And of course ....Grandma's kitties

They are much bigger than this summer when we delivered them. And when we delivered them we were under the impression that there were two females. One trip to the vet later and there was a name change for one of them since "she" was actually a "he".

Three Lakes adventure

We stayed in WI into the next week (it's just too far of a drive for a weekend). Monday morning mom had to go over to Three Lakes to take down an exhibit she had in the art center there. The kids and I walked down the street a few blocks to a really nice town park.

On the way back to Minocqua we looked for an interesting new place to have lunch. We have always seen signs for the Black Bear Lodge in St. Germain so we decided to find it and try it out. The nice thing about this time of the year is that most places are very quiet on a weekday, in this case we were the only people there for lunch!

Mom and Alex had been wanting to go mini golfing since summer. On the way out of town that morning they had noticed that once of the places that has mini golf in addition to a garden/landscaping center had their "open" sign turned on in the mini golf building so on the way home we stopped to see if they were actually open. The garden center was but they said there was no reason why we couldn't golf, in face they hadn't drained the ponds and pipes yet so they even turned on the waterfalls and fountains for us! And I talked them into an off season rate :)

It was a perfect day and the mini golf course was actually kind of neat. Since it was at a garden center, each hole had a horticultural type theme - certain types of trees and/or flowers. I would love to go there in the spring and see everything in bloom.

First weekend of October

Thursday Sept 30th Ben and I went over to Interlochen to see Jason Mraz in concert. It was a great show and a beautiful night to be in that outdoor auditorium. We didn't get home until almost midnight and the kids did great with a babysitter - Maya even went to sleep in about 10 min. which is a big deal for her.

We got up early in the morning on friday. I took Alex out of school for the day and we started our journey to the cabin. I was so excited to go, I hadn't been to the cabin in the fall in so long and the kids had never been there in the fall at all. I thought it would be kind of an adventure for them having to use the fireplace for heat and spending so much time outside regardless of the weather.

It was perfect most of the weekend. A little rain here and there but mostly sunny and cool, cold nights but not freezing.

We had a really fun going away/baby shower party for Jared and Zoe saturday night and the kids managed to hold it together very well despite lots of fresh air, lots of excitement and lots of people.

Autumnal Equinox (Mabon)

This year the weather was pretty dismal so we didn't get out for a hike or anything after school. It looks like tomorrow we may get to do that, it's finally suppose to dry out a bit.
We took the kernels off some ears of Indian corn and soaked them to soften them to be able to string garlands/necklaces. They took a LONG time to soften at all so that project will be attempted later this afternoon.
We also made (are making) dream pillows. We put some herbs inside pillow forms and the kids each picked out their favorite piece of fabric that they dyed this summer to make a cover. We sewed the covers together last night/this morning and I just have to finish the last seams later. Everyone is looking forward to good dreams tonight!

Maya's dance class

I took some pictures this week (they asked that we not try to take them the first week as the girls adjusted to going into class without a parent.)
She loves it and "practices" at home. They do ballet for the majority of the class then do just a few minutes of tap at the end.

And now, finally...

this blog is caught up to the present time. We are settling into our new fall routine and enjoying the fall weather - well maybe not today because it is soaking wet outside but most days we've been enjoying the fall weather. Lots of sandbox playing and bike riding.

Little Dragon

Alex got to choose one class or activity to do this fall and he decided he wanted to go back to Tae Kwon Do classes. So he started that again last week. He is old enough now to be a Little Dragon (before he was a Little Ninja) so that meant a new uniform and starting over with a white belt.
He's had two classes so far and is really enjoying it.

First day of school - 1st Grade!

Not a great picture this year! We were in a hurry and Alex was super excited - hard to get him to stand still! He's in the same class as last year, same teachers (it's a K-2 class) so there was a lot familiar for him. So far he's come home happy and excited every day. Most mornings he doesn't want to get up but he usually perks up once he is upright for a few minutes.

More Labor Day weekend - Mayfield Pond

Beautiful day for a hike!