Happy Halloween!

Frankiestein (Alyssa) and Skelita (Madison) had a great time trick-or-treating with their Girl Scout Troop even though is was only about 40 degrees out tonight.  They even finally conquered their fears of the Halloween House on Lodge Drive and made it to the door to get their treats!  We finished off the night showing the girls the progress on the new house and we are anxious for our closing next week!

Carving Pumpkins

The girls (aka Grandma and me) carved pumpkins tonight.  The girls helped draw the faces and clean out the insides of the pumpkins but Grandma and I did the carving.  We went more traditional this year due to time constraints with studying for exams on my part ... the girls didn't seem to mind at all though ...

The Rainbow Loom aka A Test of Mom's Patience

The girls and I were dropped off at Michael's Craft Store this morning to attend an introductory session on The Rainbow Loom ... We met up with Tammy and the boys (Heath is currently under the table in this picture).   Until yesterday, I was happily existing in life without full knowledge of what this Rainbow Loom craze was really about ... but now I know ... it is a stip of plastic pegs and lots and lots of rubberbands, a modified crochet hook and unending patience (on the part of the parent, obviously not the child who has a break down every time the rubberbands pop off the pegs when they are not suppose too).

After two hours and about $50 later ... we had success with bracelet making 101.  We are now the proud owners of a special plastic compartment box and many color sorted rubberbands.  Now if I just had the time to keep helping the girls learn this thing ... LOL

Como Zoo

Halloween Cakes with the Hokansons

Our little family got together with the Hokanson Family last night and had a great evening filled with food, beverages, cake decorating and lots of playing!  Tammy and I got dinner going and for the adults tried our hands at homemade sushi rolls ... we even made a veggie one for Miss Madison, which she loved!

The girls had a cake to decorate together and the boys each had one of their own to decorate with all kinds of spooky Halloween treats and toys.  They had a blast and the cakes turned out pretty cute!

The girls' cake completely finished and ready to be tried ... although we are waiting for Grandma and Grandpa to eat it as Grandma baked it for us!

After making the cakes, the kiddos settled in to play some video games and watch movies and the adults took a breather on the deck ... great friends are a necessity in life at all ages!

Fizzy's Soda Shoppe & Ice Cream Parlor

Ending the beautiful day with a little ice cream ...

Family Adventure Day

We decided that today we would jump in the SUV and head Northeast to check out the start of the fall colors.  We aimed in the direction of Stillwater and areas North from there.  It was an overcast day with a big chance of rain, but we wanted to take the girls on the road and see what we could find.

We headed out mid-morning and found ourselves in Hudson, Wisconsin for lunch at a little Neapolitan pizzeria called Bricks and the food was wonderful!

We made the drive from there through downtown Stillwater and North from there.  We stopped whenever we felt like there was something to maybe see and a little roadside observation point was a great choice along the St. Croix River.

Somewhere along the way, we came across The Franconia Sculpture Park ... so we stopped and took a tour around the 20 acres and loved what we found, even if it was raining off and on while we walked around the area.

We ended our rainy afternoon adventure with a drive back home and a stop by Crave for some pasta and sushi.  The girls really loved the sculpture park and asked to go again sometime.  It was a wonderful little find in the middle of nowhere!