Cidering and Zoo Boo

 

What a great fall weekend for apple cider making!  The weather was beautiful and we were so happy that our friends the Dahns could join us at the Nature Center for the class on how to make it.  Not much to it really, just a lot of grinding! 

Everyone got a chance to dump apples into the grinder and then turn the press. It's harder than it looks!

The little sisters were not left out! 

We've been to this nature center many times before with my sweet friend Star and her kids, but it was extra special this time to have the dads join us.  We learned a lot and had fun visiting with each other.

Sis and I enjoying some apple cider.   Maybe we'll have enough from our trees next year to make some of our own!

Looks like Sam's giving the OK sign.  Must be good. 

They finished their cider and were on to regular shenanigans in no time.  These boys are so much fun and Peanut loves to be a part of the action.  I think the sisters were still working on their cider at this point...

After that fun day I considered just staying home on Sunday.  But then I realized that ZOO BOO was already starting and wanted to go the first weekend as it's less crowded.  I'm glad we did!

It's such a fun event.  Both of our zoo's host a Halloween event but this year we chose to go to the Como Zoo in St. Paul.  The grounds were filled with volunteers dressed up and lots of kid friendly activities.

Sister was very brave to pet this parrot.  I'm still not sure if she knew it wasn't real...

Who says officers can't cut loose and have some fun?  I love this action shot of Peanut.  He's such a good sport and was willing to try all the activities and ask the volunteers for help when he needed it.

Sister was game too.  She really liked the tin can stilts and I will have to make her some for home.  I made Peanut some once but who knows what happened to those, ha!

The Como Zoo has a wonderful Gorilla Exhibit and the volunteers were handing out some trading cards with pictures of the various gorillas on them.  They were, however, calling them "monkey cards".  As we walked away I said to Peanut, "I guess they don't know that a gorilla is an ape, not a monkey" to which Sister quickly added, "Yep, no tail." We hang out at the zoos a lot. Smile.

This next picture might be accurate some days but thankfully not most!

We had dinner there and Sis enjoyed dancing to the music

 

playing.

As we walked through the kids got to "trick or treat" at about 10 different stations! It was so nice that they gave away a variety of treats including apples, carrots, candy, cookies, pencils, coloring books, etc. The kids came home with lots of loot!

 

Sister wanted to have her picture taken with this princess. The girl in the costume was so sweet to her and talked to her for several minutes and gave her a hug.  When we left Sis said "Mom, she was so nice!"  We made sure to thank all the volunteers and I explained to the kids that these people were not paid but simply here because they wanted to provide some fun for the kids. 

At the end of the trail through the zoo they had a big tent set up with coffee, lemonade and pumpkin carving.  The pumpkin carving was by a professional that had done the ones you see here so we enjoyed some more of our snacks and drinks while we watched him work.  The radio station was there playing music and giving away prizes too.

Wow! That's a lot of super heros in one spot!   Sis was especially excited to see Batman who she refers to as "Na Na Na Na Batman!"

It was so fun and well worth the drive.  We took the shuttle so parking was a breeze and everyone was so nice.  On the way home I asked them what their favorite parts were.  Sister said the food (she was eating at the time, ha!) and Peanut said the friend he met while we were waiting in line to go in.  We were next to a family with a boy about Peanut's age who was dressed up as a Lego and they had a great long conversation about legos.  My favorite part was watching Sister look at all the costumes and Peanut hoola hooping.  I'm so thankful that we are able to attend these activities.  Have a great week friends and family!

Grandpa and Grandma Visit!

 

We were so thrilled to spend an entire 10 days with Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Chuck recently!  We loved every minute of it and it was so great to have lots of time and not feel rushed since it had been some time since we'd all been together.   We've done a lot of outings in past visits, so this trip we decided we'd just enjoy the new house, the great weather, and do the things we like best together.  They are, in no particular order: nature watching, reading, arts and crafts, and sharing a meal together.  And we got to do all of that, lots of times.  Mom is a great storyteller and has written the kids lots of sweet books.  This time she brought the words to the story (inspired by a true family event!) and helped the kids make the illustrations.  They had so much fun, thanks Mom!

This was the funniest game of checkers I have ever seen!  Although Mom did a great job of facilitating and working with players of all skill levels...

I had been telling Mom and Dad how excited I was to be getting apple trees in the yard so I was so pleased when we got them in right before their visit.  We've done apple orchards in the past but it was fun to have some from our own tree this year! Here is Sis enjoying one before she heads off for her first day of school.

Sometimes it's hard that because of the distance we don't get to spend as many milestone days together like Thanksgiving, Birthdays, Christmas, etc. But that's just how it is and it was fun to share the first day of school for Sister with them this year.  And it meant that Grandpa Chuck could help with pictures, thanks Dad!

 

And I loved that Peanut wanted to take a picture of Dad and I together.  I think he did a great job and I will treasure this always.

I feel like my kids learn so much when Mom and Dad visit.  They love to read to them and they had so much fun watching birds and looking them up in the bird books. They have given both kids binoculars and they are used frequently!

Leave it to Grandpa Chuck to crank up the excitement a level with a telescope!  Dad keeps Peanut informed about what's going on it the world of space exploration and has really sparked a curiosity about what's out there.  This trip their goal was to see the rings of Saturn and they did! 

Sissy was included in the daytime viewing and was pleased with looking at the trees.  This was such a great gift because it's the kind that encourages curiosity and learning that I hope my kids never outgrow.  Thank you so much Grandpa!

Although the weather cooperated for the most part, we had enough rain that our newly seeded lawn was a bit wet for walking on so we opted to have our cookout in the driveway.  We had hot dogs and smores and it was one of my favorite nights of the trip. 

This was just a funny scene I happened upon one day.  I stopped to listen to what they were talking about and the first thing I heard Sis say was, "Grandpa, you need to put the phone closer to your ear!" ha!  She is always ready to give instructions...

This is exactly where I sit and read with the kids every morning.  Although sometimes we have to go quite a while between visits, when we reunite it's like they were always here.  Smile.

We did get out of the house a couple of times and one was for Peanut's night of hockey on the Little Wild.  Mom and Dad enjoyed seeing how much progress he's made as a skater and he was so proud to have them cheering him on.

Peanut had been saving his Birthday money from Grandma and Grandpa to spend it when they got here and was contemplating a plane or a dinosaur dig kit.  When he found out he could get the 3 pack dinosaur dig kit including the Pterodactyl his mind was quickly made up! 

They had done a similar kit on a previous visit so now they are experts (and Mom knows what a messy project it is, ha ha!) and enjoyed their digs on the driveway.

My sweet friend Star had us over on Saturday to celebrate her daughter's second birthday.  We do lots of birthdays with them and I've gotten to know her family over the years so it was so great to introduce Mom and Dad to them.  After party and cake we came home, took a quick rest and headed out to the pond.

Dad was such a trooper and the kids had fun showing how they "fish".  He was extra helpful retrieving lost fishing sticks!

It's so fun to have Grandma read bedtime stories.  I think she had Grandma Sharon read "Sassafrass" about every night!

And it's twice the stories because we don't want to leave anyone out!  Here they are reading one of the new Little House books we found on our thrift store trip.

We had so much fun with the kids but we did actually have an adult outing and we all agreed it was well worth our time.  We went to see a play called "Nature".  It took place outdoors and was based on the lives and friendship of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau.  The weather held up for us and we followed the actors and chorus as the performed scenes throughout the park.  It was also a great opportunity to show Mom and Dad The Landing, one of our favorite historical spots.

The great Emerson was actually played by his great, great, great grandson.  Dad and I met him afterwards and it was so cool to know that it was a direct descendant of the famous writer. 

Just a great trip.  We already miss them terribly of course but we made so many good memories.  I'm so glad they got to come this last Fall that Peanut's not quite full time at school yet.  My babies are growing up so quickly and I'm so glad they got to see 2 and 5.  These are pretty fun years.

So until next time we will phone and skype and text and make plans for the next times together.  Thanks for a wonderful visit for us all.  Love you Mom and Dad!