Happy Halloween!

I love holidays like there when I get to go back in time on Timehop. I’ll start way back and zoom forward and the go WAY BACK and then end up with TODAY! 

I can’t believe this is our 9th Halloween with little people to dress up. Well...maybe kind of the 10th.

Before that we had Kona, who celebrated at least a couple Halloweens as a MAD BEE.

And then, when we could coordinate with a baby, she was either a MAD BEE or a MAD BULL.

And then we could coordinate two little people and she was a MAD COW. 

She really was a trooper.

We did a great job of coordinating the girls (and then Luna) up through last year.

Pirates and mermaids go together, right?

I have such fun memories of Halloween as a kid, because our family always went to a church Halloween party and dressed up as a unit.

Let me give you a bigger version of the bottom right (the ALIEN family) because it was EPIC.

This year wasn’t so coordinated between all three little beings, but at least Maya and Luna matched (well there was a happy unicorn and a MAD UNICORN).

Happy Halloween!

Timehop Tuesday

Happy Tuesday! First up, GOOFY 1ST GRADERS:

And then, Maya and Lucy!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Sunday!

Yesterday morning the girls and I were out the door by 7am to head to Target so we had breakfast there.  When we got home, Maya and Luna had some snuggle time.

It was Halloween costume day at dance class yesterday, so here's a preview of 2019 Halloween!  Callie is a "Mizzou Tiger" an Maya is...what else?...a UNICORN.



Yesterday afternoon we met Dan and Hanna at Centennial Lakes to take in the fall colors and take some family pictures.  There were A LOT OF PICTURES TAKEN in order to get one or two good ones.  So it goes with children and a dog!



Here is the best one from this round:



We tried again on a quilt near a walkway of trees.



And here's the best one from this set!



And there were a couple cute ones of the girls too...

And the dogs!

Later Dan and Hanna ended up coming over for an impromptu pizza dinner (and before dinner BINGO).  The girls are getting excited for a Gosselin cousin!



Today we went to downtown to hang out with Boom, Iris, Auntie Yoda, Uncle Craigles and Lucy!



Click here for some cute videos!

Later we took Luna on a run and then Spookified our house.

Have a great week!

A Picture Update

Happy Friday! This was a busy week for us- Chris or I or the girls had something every night after school. So the few pics I managed to capture were random at home activities.

Have a great weekend!

Timehop Tuesday

Happy Tuesday! I have some of the girls and some of the sisters. Love them all!

Weekend Wrap-Up: The MEA in Duluth Edition!

Happy Sunday!

We left on Friday morning for a whirlwind 56 hour or so getaway in Duluth! As you can see, we were all excited to get out of town.

That is Callie's typical first response face for my camera now....it is truly lovely. ;)

Our first stop once we got into town was to go on the PUMPKIN train! It was a 1.5 hour excursion out to a pumpkin"patch" (more like a field where they placed a bunch of pumpkins and hay bales).  It was fun to be on a real train and we got to see some Duluth scenery during the ride.







After the train ride we went to the Train Museum, where there was a fall festival going on with lots of free activities.



Then we headed down to Canal park! We went by the lake and walked out to the lighthouse.  The girls had fun chasing seagulls around too.

I LOVE Maya's scrunchy nose here!

Right after the top left pictures was taken a big wave came and both girls' backs got SOAKED.
Good thing they were wearing their raincoats!

We were finally able to check in to our hotel, the Edgewater Waterpark Hotel (it has definitely seen better days...and that's all I'll say about that) and checked out the arcade and min-golf course.

We had a late dinner (it was BUSY in Duluth this weekend so we did a lot of waiting for meals) and got to bed late.  There was an outdoor movie playing outside our balcony (obviously catering to families who DON'T put their kids to bed early, unlike us) so it took some time for everyone to calm down and fall asleep.  We had so many white noise apps going in our room to combat the sounds of the movie.  But no matter- the girls were up BRIGHT AND EARLY at 6:30am.  There is a spot in the lobby just for parents with early rising children- with a coffee shop and train tables.  So the girls and I spent some time there yesterday morning while Chris slept a bit more.

And then we were the first ones at the water park!

As you can see, it was pretty fun!

We did waterslides OVER AND OVER AND OVER and my Fitbit clocked 67 flights of stairs because
the waterslides started UP HIGH.

There was even a heated outdoor pool and hot tub so we spent some time outside swimming even though it was only 50 degrees out.


Click here for a link to a few videos from the arcade and water park.

After a few hours the water park started getting pretty busy and we were all getting tired and hungry.  So we headed to lunch and then to explore Glensheen Mansion!  The property is beautiful and the girls each got a "treasure book" with specific items to look for in each room of the tour.  

Then we headed to the 7 Bridges trail and did some hiking. It was the most perfect fall day!

And then...we ran into the Helds!



After the kids played we all went all the way up to Hawk Ridge and saw the beautiful views of Duluth below.



Then we headed back to Canal park for a bit of shopping and dinner at Little Angie's so Jenna, her mom Jane, and I could get margaritas (it was necessary after hiking all afternoon and keeping energetic children from falling into cold streams or slipping on rocks)! And they messed up my meal a bit so they brought us two giant bowls of fried ice cream for free.  The kids LOVED it.

This morning the girls slept a bit later (til 7am...hooray!) and then we went to the breakfast buffet for breakfast with a pretty view of the sunrise over the lake. 

Then it was back to the water park for another couple hours before getting ready to check out.

Chris took one for the team this morning and swam again so I could stay dry, just relax and take the pictures.

We hit up Canal Park one more time for a souvenir on the way out of town.  The girls each chose a glass necklace from a local glass blowing shop.


Back at home we did yard work and laundry and tried to mentally prepare for the busy week ahead. And then later the girls and Chris did some playing before bed.

But each girl kept saying how much fun they had in Duluth.  It just goes to show that even a quick trip up north creates wonderful family memories!

#gratitude

Have a great week!

Update: Timehop just reminded me today is Maya’s baptismal anniversary! God bless Maya Leigh!