Interstate State Park and more fall fun!

The beginning of October Linnea's school had a family fall picnic but I couldn't go since it was in the middle of the day. I sent a sandwich full of love instead for her :) The neighborhood moms and grandma were there though so I know she had a fun time and felt like family was there anyways. 

We went to Barnes and Noble one Friday night for their storytime. There was a new Halloween book out this year and the author was there to read it  and then make a monster craft afterwards.

 The next day we finally headed to Taylor's Falls. I have been wanting to take day trip there for years and we finally did it! There werent as many colors there as I was hoping for but it was still beautiful and fun to walk/hike around. 

Burger King lunch on the way.

 We started out with Harper in the stroller but quickly learned it wasnt stroller friendly terrain. At all.  So thankfully Harper tolerated the carrier for a good chunk of the day :)

Time to climb!

 We stopped at a new Apple Orchard on the way home as well. Pleasant Valley. It was very cute! Not nearly as commercialized as some but still had plenty of little things to do and most importantly we got to pick apples!

sitting in the corn pit. we almost lost her mitten there.

Grandma and papa joined us for our day trip too :)

Wagon ride!

 Time for Apple Picking!

We could mix and match among the three available so thats what we did, minus the Harolson. Too sour for us. We went with Cortland and HoneyCrisp.

 Haystacks and Pumpkins!

 Chickens and chicks!

 And some silly goats :)

The next day we went and cheered my friend running in the Twin Cities Marathon. We found him at mile 18 and he was so surprised to see us. The girls did great cheering especially since we were underdressed for that chilly day!

We then headed to my parents to meet up with Erik and his boys and meet their new puppy Stella.

I also brought some pumpkin beer to share and I made apple crisp with those yummy orchard apples:)

Long Lasting Summer

We had a warm, like 80 degrees warm, end to September so after church that last Sunday of September we headed to the castle/pirate ship park one more time and someone figured out the monkey bars that day! Honestly she hasnt done it since without help but she sure was proud and excited this day! These are perfect bars because they are so close to the ground...I think that gives her some more confidence :)

Harper enjoyed the same slide/stairs route as last time and they both gobbled up one of our last picnics too.

We got home and found a "new" porch! Daddy worked hard to the floor leveled off this summer and this fall we finally got the floor put in by him too. Its funny how long some things take to start but then once we do it it doesnt take that long to finish. Hope that made sense. Anyways...the girls look at it as a new playroom. We spent as much time as we could this fall but now I think it will be too cold. So some of those toys are back in our house.

We also a chilly day at the end of September and went to Como Elementary School playground with jackets on! Crazy MN temps...once day we were wearing dresses and sandals and the next fleeces adn pants!

NAMI Walk

My family and I think society in general is becoming more and more aware of Mental Illness and we decided to do a walk in support of it through an organization called NAMI, which strives to lose the stigma of Mental Illness and raise peoples awareness of it and increase their comfort in talking about it. It was a beautiful day at Minnehaha Falls. 

We played at the park, looked at the waterfall and went on a 3 mile walk. 

 The girls and I were so hot so we treated ourselves to some Fro Yo afterwards :) I had also already run 11 miles in training for my upcoming marathon so I really felt I deserved it! (which is done now, so stay tuned for that post) 

I am so behind!

Linnea and I went to a garage sale down the road from us and found her some long sleeved shirts, pants and these high shoes she is wearing while singing/dancing to Let it Go...we havent let Frozen go and when you see our Halloween costumes it will be confirmed again that we still LOVE it!

September Date!

Our September date was a fun new experience for us...we went to a free open house at a Brewing Company/Tap Room called Indeed. It wasnt quite finished yet but they had an open house for some free tasting. We got there a little later than wanted because I maybe forgot my ID, or thought I did so we went back home to get it but it turned out I had it all along. I was quite crabby about the situation so thank goodness Chris is very patient and was okay continuing on with our date. So by the time we got there they only had 4 beers left to try but we tried them all and liked them! We would love to go back with friends and a few more breweries to make a tour of it. 

From the Tap Room we headed to the movies...we haven't been to a full priced new movie in a long long long time so that was fun. We had a little time to spare before it started so we went to a new bar/restaurant right by the theater at Rosedale Mall. It was called Digby's and they had a great beer selection...I tried the Southern Tier Pumpking. YUMMY!!!

We went to see The Drop which I had never heard of. Apparently it is going to be a book by Dennis Lehane who Chris really likes. And I liked Shutter Island which he also wrote. It was a good movie and a great date! We checking our 12 dates of the year off!