Decorating Pumpkins/SkyZone Fun Day

Yesterday I had the day off, and spent the day at home with the kiddos. We had such a fun, busy day, and I just love the fall season, so we had a great day.

I started off by taking the kids with me to get an oil change. It didn't go terribly. We only had one car ahead of us, and I brought an Ipad along to entertain the kids, so we survived. The kids were pretty good, especially when I got them all sugared up on cookies while we waited.

Eli fell asleep after the oil change, so we headed back home. Emma and I decorated pumpkins, and then had lunch during his nap. After he woke up, we played at home some, and then we headed to Sky Zone. I had bought a Groupon at the beginning of summer, and then forgot all about it. But, luckily it didn't expire until the end of September, so I had 3 days to use it yet!! So, I took the kids there yesterday. We had such a fun time. The kids jumped and jumped for an hour straight. They were pretty beat by the time we left. It was pretty fun. I was able to be out on the trampolines to help with the kids, and they ran free and jumped around. Luckily, it wasn't very busy, so I didn't have to worry about the kids getting trampled.

After we were all jumped out, we headed to Hy-Vee for some power grocery shopping. Of course the kids were hungry while we shopped, so I picked up some supper while we were there, and then we all went home.

We enjoyed an evening of playing, and a nice long family walk, before we headed inside for baths and bedtime. Both kids were very tired, and everyone was asleep by 8:30pm.

It was a great day, but it was so busy. And Emma was so bummed that it was back to daycare and normal life again today. But, I convinced her that the weekend is not far away, and we will have more fun then.

Anyway, I gotta get going to work soon, so I leave you with some pictures of our adventures yesterday.

Emma loves Pumpkin Decorating 

At Sky Zone 

And of course, Red Cupcakes after supper 

Family Vacation to the Black Hills

This past weekend, we took our first official family vacation together, and went to the Black Hills. John and I were invited to a friends wedding by Lead, SD, and we decided to head out a little early, bring the kids and his parents along, and go from there. We thought the hills would be beautiful this time of year, and wanted to make a trip out of it.

We headed out on Thursday morning, at around 8:00 am and started the boring drive across the state. The kids actually tolerated it very well, with little to no fussing. We packed many books, movies, and toys to keep the kids busy, and they switched back and forth between riding with John and I and riding with the grandparents.

We made the traditional stop at Wall Drug and let the kids get out of the car and burn off some energy. The kids really enjoyed the stop, had a lot of fun getting out of the car, and each got a toy from grandma and grandpa. We ended up staying at a Recreational Resort, and we each stayed in a cabin. We got to the cabins at around 4:00pm, mountain time. It was a long day on the road, but everything went very smoothly.

After getting settled and unpacked, John and I took the kids out on the 4-wheelers to do some trails. We road for a good hour and a half, and then headed back. The kids tolerated it very well, and really enjoyed the ride and the scenery. We then ate some supper, and enjoyed a campfire with some marshmallows . It was a beautiful, cool, evening and the fire felt wonderful.

On Friday, we all took a drive and drove through Spearfish Canyon. It was absolutely gorgeous with all the leaves changing colors and all the waterfalls. The kids enjoyed running around with some freedom, and looking at all the water. After a couple hours of exploring, we ate some lunch in Spearfish and then headed back to the cabins. Jim and Barb took the kids for a long 4-wheeler ride, while John and I headed to Deadwood to walk around and explore.

In the evening, John and I met up with Jeff, Darci, Adam, and Ashley to eat some supper and catch up before the wedding the next day. It was really nice to see everyone.

Saturday was absolutely freezing outside and rainy, so 4-wheeling was out of the question. We decided to head to Rapid City and attend the Pumpkin Festival. It was actually about 67 degrees, sunny, and beautiful in Rapid City (which is only 40 miles away, crazy!) and we enjoyed the pumpkin festival. By late morning, it was solid people, and we all had had enough of the festivities, so Jim and Barb took the kids to the Children's Museum, while John and I grabbed some pizza for lunch, and then headed back to get ready for the wedding.

The wedding was pretty, but very cold. Luckily, the wedding only lasted about a half hour, and we all got out of there and headed to the reception. The reception was small, but nice and it was a great chance to visit with everyone. We stayed out until about 11:00pm, and then called it a night. The grandparents had the kids for the night, and they were all shot and slept very well and had a good night as well.

Sunday pretty much consisted of packing up and driving back home. We left at about 9:00am, and got home around 4:30. The kids did pretty well with the driving again, but we were all more than ready to be home again and sleep in our own beds.

It was a great vacation out in West River, and I am so glad we could make a family trip out of it, but I was so ready to be back home and back to our normal routines.

Happy Fall :)

Having fun on the way to West River

Wall Drug

Having fun on Vacation

Exploring Spearfish Canyon 

Emma devastated she lost her grabber 

Beautiful water falls and colors 

Elliott loves chips and salsa

Fun at the Pumpkin Festival 

Riding the train

Mall of America Weekend

This past weekend was very busy, but it was so much fun. Emma and I went away for a little girls weekend and we had an absolute blast. Emma and I headed to my sister's house in Mankato on Friday, and got there at about 12:00pm.

Rachel and I took Emma to Bounce town, which is an indoor play area with toys and inflatables. Needless to say, Emma played her little heart out and had a really good time. We were there for a solid 2.5 hours and Emma played and played. After Bounce Town, we headed to Sibley Park to feed the animals and let Emma play in the park for a little while. We ended the evening with supper at Dino's, which is a pizza place. After that we just enjoyed a quiet evening at Rachel's house.

Saturday was a very tiring day, but I cannot believe how much fun Emma had. We left Rachel's house around 9:00 am, and headed to Mall of America to take Emma to Nickelodeon Universe. We arrived at the park at around 10:30 am, and it was actually pretty quiet there. Emma was able to ride pretty much any ride without having to wait in line, and she could usually ride it twice in a row. There were 15 rides that Emma could ride (some of which she had to ride with Rachel or myself) and she rode every single one of them, and most of them she rode 3 or 4 times. We definitely got our moneys worth out of Emma's wristband.

Emma is such a fearless little girl. She did not hesitate to ride any of the rides, and she just laughed and enjoyed herself on every single one of them. She rode ride after ride until about 1:00pm, when we forced her to take a lunch break. We hit up the food court for lunch, and then we went to checked out the Crayola Experience. This is an exhibit where kids have a lot of hands-on activities that they can participate in, including coloring pictures, receiving crayons with personalized labels, playing with modeling clay, a play area, and many other stations. Emma was a little young for some of it, but it was pretty cool, and we probably could have spent at least 3-4 hours in this place. However, Emma lost her focus after about an hour and a half, and we went back to the rides.

Emma rode rides again until about 7:30pm. It was one long day in Mall of America, but she had so much fun, it was so cute to watch her. But that little girl fell asleep about 5 minutes into our drive back to Rachel's, and didn't even wake up when we got back to the house, and slept all night until about 6:30 the next morning. She was one tired little girl. And she was so sad to leave the rides.

Sunday was another busy day. We all went for a much-needed coffee run in the morning, and then we spent the morning getting packed up a little and recovering. My parents came to town for lunch. We decided on Red Lobster, and it was delicious. After lunch, we headed back to Sibley Park because Emma wanted to show Grandma and Grandpa the animals and the park. After some time in the park, we headed to the mall for some odds and ends. At 4pm, Emma and I finally headed back to Sioux Falls, and Emma slept most of the way back to town.

It was so very nice to be back home, and back to my boys. Emma and I missed them. It was really nice to cuddle and see Elliott after two whole days without seeing him. I swear he grew since I saw him last. We spent the evening watching the Vikings beat the Packers (heck yes!!) and unpacking. It was a great weekend, but man am I beat. I may go take a little nap before I have to get the kids from daycare. :)

Tenting in September 

Bounce House Fun 

Sibley Park

Feeding the Sheep

Starting rides to Nickelodeon Universe

Having fun with this little girl

Crayola Universe 

Meeting Sponge Bob and Patrick 

The Mall Crew 

So proud of her Kitty Cat paint 

So sleepy 

Emma's first day of preschool

Summer is officially wrapping up around here, and it's sort of sad. I love summer, and I feel like I blinked and now it's over. However, I love fall. I love the cooler days, the sweater season, the changing colors, Halloween, harvesting, and a warm cup of coffee. I also love football season, and chili cook off. Fall may be my favorite season ever! I just don't really like what follows fall.

But anyway, the days have been getting a little shorter, and a little cooler. I brought the kids to the zoo the other day, and it was just beautiful outside, and everyone enjoyed the visit. Then everyone had some fun helping to wash cars in the driveway.

Something crazy happened today, Emma has her very first day of Pre-K. She just moved up to the Pre-K room, which is a preschool that is built into our daycare. It's very convenient, and Emma is so excited for it. I don't know how my little girl is ready for preschool already. I know everyone says it, but where did the time go? I blinked, and she went from being a little tiny baby to this independent little girl, excited for school, excited to learn, and excited to explore new things.

I am so proud that she embraces these new things in her life, and she feels confident enough to be excited and happy to go to preschool, and not scared to change rooms. She is getting so smart, and she is such a sweet little girl. She loves to go places and do things with her mommy (and I love it too) and she is such a good big sister to her brother. Those two actually get along pretty well most of time, which is wonderful.

This morning, all Emma could talk about was her Pre-K room and all the new things that come with that. She was giddy with excitement this morning. It was adorable.

I am so proud of my little preschooler, and I can't wait to see all the things she learns and how much fun she has in this next step in her education.

Emma is more than ready for preschool. I love that little girl so much, and I am so proud of her :)

Looking at the monkeys at the zoo

Carousel at the zoo 

Washing mom's car

Emma ready for her first day of preschool (notice the Paw Patrol backpack?!)

Samantha's Wedding

My good friend, Samantha, got married this past weekend. I was lucky enough to be asked to be a bridesmaid and I had a wonderful weekend helping my friends celebrate her wedding day.

I got to my parent's house on Friday, at around noon. We fed the kids, played outside some, and then my Grandparents came out to see the kids, and I got to visit with them for a little while.

At 5pm, I left to go to Gibbon for Rehearsal at the church. We walked through the ceremony a couple times and then after that we headed out to the Groom, Steve's, parent's house for a supper. It was a beautiful evening, with good food, and good company. Sam gave us our wedding party gifts, which was way more extravagant than was necessary, but it was so sweet. They also had a hayride after the supper, but I rode out there with Holly, Jayme and Brittany and they all wanted to head back to get some rest before the big day, so we left.

Saturday was a really fun, really busy day. We started off in the morning, by getting our hair done in the basement of the church. We also got dressed, and got ready the rest of the way in the church basement. Samantha was such a beautiful bride.

After some mimosas, girl talk, and waiting for everyone to get ready, we took pictures. I enjoyed it for a while, but towards the end I felt like my face was getting frozen in a certain way, and not looking very natural anymore. But, then it was over. It went well, and we got all the pictures done in no time. While the bride and groom took some more pictures, the rest of us had a beer (or two) and relaxed before the ceremony.

The wedding ceremony was at 3:00pm, and it only lasted 41 minutes which was awesome. It was a very nice ceremony, and everything went very smoothly. The only thing, and it is cute and funny, is that when they exchanged the rings, they put them on each other's right hands. Not a big deal. But pretty cute, and kind of funny.

After the church, we had a party bus to take us to the reception. I maybe had a little too much beer, and they were passing around some nasty shots, so I was feeling pretty good by the time we got to the reception in Winthrop. I wasn't completely wasted or anything, but definitely feeling good.

We had a nice meal at the reception, with some good speeches, some terrible singing (in order to get the bride and groom to kiss) and a beautiful slide show. They also had a really fun photo booth, and a videographer catching all the important moments.

After the food, the DJ got started up, and we had a great night of dancing. John showed up around 8pm, and I hadn't seen him in over a week, so it was a very nice surprise. We danced, and drank and had a good time. It was a beautiful celebration, and Congrats to the newlyweds!!

Sunday was a recovery day. We slept in (thanks mom and dad!) and then spent a good part of the day playing with the kids out on the farm. Then, we made the journey back to Sioux Falls. The kids did very well, and it was a very successful weekend. Everyone had a very good time, but it was time to be back home and back to a normal routine.

Building Forts at Grandma Patty's 

Rachel and I at Sam's Wedding 

Holly and I 

The beautiful bride and me 

Unity candle 

Maid of honor speech

Me and the hubby

Rachel came for a little while too 

Emma loves farm life 

Emma and I 

Fun at the park