Farmington Tigers Homecoming

Since Darren and I are both teachers in Farmington we feel obligated to support the Tigers. We met Lynn and Todd and two other families for the Homecoming parade on Thursday. Since the girls had the cheerleader outfits from the previous Halloween we decided to sport them for the parade. They were certainly a hit with everyone around us.

I made Brynn and Cara each a t-shirt to wear on Friday of Homecoming. They looked pretty darn cute if I do say so myself!

After school on Friday we picked the girls up, ran to happy hour at Old Chicago, then hit up the football game. The tigers didn't fair well against the Holy Angels, but we had fun anyway.

Alpacas

The girls and I were supposed to meet Brynn's "good buddy Miranda" at an apple orchard in Lakeville. We met at 10 on a Sunday, but the orchard didn't open until noon. So, we improvised and went to an alpaca farm that was having an open house. Brynn was rather unimpressed with the alpacas, but Miranda and Cara really enjoyed themselves.

DANCE!

Brynn started dance in September. Initially, as with most things she tries, she wasn't quite sure what she should be doing there. After taping her dance and having her practice nearly every day she is starting to get the hang of it. She and 3 of her friends from our summer walking group are all in the same class. Should make for a pretty cute performance in December!

Justen!

We absolutely LOVE our daycare provider, Lynn. Not only is she phenomenal in caring for many small children throughout the day ( her house is always immaculate and the kids are always well-behaved, kind, and polite--all thanks to Lynn) but she also makes sure that each one of the kids feel special. The older kids have the opportunity to spend some special one-on-one time with Lynn after daycare hours. In early October Brynn was asked to attend Lynn's son, Justen's, soccer game. Brynn adores Justen (and I have a pretty good feeling that Justen adores Brynn) so I thought we better make sure he knew it. Below is the t-shirt I made for Brynn to wear and the picture Lynn took of Brynn and Justen. It's okay if your heart skips a beat...or two...when you look at the picture of Justen!

Labor Day

Darren had a fabulous idea on Labor Day to spend the day on the Cannon Valley trail biking with the girls. In my mind it was going to be a great, relaxing family day. If only it was... From the get-go Cara wanted nothing to do with being in the bike trailer that after 40 minutes of biking we got her out then walked our bikes and the girls to stop and have lunch. Walking bikes along with trying to keep two young children from being run over by many other serious bikers is quite the task. Once stopping for lunch Cara wanted nothing to do with eating, but had a great time filling her sandwich bag with gravel from the nearby driveway. Brynn, on the other hand, loved taking the bike trailer out for more than a bike around the neighborhood. In typical Brynn fashion she also ate like a champ on the picnic blanket and was ready to hop back in.

After another 35 minutes of screaming on the way back Cara (and Brynn) finally fell asleep--for the 5 minutes it took us to get back to our car. This was definitely the last bike ride of the season. Hopefully next year Sassafras will be more content in the bike trailer.

Party at the Mullenbachs

We spent at night at Dylan, Angie, and Nolan's in September. Tommy, Key, and Henry drove up for the day and Graham, Kristen, Ella, and Logan also came over. It is so fun to get all of us as well as the kids together.

We brought Dilly Bars and
cones for dessert.

I was quite shocked, but even Henry was able to eat his first cone...most likely due to the fact that his mother was a little tuned up at the time.

Before bed the kids watched a little night time video...

then did some dancing! Adorable!

After church on Sunday we went out for breakfast then to an apple orchard. Because it was still early in the season we had almost the entire place to ourselves.

Brynn was able to feed as many animals as she wanted. Cara preferred to stand back and watch.

Farm Girl!

Three silly kids waiting for a tractor ride.

Kristen bought some kid sized apples and shared a couple with the girls. Cara thought she was so cool eating an apple all by herself.

Toy Story 3

Brynn and I went to her second move in early September. I remember Toy Story being such a great movie that I thought she would really enjoy Toy Story 3. Boy was I wrong. Within minutes of the movie starting Brynn jumped on my lap, after a few more minutes she said she wanted to go home. I thought she just needed time to adjust...and then Woody was separated from the rest of the toys and she started bawling--what a sweet little heart she has. After that she looked at me and said, "I just want to go home and watch Word World." What a sheltered little life this girl leads! So, that is exactly what we did. We packed up our popcorn, came home, got Word World set up on the T.V. and cuddled in on the couch. Thankfully we were only in the theater for 20 minutes or so so they refunded our money.

She looks really excited about seeing a movie here!

Craguns!

Wow! I cannot say enough about our end of the summer vacation with our great friends, the Eckhoffs. In three words: BEST VACATION EVER!! We rented quaint little three bedroom cabin in Brainerd, MN the week before Darren, Melissa, and I went back to school and the real world. It was perfect. We had phenomenal company, extremely happy kids, delicious food, and delightful weather. What more could you ask for? Here are a few pictures of our week up north.

Both girls were extremely good travelers and fell asleep shortly after we left Farmington and stayed asleep until we stopped to get lunch in Brainerd.

Upon arriving and settling in Peyton and Brynn hit the water.

Future Mr. and Mrs. Landon Eckhoff's first bath together.

A quick boat ride before lunch.

One of many delicious meals before heading back out to the water.

"I love having a picnic!"

Melissa entertaining 3 kids in the water--perhaps you should have just one more Melissa!

Chafing!

Brynn and Peyton collected and entertained themselves with buckets, sand, acorns, and water for hours.

Future Mr. and Mrs. Peyton Eckhoff.

Sweet Landon being contained in his floatie so he doesn't eat everything on the ground in sight--although he has quite the reach this tactic only worked for a few minutes.

A romantic train ride with a kiss to kick it off.

D entertaining the kiddos while we get dinner ready.

Trolly ride pulled by beautiful, huge, Clydesdales.

Another picture for their wedding table.

Cara tormenting the ducks...

Fishing off the dock with Dad!

Yep, we caught fish that BIG!

When it was a little too windy on the beach we would head to the enclosed pool where the water was much warmer. That's Brynn doing a cannon ball off the side of the pool.

Sweet Cara hanging out in the lounge chair with me.

Cara was so content playing on the beach. All that girl needed the whole week was a bucket and some sand.

I must say we do have some adorable kids.

Cara started out the week hating the boat, but by the end she would pull me onto the dock and beg to go in the boat. She is too cute!

Melissa and Landon took a quick cat nap on a late evening ride.

The future Eckhoff family.