the two of us. It was great to spend some time without the kids and appreciated my mom and dad watching the boys.

After we got back, we made another trip (the boys and I that is). We went to Wisconsin Dells with Carry, Elora, Ani, and Joven. We stayed at Mount Olympus and I think we all had a ton of fun. Everyone except Shawn went on a big go kart and a roller coaster at least once. (Shawn preferred the slow train) The first day, the kids played in the wave pool fully clothed. It was hard to stop them since they were having so much fun. Unfortunately I don't think Carry or I took a group picture of all the kids.

That is all to report for now. Stay tuned for a post about the first day of school.

Way Back Wednesday

Here is another blast from the past

Collin and Mommy

Shawn and Daddy

Boy have they grown!

Shawn's favorite morning!

Shawn holding his toad Madison

It is Sunday morning and we are getting ready for church. I am doing my hair and Micah is in the shower. Collin is picking out games for us to play and we assumed Shawn was downstairs playing with his animals (mostly being frogs today).

All of the sudden Shawn is running upstairs telling me that he found a frog in the garden and it went under the bricks. I asked him if he went outside, which he responded yes. He was then given a time out for going out by himself. But then I asked him about the frog. Was it a real frog or a toy frog. He said it was outside hopping. So since I was done, we went downstairs and outside to see his frog. He led me right to the garden and bent over to look under the lip of the wood border. "I see him, he is black and white." I saw nothing. I got a stick and poked it under the board and sure enough, out pops a toad. Shawn started jumping and yelling with delight "He is hopping!" I caught the small little toad. Of course Shawn had his bug box ready and we put him in to show Collin and Daddy.

He was so excited to have found a real "frog" in the yard. Once everyone was outside, he took it out and held him and carried him back to the garden. He named the toad Madison, after Kirk and Betsy's dog. He would let the toad go and recapture him just one more time several times,

Shawn's love for animals is very strong. He loves frogs so much. I guess we have to talk to him about going outside by himself a little more...