Halloween!

We had such a fun Halloween this year. Minnesotans do it up big, and I think it must have to do with the fact that it's the last holiday before it's bitterly cold! The weekend before Halloween, we went to the costume ball at Bryce's school. It was adorable.

There were root beer floats and a dj with some serious kid dancing.

The next day we went trick or treating in our "downtown". All of the stores passed out candy. Here are the boys, popcorn balls from the jeweler dressed as Dorothy. Life is good.

That night, we went to Edison's Halloween party. They had carnival games, and it was super fun!

On the day of Halloween, Bryce and I went to a city wide toddler Halloween party. There were crafts, and they paraded the kiddos around in their costumes. Ironman's favorite was the ball pit!

During the week of Halloween, Conan's office had all of the kids in to trick or treat. They passed out full sized candy bars at each station. The boys have no idea that never. happens. in real life! Here's chris doing a little trading with Dad.

Here we are at our neighbor's Halloween party. Too fun!

Bryce got his face painted at school for Halloween. He was very proud of his ghost!

And finally... Trick or treating! I can't believe the boys have never been house to house before! A little different than in the apartment! Our good friends, Oliver and Cora, joined in on the fun!

Lego and Dad!

I told you they like Halloween here! 

Charlotte's Web

A couple of weekends ago I got to take Chris to Charlotte's Web at the children's theater. It was even more special because we had just finished reading the book together. They did such a good job, Chris was mesmerized during the whole thing. 

The kids were able to write on the web. Chris asked if he could write more than one name, and then he put Chris and Mom. Love him!

Bryce

These are not pictures of Bryce, but they do tell a few stories about him. Here's a bit about him from his teacher at school. I love that she notices what a sweetie he is. That day an ambulance came to his school for the kids to get in, and it sounds like he was terrified of it. He still asks me if there's going to be an ambulance again when I drop him off at school.

Here's our backyard. Today Bryce woke up saying a long long time ago (last night), there were goats in our yard (deer), and then they went into the forest to find their mom, the squirrel. (?) 

And here's one more example why we need to work with Bryce on his animals. Today he saw these and said look, "it's the horse and his mom". Glad we got this kid out of the city when we did!

Apple orchard

We had a great day at the apple orchard last week. It turned out to be the last warm day here, so we lucked out. They had hayrides.

A corn maze.

Fun rides.

More rides.

Hay to jump in.

A fun playground.

And the most delicious apple donuts, that we were too busy scarfing down to take a pic with. It was the perfect fall day!

Soccer star!

Chris had his first soccer practice in Minnesota yesterday. He did great! He listened, and followed all of the coach's directions. It was so fun to see him out there! Go Chris, go!

MOA with Bryce

Poor Bryce has been really sad about dropping chris off at school. I wanted to do something special for him this week. We decided to take a trip to the Mall of America for rides. He was a little apprehensive about going on some of them by himself, he's used to big bro holding his hand, but after a few minutes he loved it. He said some of the funniest things that day. 

We were waiting in line at chipotle...

Bryce: "I'm so hungry"

Mom: "that's why we're getting you lunch"

Bryce : "no, that's why we're getting me a cookie" (as he points to Great American Cookie Company)

Mom: "no, a quesadilla"

Bryce: "no a train cookie" (as he points to the massive cookie cake)

At ikea he sees straws that we have and says "mom, make me a smoothie and put one in?" Like I'm going to pull a blender out of my purse and get to work. This kid really makes me laugh : )

First Day of Kindergarten!

I'm not sure where the last five years went, but Chris started Kindergarten this week! We really like the school that he's attending, and the kids all seem very nice. It was a hot week, and the school doesn't have air conditioning. So, half days all week, with some tired and hot kiddos. Here are some first day pics...

 Dad surprised Chris at school to walk him in.

 He walked right into the classroom and sat down to play Legos with the other boys. He barely looked back when we said goodbye. 

 Bryce was another case. He balled when we left. Poor little bro!

When Chris got home we had a first day of school celebration with cookie cake! We're so proud of him! He's handling new school, new city, new friends like a champ. Good job Chris!

I

Wisonsin

We had so much fun on our Wisconsin trip. It was definitely the opposite of our beachy NY trips we uses to take, but in a good way. Here's Bryce. Look closely. Yep, that's a frog on his hand!

Here he is throwing rocks into the lake.

Both the boys snacking by the boat. That's the life!

We went on a long ATV ride (3 hours round trip!) and there was a random big, blue rock. So we took a picture by it, why not?

Conan on the 4 wheeler. We're not in Manhattan any more, friends!

When we got to the restaurant after half of our ride they had a turkey. It was beautiful. I sure hope it's their pet and not their Thanksgiving dinner!

The people we stayed with did some serious hunting. They had a friend with a "game room" they wanted to show the kids. We assumed pinball and Pac-man

Wrong game. Chris walked into this room (with Lion King music and a lighting display that turned night with stars) and said "this is the worst game room I've ever seen". It definitely looked like a museum and was the opposite of what we were expecting.

Bryce sitting on an elephant hoof. I think it's fair to say I've never typed that before.

The boys on the swing.

The last day we were there, we saw a big orange blob in the distance. We tried to figure it out, but finally had to take a trek out and see... That is was mushrooms! They had all grown together in a ball over night.

Bryce and I were sitting outside one day and we saw a bald eagle flying in circles over us.

Group shot! We had such an entertaining vacation!

The afternoon we came back, we went to Linden Hills and got ice cream at Sebastian Joe's for the first time. Who knew they had turtles in the back?

Bear hugs for Grandpa Bob!

A walk across the Archway bridge!

Kisses for Grandma Kimmy before she left! What a fun trip!