All Caught Up :(

I have been extremely slow at posting all summer/fall because I am so far behind and it is such a daunting feeling to go back and do all the posts in the right order. Well, apparently our computer knew this about me and decided to make it easy on me and the hard drive took a turn for the worse...and we lost ALL our pictures taken from the last 6 months. Yes, it would have been really bright of me to back them up on to something, but I didn't. So, half of Cara's life has been lost :( Despite all our efforts and those at Buds and Bytes (a flower/computer shop here in Farmington) we were unable to get any of them back. I am sick about it to say the least. Don't worry--anything I download now will indeed be backed up!

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.