Halloween Fun!

We had busy weekend and we were glad to have lots of time for Halloween fun today! We were able to visit some special family members in the late afternoon and join some great friends for a festive Halloween dinner and trick-or-treating in a large group tonight. Ella chose to be a dairy princess, so she was a perfect escort for our cute little cow, Claranna. James was a very handsome race car driver. Mark and I wore our best farm hats and clothes to complete our mainly farm theme. It was a fun time!

The kids collected lots of treats and Mark and I can't wait to eat them up for them. Shh....don't tell the kids! It was really fun for all of us to get to hang out with our friends. By the end of the evening, Claranna figured out that people were giving her candy and she was not so happy that we were taking it away from her. We walked a total of eight blocks, which was plenty since the temperature dropped pretty quickly and someone had to carry Claranna nearly the entire way. Thanks to our early start, the kids were wore out and settled in for bed by 8 p.m.. It was a perfect ending to a great day!

I'm also going to share a couple of pumpkin pictures. This year, Ella carved her pumpkin by herself. She really impressed us! James and Mark created a fancy skull pattern while Claranna and I made a more traditional "kitty" pumpkin. The pictures are a little out of order tonight, but I'm too tired to fix them!

Poor Claranna

Claranna has had a rough week. She came down with a fever on Sunday afternoon and a terrible cough quickly developed. She's spent the entire week trying to recover. When you find your normally hyper-busy baby crashed like this on the floor in the middle of the day, then you know something's up.

Farm Friends

It's a long weekend for Ella, so she's having a friend sleep over tonight. Her friend has to leave pretty early in the morning, so she came today in the middle of the afternoon. We took her over to the farm for some fun. Ella had a lot of fun showing her around the farm. They played with the calves, picked corn, rode a tractor with Grandpa and hunted for a pumpkins in the garden. Ella's friend said the farm was, "Soooo Awesome!"

Fall Fun

We just had to go find a big pile of leaves to play in. Since we really don't have any big trees in our yard, we took a trip to a local park. It has become an annual tradition and I am sure we will go there again next year.

Swinging at a Park

For those far away family and friends who wish they could join us at a park...

A Girl and her Tractor

The Great Minnesota Get Together

Before school started, we took our annual trip to the Minnesota State Fair. We all had a fabulous time, despite a few rain clouds. We saw the big pig, ate a giant pickle, meet Miss Minnesota, had our pronto pups and fried cheese on a stick, listened to music, ate cotton candy, saw some family and friends, and got rained on a bit. The big kids rode the Old Mill ride with Mommy and the Space Needle with Daddy. Ella enjoyed getting her hair done up in a "fair do" and eating deep fried bacon. James went on the Sky Ride with daddy. A delighted Claranna rode the carousal and ate a bunch of french fries. All of my kids went down the giant slide. Mark got to ride extra times because of little Claranna. It was a great day for everyone!

My boys are ready for the game tonight!

Little Dancer

A New Niece & Valley Fair

In the middle of August we took a day trip to go see our new baby niece, Lucy, and take the kids for the their very first visit to Valley Fair. Both stops were a bit hit with the kids. Ella and James were very happy to see their Aunt Jenny and the sweet new baby. Claranna thought Lucy was pretty cute and even called her, "baby". Ella was pretty good at holding little Lucy, who was just a day and half old in this picture.

After out stop at the hospital we jumped back in the car and headed south to Vally Fair. The weather was perfect, not too hot, but warm enough to still enjoy the water park. We knew Ella would like all the roller coasters. I think she went on all the big coasters more than once. Mark and I took turns riding the big rides with her and taking James and Claranna on the smaller rides. All the kids had a huge amount of fun. We were surprised at how many little rides that Claranna was allowed to go on. She is going to be a daredevil like her sister as she showed no fear. James was very excited when we caught up with cousins Trenton, Trista and Mikayla and Greg & Amy. He really wanted to go on lots of rides with Trista...and he did!


Claranna took a little snooze on the way to Valley Fair and another nap in her stroller. Because she slept so good, we were able to stay at the park into evening hours.


Ella and Mark are somewhere on the ship upside down.



Claranna loved the music shows that we stopped to see. She was even invited up to dance on stage.




Fun with cousins!


Our family on the Valley Fair train.
Click on the movie to watch Ella and me on the Corkscrew!