Carve it

We moved the kitchen table, laid down some newspaper, and had a pumpkin carving party with the kids.  It was great for the first 10 minutes they were interested in it.  After they took off to play cars or watch a movie, Ross and I finished up the carving and called them back in for the cool part, the lighting of the jack-o-lanterns.

Nora wasn't too interested in the gunky parts, but she did try to eat a raw pumpkin seed. 

 

Gus thought the finished product was so cool! Oh, and you'll notice he is wearing his absolute scariest shirt ever in prep for Halloween.  Frightening!

Later, everyone cut loose and laughed (OK, maybe just Nora).  The guys took this app pretty seriously. 

Happy Early Halloween!

Orchards, patches, and farms

'Tis the season to hit up every apple orchard, pumpkin patch, and fall festival in the tri-state area.  And it's been so balmy we can't help but get out there and enjoy every second of these above average temperatures.

Gus I traveled to Mpls for a 2-day visit the last week of September.  He got to play with Gabby, and Michelle and I got to catch up, so a win-win obviously. On our way back to Fargo, we stopped at the lovely Deardorf Family Apple Orchard in Waconia, MN.  We met Erica and her kiddos there, too.  Here's Gabby, Grady, and Gus on the trailer ride out to the Honeycrisps. 

 It's times like this that we really miss Minnesota.  Look, trees!

Erica and Michelle smiled as they thought about all the baking that was about to go down.  Erica's from-scratch apple pie recipe is a blue ribbon winner, after all.  We didn't just hit up the apple orchard to kill time, people.  Erica needed the perfect apples and I think she got them.

 The weekend before our trip to Mpls, we attended Fargo's Fall Festival.  Nora is tall, but not quite tall enough.

 We met our friends, Jake and Taylor at the festival.  The kids decorated cookies in between playing games and winning prizes.

Finally, we made a family trip to a pumpkin patch just NW of Fargo.  Nora was interested in the petting zoo animals. Oh my gosh, is her dress too short?  Yes.  But she grows faster than most kids, plus it was 82 degrees that day so the leggings had to go.  Also, this dress is too cute to not be worn (thanks, Sofie!). Go with it!

 Gus liked torturing himself in the mini Haunted House (which wasn't very scary).

 Cousins in a super large chair. Just missing Hava!

 Children of the corn.  Cute.

 Christy, Will, and Josh made it through the corn maze with no problem.

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 Nora and Will are buddies.  We love it.

By the way, Grandpa Dave fixed our laptop so this blog is back in biz!  Thank you Gpa Dave.  We owe you.  I trust you more than I would the geek squad.  Our photos and videos are safe so now I have no excuse to not blog.  Dangit, kind of.  I mean, I must admit it was nice to not feel the pressure of an out of date blog.  It was so easy to blame my lack of postings on a faulty computer.  Well, that break is over so I'll get focused again and make this a priority.

Happy Fall everyone!