October Things.

 Well, here we are 10 days into October already. We continue to have a busy fall. The weather continues to be warm, dry, and windy. We are consistently in the 80s still. The leaves are really changing around here and everything looks beautiful. 

Last week was a really tough week. My cousin, Julie, was living in Marion, NC when a devastating hurricane, Helene, hit the town. The house Julie and her fiancee were staying in was completely destroyed and washed away, and Julie ended up washed away as well. She was missing for 8 days, before she was finally located, and she did not survive her injuries. It was an emotional week, but I am glad the family got some answers and some closure. Hurricane Helene caused a lot of damage and many deaths, and now yesterday Hurricane Milton hit Florida. The weather continues to be a crazy, dangerous force. 

Emma is just about done with volleyball She had her last practice on Monday, and then the player/parent game is on Saturday at 10:00 am, and then she is done for the season. She really enjoyed volleyball, and she had a lot of fun with the Good Shepherd girls. She is actually going to trick or treat with some of them this year, and she is really excited about that. 

Elliott continues his soccer season. His team got their first two wins last weekend, and Elliott scored his first goal of the year. He was super pumped, and we were very excited for him as well. The weather has been great for soccer, and Elliott really enjoys hanging with his teammates and playing soccer. It's been a fun season. He has two games left, and 3 practices, so his season is starting to wind down as well. 

This past weekend was a super busy one for us. On Friday evening, the kids and I went to For King and Country at the Denny. The concert was so good. Elliott had never been to an official Denny Premier Center Concert, and he loved it. He said it was the best concert he had ever attended. Emma also really loved it. They had stages that went up and down, awesome lights, energy, and overall just a great show. I'm really glad we went. John decided he didn't want to attend, so he dropped us off and picked us up for the concert, which worked really well. It was a fun evening, but it went until around 10:00pm, so we were all tired and ready for bed by the end. 

On Saturday, Emma and John went to Jerry Auto's 45th Anniversary Party, which was partially for work, and Elliott and I went to his soccer game. After the soccer game, Elliott and I got a free lunch at Hy-Vee, shopped, and then stopped at the library. After all that, we went home. John and I ran to Lupulin for Octoberfest and a beer. Then, we picked up the kids and went to the Stampede Game home opener. I got free tickets from a co-worker, and we got the kids some free jerseys. We ate an expensive supper at the Denny, watched two periods of hockey (they still aren't very good) and then we headed home. We were not home much at all during the day, so we were ready to get home and relax. 

On Sunday, we did the church, Sunday school thing, Then, we had another Elliott soccer game in the afternoon. Elliott scored a goal! It was very exciting. After soccer, we headed home to clean up and load up the truck, and then we headed to Hartford for our 4-H meeting. It was election of officers time, and Emma was elected to be secretary, so that was exciting. She seemed pretty pumped for it. I was proud of her for accepting the position. After the meeting. we headed out to Jim and Barb's house for supper with Samantha and Jeff. We also hauled out some lawn clippings, the animal zoo, and other odds and ends. 

It was a very busy, very tiring, but rewarding weekend. This week has flown by pretty quickly. We've had some practices, and Monday evening was so beautiful John, Elliott, and I decided to take our bikes to the bike trail while Emma had volleyball practice. It was a beautiful evening to bike ride. We put on a solid 6 miles (we ran out of daylight) and then John and Elliott played catch in the park for a while before we went to pick up Emma. 

On Tuesday, Emma and I went to Elliott's practice and played volleyball in the park, and walked around and just enjoyed the weather. It was another beautiful evening. Today, I had the day off from work. So, I spent the day doing some deep cleaning, going to the gym, running errands, and just overall enjoying myself. The kids and I are on our own tonight because John is on his work retreat. They went to Sioux City for today and tomorrow. So, tomorrow I have to shuffle kids to Tomczaks' house in the morning, and go into work a little later. It will work out, but it does take a little extra shuffling. 

Tonight, the kids and I are going to eat at the new Quickstar, and then just enjoy a quiet evening at home. The kids might play some Nintendo Switch in their fort they made downstairs, and I plan on watching some playoff baseball. The Royals, Tigers, and Guardians are all still in the playoffs, so they have been fun to watch. 

This weekend looks a little calmer for us. We have one soccer game for Elliott, a sleepover for Elliott, and that's about it. The rest we will just fill in as much as want to, and try to not be as busy. 

It's my favorite time of year, and I am loving every minute of it!

Volleyball 

Emma's Halloween Mask 

For King and Country 

Boston 2024

 We just got back from an amazing trip to Boston. John had an Inbound Marketing Conference in Boston, so he left on Tuesday after dropping the kids off at school. I held the fort down on Tuesday and Wednesday, before flying out on Thursday, after dropping off the kids at school. 

The kids had a great weekend with their grandparents. Emma had a volleyball game while we were gone, and they ended up winning their first match, so that was exciting. They spent Saturday at the farm, playing with their bunnies and just being farm kids. They also helped with the Touchmark pots in town. And then on Sunday, Elliott had a soccer game (they lost by 1) and then they all picked us up from the airport. 

Anyway, back to Boston. I flew out on Thursday, at around noon. Katie was nice enough to pick me up and bring me to the airport. I was literally the only person going through security, so it took all of 5 minutes to get through, then I got a coffee and waited around. I had to fly to Chicago first, had a 2 hours layover, and then onward to Boston. I landed in Boston around 8:00pm, and then had to get my bag from baggage claim and then a Lyft ride to our hotel. This was my first official time flying by myself. I was a little nervous about it, but it all went really, really well. I had a couple delays along the way, but overall, it was great. 

I met John at our hotel (The Omni Parker House), dropped off my luggage, and then went in search of food. We ended up at an Irish Pub. I got a New England Clam Chowder, which was amazing, and John got a dish which had Shepherd's Pie, beef stew, and and chicken pot pie, it was also good. Then, we headed out to walk through Boston Commons, the public park, and then we even saw the outside of the Cheers Bar. It was a great first evening in Boston. At around 11:00pm, we called it a night. 

On Friday, John had a pretty full day of sessions at his conference, so I was left on my own. We stopped at Dunkin Donuts for some breakfast, and then parted ways. I ended up downloading a Freedom Trail tour on my phone, and spent the next 4 hours doing the Freedom Trail walk. It was really amazing, and full of history. I saw State House, Park Street Church, the headstones of John Hancock, Paul Revere, Sam Adams, and more, the old State House, USS Constitution, Paul Revere's House, and Bunker Hill. I also made a few more stops along the way, including Mike's Pastry's and I got a mint chocolate chip cannoli, which was amazing. 

I ended up with 30,000 steps, but I had such a fun time exploring. I learned a lot of new fact about our American History, and Boston is just a fun, beautiful city to explore. It was kind of weird to explore on my own, but I still enjoyed it. 

John met up with me around 3:00pm. We ended up walking to the Sam Adams tap house and having some beers on the patio. This place had a fun vibe and the beers were really good. Then, we walked through Quincy Market and got some pizza for supper and just had fun exploring. 

At 6:15pm, we got an Uber ride to Fenway Park. We were lucky enough to have the Twins in town to play against the Red Sox. We arrived a little early to look around, snap some selfies, and take in the sights. Fenway Park is really cool, and full of history, but overall it's an old, kinda dumpy park. But, I loved seeing a Twin's Game there. We had really good seats in the outfield, and then we watched the boring-est baseball game ever. Each at bat was like 8 pitches long, we saw a ton of foul balls, and not much action. It was tied 1-1, and then went into extra innings. We watched one extra inning, and then we decided to leave, since the game was at like 3 hours and 25 minutes at that point. So, we ubered back to the hotel and called it a night. But, what a cool experience. We also were surrounded by Boston fans, who are known for getting rowdy, so that was entertaining. 

On Saturday, it was rainy, windy, and cool the entire day. We had plans to go see the USS Constitution and climb Bunker Hill, but those things were not an option with the weather, so we had to pivot a little. We ended up going to the JFK Library and Museum. This was a cool experience, and really have a good picture of JFK and his life and becoming President of the United States. And then of course it was sad when we walked through the halls about his assassination. We spent a solid 2 hours there, and then it was time for lunch. 

We took some advice from a local Bostonian, and went to Lolita's for lunch. It was really, really good Mexican food. I got steak tacos, and John got fish tacos, and then we shared them. We also got some chips and guacamole, which was also fabulous. 

After lunch, we walked to our boat tour around the harbor. We booked a boat tour before coming to Boston. We had a nice, large boat and took a great 90 minute tour around the Boston Harbor. We took in some great sites, and got some great views. We also learned a few more facts about Boston. It was still chilly, rainy and windy, but we made the best of it. After the tour, the rain let up a little, so we walked to Harpoon Brewery. We got a couple beers and a pretzel, and just enjoyed ourselves. 

Then, we had a 7:30pm reservation at Legal Seafood, which was also a recommendation. We knew this was our last decent meal in Boston, so we got a nice spread to try some different things. We ordered New England Clam Chowder, Lobster Bisque, Crab Cake, and then a Lobster Roll. It was amazing. Like really amazing. The crab cake was one of the best things I had ever eaten, and then the Lobster Roll was also amazing. We couldn't stop talking about how good the food was. It makes the seafood around here pure garbage. It was definitely a top 10 meal ever, and that's saying something. It was a great supper. 

We ended up walking toward our hotel, we needed a walk after all that food. We walked through the park a little again, and then we went to Beantown Pub for a couple drinks to end the night. We tried to soak everything in, because we knew we were leaving the next day. 

Sunday was a long day, full of travel. We started our day with a coffee and a walk, and then we decided to attend the 8:30 am church service at Park Street Church. It was really interesting to attend church in such an old, historic building so far from home. It was a good service, but the sermon went on and on for 45 minutes. so we left after the sermon. We walked through the historic cemetary again, and then we had to head to the hotel to pack and get ready to leave. 

We ordered out last Lyft ride, and then headed to the airport. We ended up with some time to kill, and there was a North End restaurant in the airport, so we got to enjoy some really good pasta before we got on our plane. 

Then, we traveled. We had a layover in Chicago again, and then on to Sioux Falls. The kids and Jim and Barb picked us up at the airport, and then we went to Dairy Queen for supper and stories, before heading home to do a lot of unpacking and laundry. 

John and I actually had Monday and Tuesday off as well, since we didn't know what exact days to take off 6 months ago. So, we have had plenty of time to catch up, clean, and get some errands done around the house. 

We had a really fun trip in Boston. I really enjoyed visiting, but would not want to live there. We did see some rats at times, and the traffic and crowds were a little much at times. But, the history and the big beautiful trees changing colors were pretty amazing to see. And traveling is just always fun. And the food was amazing. 

Touchmark Pots 

First Meal in Boston 

The State House 

Ben Franklin's Parent's grave 

Paul Revere's Grave 

The Old State Building-site of Boston Massacre 

Paul Revere's House 

Paul Revere with North Church in Background 

USS Constitution 

Bunker Hill

Fenway Park 

Emma's volleyball game 

My cannoli 

JFK Library 

Lolita's 

Our boat cruise 

Farm shennanigans 

Boston Skyline 

Camping in Yankton

 A couple months ago, we decided to reserve a camping weekend in September. When we made our reservations, we had no idea there would be a volleyball team, when the soccer games would be, or that this weekend in September would be 87 degrees all weekend. We were planning for a nice fall weekend, with beef stew and sweatshirt weather, and that's not at all what we got. We also missed a volleyball tournament in Watertown for Emma, and a soccer game for Elliott. But, both kids were ok with missing those things, and were super excited to camp. 

On Friday, we got packed up and headed out as soon as we were home from school and work. By the time we made it to the campground, it was around 6:00pm. We got unpacked, and settled, and then ate a nice supper. Jim, Barb, and Katie also camped with us. Jim was nice enough to pull our camper down to the campground and get it set up for us. After supper, we all went on a short bike ride, and then we got a fire going and enjoyed a beautiful evening around a fire. We had some s'mores and then the kids headed in to watch a movie, and we had some adult time around the fire. 

On Saturday, we woke up to a beautiful morning. It was around 65, sunny, and just beautiful. We made some breakfast sandwiches and then we headed to Mazing Acres, which is a pumpkin patch about 5 minutes away from the campground. I got tickets a week ago when they were 50% off and we all enjoyed a nice morning at the pumpkin patch. The kids had an absolute blast. They went on the tube slide, obstacle course, corn crib, apple cannon, paint gun, corn maze, and many other activities. It was a hot day, but we were all having a good time. I was really impressed with all the activities, and it wasn't super busy there, which was also really nice. They also sold some beautiful mums and just had a really nice vibe. 

After a solid 3 hours, we headed back to the campsite and ate some lunch. The kids were hot and tired, so they headed into the AC to chill for a while, and Katie, John, and I headed to Yankton to Ben's Brew Station to have a couple craft beers. It was really nice, and those beers tasted really good after the hot, busy morning. 

After an hour or so, we got back to the campsite. Jim and Barb rented E-bikes for the weekend, and everyone had a really good time trying them out. John, Katie, and I rode bikes to Pearson Ranch to meet the kids and Jim and Barb for some pickle ball. We played a couple rounds of pickle ball, and then headed back to make supper. We had some burgers, watched the Jackrabbit Football game (they beat Augie) and then we all called it a night around 10:00pm. We were all pretty tired from the busy, hot day. 

Today, was also busy and tiring. We started the day with some pancakes, sausage, eggs, and toast. Then, John, Katie and I went hiking at Gavin's Point. After our hike, we painted some pumpkins with the kids. Then it was time for a light lunch, and to pack up and head to the farm. 

At Jim and Barb's house we unpacked the camper, helped with some bunny chores and let the kids hold their bunnies and chickens, and then we finally headed for home. Now, we are catching up on laundry, getting ready for another week, and watching Modern Family. 

This next week is going to be even more insane. John leaves for Boston on Tuesday, and I leave for Boston on Thursday, and we have all the practices and meets and such. We have to get kids packed up and to their grandparent's, and I have to get myself packed up. It's going to be crazy. But, I am super excited to travel to Boston and explore the city. 

We are officially done camping for the year. We had a pretty quiet camping season this year, but when we did go, we had a great time and had fun. We plan to camp more next summer, but until then, I'm ready for a break. Here's to another busy week!