Weekend Wrap-Up

We had a great weekend.  Want to see?

Friday Kent was home super early from work and took Kase to a park alllll afternoon.  It was a beautiful day and Kase ran into a friend from preschool there so they had a lot of fun.  Later that night Kylee spent the night with a friend and the boys hung around the neighborhood having Nerf gun wars with friends.  We celebrated with a good friend who is starting a new job soon! 

Saturday morning we picked Kylee up from her sleepover early then headed off for a fun fall adventure! The kids are such good travelers, the weather was so beautiful and we had an awesome trip.  We started off the morning with a stop at an old school soda fountain.  The lady there said she had worked there for thirty years and Kael's was the first ever banana Coke she'd ever sold.

One of our good friends is from Strawberry Point, so we stopped in at his Dad's shop and found this cat that our neighbor girl had told us to visit!

Then, we headed to Osborne Conservation Center.  We had heard they were having a festival so we stopped in and saw all sorts of fun things- candle making, chili tasting...also we saw all the cool animals there- even a bear and a wolf!

From there, we went to Pike's Peak (in Iowa, not Colorado).

Kase fell asleep on the way there so I had a picture of just Kase and Kylee, then he woke up and wanted one too.

What an amazing view!

We hiked around a little- found Bridal Veil falls.  So pretty.

While we were walking the kids kept wanting their pictures taken.  I can't blame them- it was so picturesque!

Back at our picnic spot the kids had some Pom Wonderful- a nod to our favorite show, American Ninja Warrior.

Then we crossed the river to Wisconsin and stopped at Valley Fish and Cheese- a shop we had seen on another show we used to watch.  Kylee was so in awe that we actually got to talk to one of the guys we see on TV!

Next, it was on to Spook Cave! I totally remember visiting here with my family when I was younger so it was great to go back.  At first, Kase didn't want to go in the cave, but he warmed up and we had a great time.

The campgrounds there are so pretty and the kids LOVED the old school slide down the side of a hill on the playground.

Finally, we headed to Backbone State Park.  We had fit a lot in by this point in the day so we didn't spend a ton of time here, but had a blast anyways!

My fun-bullying partner in crime.  

We got home around 8:00 Saturday evening with tired, happy kids.

Sunday after church we had lunch with my family and hung out at our place a little bit.  Just love when the cousins all get together.  Later, Kylee and I visited my grandma, then went shopping for Halloween costume ideas for her.  She's always so creative about them!

Then, Kael had a football game and afterwards we went for ice cream with Keith and Cindy.  What a great end to a fun-filled weekend!

 Today, there was no school.  After being on the go all weekend, we had plenty of things to get done around the house this morning, then later we went to Geisler Pumpkin Patch with my mom.

Kael and I conquered the corn maze together! We had so much fun and I was glad my mom was there to hang with Kylee and Kase since they hadn't wanted to do the maze.

I just love this time of year and love family adventures. How was your weekend?

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for Kylee and Kael's grace with Kase. He may have just gotten mad at them or called them a name but they always seem to give him another chance.

I'm thankful for how excited Kael was when he won a pop for Kase and Kylee at library bingo the other day.

I'm thankful for Kael's hard work and awards he won! Last Friday he came home with a Sunshine Award and a Leadership Award!

I'm thankful Kael was such a good sport about his chipped tooth. He had chipped them several years ago, but Friday night after he bit into a sucker, a chunk of his front tooth came off and he handled it so well.

I'm as thankful as Kent is for his new glasses! He looks great!

I'm thankful Kase is interested in drawing and hangs his artwork up everywhere. Even my bathroom. 

I'm thankful Kase loves school because of a girl named Fiona.

I'm thankful Kael and Kylee finally beat a game called "Matches" on the Wii.  It has been a family favorite for years and they were over the moon when they won!

I'm thankful for how much Kylee is enjoying cross country.  She had a great race the other night! So fun that she's found something she is so interested in and has a bestie to do it with!

Happy Thursday, all! 

Weekend Wrap-Up

What a fun-filled weekend!

Thursday night we had Kyle, Julia, Keith and Cindy over for dinner. 

My kids LOVE it when Kyle and Julia come to our house!

Friday after school Kael showed me these awards he had one.  So proud of him. It seems like so far, middle school has been going pretty well for him!

Also on Friday, Kael had his first school social.  I love this picture he sent me during it of himself playing dodgeball in the dark. He looks so happy.

Friday afternoon Kylee picked out some mums for us. She and I had fun on our little girls adventure- picking up Starbucks then heading to a little garden shop well off the beaten path.

When we got home she played outside with her friends. They were doing some hilarious hand-clapping games that totally brought me back to when I was in third grade.

Meanwhile, Kent, Kase and my Dad were out fishing! They had the best time.

When everyone got home, we loaded up and headed to the Jaguar football game! We were up 42-0 in the first quarter, so it wasn't much of a game, but we had fun with neighbors and friends.  Poor Kael though- he had a caramel apple sucker while we were there and bit it with his front teeth (the ones the got knocked out in third grade) and a piece of his tooth got stuck on the caramel! So we'll have to take him in today to get it fixed- he was such a trooper about the whole thing though.

Saturday morning Kent took Kase over to my dad and mom's to see the cement mixer.  They were having concrete poured under their deck.

He and Huston had fun playing together!

Back home, we watched the Iowa game.  It was not a great game and I have decided to no longer clear our schedule on Saturdays for those games.  Too many fun fall things to do besides sitting around watching our Hawkeyes lose.

Saturday night the kids stayed with Keith and Cindy and went to the drive-in movie theater.  They had a great time.  Kent and I went out for dinner for our anniversary- it was a great night! We made a couple stops at some fun places downtown, then ate at Baratta's.  It was so good.

Sunday, we went early to pick the kids up, then headed straight to the apple orchard, in hopes we would get there before it got too crazy busy! It was the most beautiful fall day! We all had a great time.

Sunday afternoon we relaxed around here- Kase asked to watch Star Wars with Kent for the first time. Later Kael had a football game, then we ate dinner at my parent's house.

Another busy-ish week around here, but my October calendar looks MUCH better and less crazy than my September calendar.  Have a great week, all!