Weekend Wrap-Up

 What an amazing fall weekend! Kent and I had a little getaway to Decorah.  Here are a bunch of pictures from our trip!

We were lucky to have gotten away for a big trip to Belize in January before all this COVID stuff happened but we still wanted to make our actual 15th anniversary special.  And we did! Kent took the day off Thursday and we spent a lovely day together shopping and having lunch out then hanging out with the kids all evening and eating a family dinner at the site of our first date.  It was Autograph's back then, but now it's Wig and Pen- a family favorite! 

The next morning we got a little school work done with the kids then took off for our trip.  Decorah was so pretty!

Of course Kylee snuck a little surprise in my purse.  She's the sweetest.

These three deer were right outside the place we were staying when we arrived- ha! What a welcome! We later saw them wandering the streets of downtown too!

We got to town around 1:00 and grabbed lunch at Mabe's Pizza- voted one of the top 100 places to eat in Iowa and it lived up to that! So good! Then we took a little hike to Dunning's Springs.  I could not stop taking pictures.  It was so pretty.  And you know how Kent likes his fall foliage!

We hiked all around and by the river- spotted several trout too. The water was so clear!

I mean, come on.  Love it.  The guy and the view.

We had fun taking silly pictures to send back to the kids. 

We made a stop at The Whippy Dip to refuel.

Then more hiking! Loved all these cute inspirational chalkings along the way.

We walked by this campground and it looked SO fun.  Super clean too.  Can't wait to bring the kids sometime! We also walked by Luther College and around campus a bit. 

We stopped by Pulpit Rock for a quick drink and to pick up a thank you gift for a friend then decided to order dinner to go and eat at our place.  We had a really nice meal and I had surprised Kent by bringing along the toasting glasses we used at our wedding and a bottle of champagne.  It was a great end to a great day!

The next morning we grabbed coffee from Impact then walked around the Farmer's Market.  So fun to pick up a few fun things for the kids.

Then we went to the Fish Hatchery.  This place was so cool!

It's right across from the Decorah Eagle's nest too and we saw a bald eagle try to swoop in and get a fish!

We walked around by Siewer's Springs. Such a pretty place.

It was a little chilly so we went back to town and wandered through some of the shops then had lunch at the Mexican restaurant.  Then it warmed up and we hiked a bit more!

We had fun going "off road" a bit and clocked quite a few miles!

We had fun finding these little painted rock smileys all over! #100smiles

So, so awesome. What a perfect way to spend our weekend.

We loved our time together and we loved this charming town!

Our place was cute, clean, a bit quirky and perfectly located.

We wrapped up our trip to Decorah with a stop at Toppling Goliath.  Super famous brewery and good food too!

Meanwhile, back home, the kids were having a blast with the grandparents.  They spent some time in my parents' backyard!

Baked some yummy cupcakes!

Painted pumpkins

Went boat shopping! Kael was so happy.

They also got to do Go Karts and SkyZone! And a fire pit and s'mores. Lucky kids!

We got home early Sunday morning anxious to see our people.  We jumped right back in with a cross country meet and a football game! Kylee had a great race and it was the perfect day for a run!

3rd place in the 13-14 year old division! Time of 12:29

While I was there, friends and family kept texting me about what an amazing game Kase was having so when Kylee got her award then took off for ice cream with a friend, I scooted off quickly to catch the second half of Kase's game.  And wow- he was doing awesome! He had a couple touchdowns and several interceptions but what he was most happy about was winning!!! Love seeing my kiddos do what they love.  Meanwhile, Kael was at football doing a run through and weightlifting. So proud of that buddy!! When we all got home together we had fun playing a new game Kael taught us- it's called Among Us and the kids all liked it.  Here's to a busy week ahead!