Happy Halloween!!!!

All ready for the candy ... bring it on!!!!!

Anoka County Farms

With Halloween being tomorrow, the fact that we hadn't even thought much about getting pumpkins to carve suddenly became a thought of something that we HAD to get accomplished today.   So mommy did some Googling (girls Google is the popular search engine for today's internet and has morphed into Googling which means to look something up on the internet using ANY search engine) ... anyway ... Mommy found Anoka County Farms and saw that not only did they have pumpkins, but they also had hayrides AND pony rides ... daddy just nodded with a smile knowing it didn't matter and that the ponies sealed this deal.

It was an hours drive North and it was a beautiful fall day with lots of sun and a chilly wind and the drive turned out to be a very nice one.   We arrived around noon time but the girls were excited to see the ponies that they totally forget about lunch.

Of course, the ponies were our first order of business.  We purchased the necessary tickets for all the activities we decided to do and we were on our way.   The girls LOVED the ponies, but we expected nothing less.

Alyssa got to get her pony ride first and she got to ride "Flash" the black pony, who she promptly renamed Black Beauty.

Madison got to ride "Peppy" who is now also known as "Flower" according to Miss M.   Peppy was a brown or, according to Madison, the "skin" colored pony.

After pulling the girls away from the pony corral, they decided to jump in the bounce house for a few minutes before jumping on the hay wagon for tractor pulled hayride around the farm.  Both girls thought sitting in the hay on the wagon with the tractor pulling us was pretty cool, mommy was more concerned about not getting any hay down her backside!

There were quite a few fun spots for photos and we took advantage of a few of those before running through the corn maze for a few short minutes, until mommy's heels on her boots kept sinking in the mud.

Finally, after all the fun ... it was time to find our pumpkins!   The girls made fast choices and stopped for our yearly pumpkin picture to make mommy happy.

We stopped by to say good bye to Black Beauty and Flower one more time ... and the girls are already planning our next visit!

Our Last ... ECFE Harvest Hoopla 2010

Mommy and girls headed out this afternoon to Trick-or-Treat in our little downtown area here in Jordan.   A few of the businesses in the area opened their doors for the community children to dress up and get some treats!   Since we had nothing to do and a few hours to spare before the big Hoopla started, mommy and the girls decided to join the fun downtown.

Our little unicorn and little mermaid posed long enough for a picture and then we were on our way.   They had a lot of fun visiting the local paper, Ford dealership, grocery store, hardware store and a few other fun stops along the way.   Things were all going very smoothly, until we passed a lady sitting in her yard smoking a cigarette.  She was a nice lady who was excited to see the girls dressed up ... until Miss Madison decided to lecture the poor thing about why not to smoke.   "Umm, excuse me, but you shouldn't smoke, it is disgusting and smells bad."   Although the child spoke the truth, it was a truth maybe not necessary to share with the stranger enjoying her cigarette.   Mommy quickly apologized to the lady and loudly explained to Miss Madison the finer points of keeping our opinions to ourselves, especially when we do not know the people involved personally ... *sigh*

Next, we headed to the school to attend our very last Harvest Hoopla.   Tammy and the boys were meeting us there for dinner, games, dancing and ice cream.   Mommy still remembers bringing her two little ladybugs to their first Hoopla back 2007 at age 2.  We have been to it every year since.  Sadly, the Hoopla is for ages 5 and under and we will be leaving the ECFE family next year for Kindergarten and new and different traditions to find for ourselves.   The Hoopla has been a highlight for us each fall and we always enjoy the boys meeting up with us to enjoy the fun.

This year was no different ... even Heath found his way to have a great time!!!

We started out with a quick bite to eat enjoying nachos, walking tacos and hotdog before finding our way to the little gym for games, prizes and a bouncing action.

We finished up the night with a lot of running, spinning and dancing to the music in the gym and finally enjoying our traditional ice cream sundaes.   It was a great evening spent with great friends and we are already looking for the next big event to take the place of our beloved Harvest Hoopla for the next years to come.   Thank you ECFE for another great party!!!!

Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

Today we woke up bright and early to enjoy a field trip with our ECFE classmates and friends to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.   It turned out to be a beautiful, although slightly chilly day, but the sun was shining and we enjoyed exploring the gardens and woodland areas.

The girls' friend, Kamryn, joined our little group and the three girls had a wonderful time together!  

Even though most of the water features throughout the various gardens were already shut down for the winter,  we did manage to find a few roses still blooming and, of course, we just HAD to smell them!

We spent a lot of time following trails through the woodlands and the girls all loved the fact that the breeze that day kept a steady stream of leaves falling all around them from the tree tops.

The girls did find an area that still had water flowing in it and we stopped to toss a few leaves into the water and watch them float away.

On the hike back to the main building for lunch, our little trio found another little friend on the trail and they decided to explore a lookout tower to see the view from above!

We all arrived back at the main building and decided that we would go the restaurant for lunch.  The three girls shared an extra large slice of cheese pizza and a few snacks of crackers and apple slices.  After lunch we spent the last bit of time we had playing hide and seek in the house made of branches and sticks ... which was amazing by the way!!   Looking out the window made for a great picture!

We had a wonderful morning at the Arboretum and will definitely be returning in the spring to see the tulips bloom that were just being planted in the ground during our visit today.

Maybe You Should Settle Down Before ... Uff, Too Late ...

Yes, Mommy hates to say I told you so, but ... "Maybe you should settle down before someone gets hurt."

A mere five seconds after Mommy made the statement above, we have a child who tripped while running along side her sister in the living room and subsequently lost her battle with the staircase banister ... and no, it was NOT Madison this time ...

Minutes after the crying stopped:

Three Hours Later:

Two DAYS later:

INJURY UPDATE 10/30/10 ... We are still waiting for the bruise on the cheek to finish disappearing and for a hard lump to disappear.  We see the doctor for physicals on the 5th and we will have it checked out if still not healed 100%.

Just Because It Is A Nice Autumn Day

The fall colors were bright today and the sun was shining.  We decided to take advantage of the few nice days we likely have left this year and went out to play in the yard and decided to sneak into our neighbor, Sherrin's, front yard for a few pictures too ... (thanks Sherrin ... hehehehe)!

The Prince & Princess

Today in the land of Happily Ever After ... we were honored to meet a Prince and Princess who were attending a local ball ...

They danced ...

They kissed ...

 And they lived happily ever after!