Camping at Lake Vermillion

 We wrapped up our camping season this past weekend. With all the weddings we had in September, we couldn't make fall camping work until October, which is always a risk. But, luckily, we ended up with some pretty good weather and we had a really good weekend. 

We camped with Jim and Barb, and Katie, and Travis and Heather. And then we added in Sam, Hannah, and Rachel, so we had a nice little crew of people to camp with. 

We headed out on Friday after work. Jim was nice and hauled and set our camper up for us, so when we arrived, our camper was ready to go. We got unpacked and settled, and then we bundled up and got a fire going. Friday was definitely the worst day of our camping weekend. It was really windy and cold. We had stocking caps, gloves, coats and blankets and it was still on the chilly side. But, we had some beef stew for supper, so that really hit the spot, and then we enjoyed a nice big fire and visited around the fire. Everyone was pretty tired from the week, so by 9:30pm we were all back in our own campers, with the heaters on. 

It froze hard overnight, and it was 34 degrees when we woke up the next morning. Brr. But it wasn't windy, and the sun was shining, and it warmed up to 62 degrees, so it ended up being a perfect day. After some breakfast in the camper, the adults went on a nice walk down to the water and on the hiking trails. Then, we did some shore fishing. Nobody caught anything, but it was nice and the kids really enjoyed fishing. 

After fishing, we had some burgers and brats for lunch. Then, we painted and decorated pumpkins. Everyone had fun with this, and Emma and Hannah especially enjoyed themselves and sat there for quite a while painting pumpkins. I also enjoyed myself. I even made a Twins pumpkin for good luck. By the way, the Twins are in the playoffs and they actually have won some games. They won the Wild Card series in 2 games (which were very stressful to watch). And now they are playing the Houston Astros (boo!!). They are tied in the series 1-1, and now the games come to Minnesota and they play this afternoon. It is so stressful, but fun, to have the Twins still be in the playoffs. I hope they can keep working their magic. We even got the game on at the campground, so that was pretty fun!!

After painting, the girls wanted to make cupcakes, so we mixed up some batter and got the cupcake maker out. The cupcakes turned out great, and then they decorated them with frosting and Halloween sprinkles. Somehow all 24 cupcakes got eaten in like 2 hours, so I'm not sure how that happened. After the baking session, we started playing catch with a football. That lead to a full game of two-hand touch football with all the kids (and some of the adults). It was really fun, and only a couple kids cried, so I call that a success. 

Finally, it was supper time. We enjoyed some chili, garlic bread, apples and dip, and chips. We ate good all weekend. We bundled up and enjoyed another fire. This time the kids joined us, and we were singing songs and telling jokes around the fire, it was pretty fun. We stayed up until around 10:30pm, and then finally put some tired kids to bed. 

Sunday was a pack up and go home day. We went on some walks, had some breakfast sandwiches for breakfast, and then spend a lot of the time packing. Since it was our last camping trip of the season, we had to strip all the beds, clean, and take out everything that can't freeze. So, it was a lot of packing and cleaning. Then we packed up and left. 

I took Hannah and Rachel home, and Emma and Elliott went to Jim and Barb's house since they don't have school again until Wednesday. They wanted to spend a couple nights at Grandma and Grandpa's house, so we let them. John and I spent the afternoon doing laundry, cleaning, unpacking, and mowing the lawn. We decided to try out the new Tinner's Bar for supper since the kids were gone. The food was really good, and we got to watch the Vikings lose to the Chiefs, so that was exciting. 

Then, we went home, watched the Twins beat the Astros (yay!!) and then called it a day so we could be ready for work the next day. 

Today, I have off from work. So, I have been catching up on blogging, a little cleaning, and the gym is calling my name. The kids will be back home after lunch, and then I think we will just enjoy a day at home together. Fall just keeps racing by!!

Cody and Katie's Wedding

 We had a really fun weekend in Minnesota for Katie and Cody's Wedding. The weather was beautiful (although a little rainy) and we had a ton of fun. 

We headed to mom and dad's house on Friday. We got there around supper time, and enjoyed some chili and apple crisp for supper. Then, we just spent the evening sitting outside, playing some basketball with the kids, and visiting. And having a couple of beers. It was nice, and relaxing. 

On Saturday, we went over to Emily's farm to pick out some pumpkins and pet some cats. They have like 30 cats on their farm, so the kids were loving petting them all and playing with them. Emily's parents planted a large pumpkin patch, and ended up with like 50 pumpkins, so they let us pick a few out and then they begged us to take a few more. So, we ended up leaving with like 10 really nice pumpkins. 

After the pumpkin adventure, we ended up at Ryan's house to drive 4 wheelers and Rangers. The kids both drove, and they did a really good job. We had fun going down field roads and around the farm place. 

Then, it was time to get ready for the wedding. We got dressed, and headed to Fairfax for the 3:00pm wedding. It was a pretty wedding, and short and sweet. It was over in about 20 minutes. After the wedding, we headed to New Ulm for the reception. We decided to stop at Schells for a beer. It was really crowded and rainy, so we had a wet walk in. In retrospect, it wasn't the best idea, and it was a little miserable. So, next time we are in the area, we will have to try to stop at Schells again to have a better experience. 

Finally, we got to the reception at the hotel. We checked into our room, got unpacked, and then headed for the reception hall. They had some free keg beer and snacks. And we enjoyed visiting with some family. 

At about 6:00pm, it was time to eat. We had assigned seating, and sat by Emily and Ryan and Austin and his wife, Ashley, We had fun at our table. The food was good, the toasts were good, and then it was time for the dance. The DJ was so-so. He played a lot of pop music that was hard to dance to, so there weren't a lot of dancers. Except Elliott and Elena, they were out there almost all night. It was pretty cute watching them dance. 

We lasted at the dance until around 11:30pm, and then we headed to the hotel room. We all were tired and hit the hay immediately. The next morning, the kids did some swimming. Rachel and Elena also stayed, so they all swam together and had a good time. And I enjoyed the hot tub. 

After swimming and breakfast, we packed up and headed over to Herman the German. We let the kids play in the park, and then we climbed up the Herman the German statue. The day could not have been nicer. It was sunny, and 74 degrees and the leaves were changing, it was beautiful. We enjoyed the skyline views of New Ulm, and enjoyed exploring the area. We stopped for a Chinese Buffett lunch, and then headed home. 

It was a great weekend filled with friends, family, and new adventures. We all had a good time, but we were happy to be back home.