turkey day and bowling

Isabelle had a very exciting Thanksgiving weekend. We had a four day weekend and managed to mix in two turkey dinners, a bowling birthday party and a lot of house cleaning and other projects.

Isabelle Gina and I made this cute little fruit Turkey for Thanksgiving dinner and Grandma Barbs. It was a pretty fun little food craft. We made turkey sugar cookies the day before but didnt take any pictures of them.

Cousin Kaylee turned 5 and we celebrated with a sunday afternoon of bowling in Monticello. The kids really only managed to throw about 5 or 6 frames before totally losing interest but it was a very fun time.

rapunzel....boo!

Isabelle decided to dress up as Rapunzel this year. Not a stretch as she has the dress and wears it qute often. She was excited to have sophie dress as Pascal (Rapunzel's lizard friend). Sophie didnt like the costume very much but at least she kept it on for a picture or two.

It was a little chilly so we had to trade in the princess crown for a stocking cap

Pascal....

What a cute pair.

Our little Princess...

On the Saturday before Halloween our neighbors hosted a rather large party. All of the kids dressed up as did most of the parents. The kiddos played carnival games, had a costume parade and eventually settled in for a movie.

Isabelle, Miley and Sienna in the costume parade.

The whole gang of costumed kiddos.

Gina and Isabelle with our pumpkins.

haircut!

Isabelle got quite the haircut this weekend. Her hair was very long and had a tendancy to always get in the way. Seems like it was always in her face, dangling in dinner, or being chewed on. Hopefully her cute new style will be a little easier to manage.

Apple orchard, chopsticks and visiting old friends...

This weekend we visited the Apple Jack Apple Orchard with our friends the Ohmes. What a fun place. Even with massive crowds of people there is plenty to see and do. It spreads out over a huge area so it never feels quite as crowded as it is. The Girls had a blast at the petting zoo, horse rides, wagon ride and of course the huge inflatable pillow (jumper). We also shot an apple cannon but didnt get any pictures of that.

Isabelle and Olivia....

Isabelle had been on pony rides at carnivals before but nothing quite like this. The ride was on a little loop through the woods which is more fun than walking in a circle under a tent...Her horses name was Jewels, she thought that was pretty cool.

The highlight of the trip had to be the gigantic inflatable pillow. I have never seen anything like this and I am sure that Isabelle thinks we should get one in our backyard.

On Friday Isaebelle and I ate at Noodles. This absolutely my favorite father/daughter dining experience. SHe gets sgetti or mac-n-cheese and I can have spicy asian noodles with shrimp. What a great place! Isabelle was intrigued by my chop sticks and wanted to try them out...

After about 2 minutes she said, "this is hard Daddy"...she is pretty persistent and actually began threading individual noodles on the stick and then eating them off....

Isabelle's daycare provider was out of town on friday so we took the opportunity to meet her friends from her old daycare at the park. She had a blast playing with old friends, but really didnt understand why I refered to them as old friends...they aren ot old...???...eventually she decide that everyone was a little bit older...

Just a random shot of Isabelle making some sugar cookies...the cheater kind that you just throw on the baking sheet....

family fun day, harvest and the zoo

Another funfilled week and weekend for Isabelle. This weekend my work hosted a family fun day and the kids got to play on a bunch of inflatable toys, play some games and have a picnic. It was a little chilly but quite a lot of fun.

Jumping in the bouncer never gets old for Isabelle...

Isabelle also enjoyed the gigantic inflatable slide. It was a long way up there, but pretty quick coming down.

Isabelle's daycare took a field trip to the Minnesota Zoo on Friday. Isabelle had a great time at the zoo. Thankfully they took some pictures...I remember when she was way to scared to get this close to the animals...not anymore.

What a cute chick(en)...

We spent some time "harvesting" a lot of fruit from our backyard this morning. We have 3 apple trees but only one had really nice apples on it this year. the other two have been sick and I may have over pruned them a little this winter. Hopefully they will come back strong next year. Both of the pear trees produced a lot of pears and we are now going to attempt to can some pears so we can enjoy them all winter long. We also got a big bowl of rasberries...

picking and eating some rasberries...

pears pears everywhere...

not letting summer go yet

Summer is winding down but we arent ready to let it go just yet. This weekend we found one last carnival for the summer and tackled one more landscaping project.

Isabelle and Cousins Kaylee and Blayne had a fun time at the Osseo Lions Roar Days. We rode a few rides and played a few games and had some greasy corn dogs...washed down with mini doughnuts. Isabelle and I went on the ferris wheel for the first time. She liked it but was a little scared when we were stopped on the top for a while.

Isabelle got to spend a little time with her friend Emerson during the vikings game on Sunday. Isabelle really misses Emerson now that she doesnt see her at daycare everyday.

This summer was not kind to the hostas that had been planted in our front landscaping. They were big, overgrown and generally not that healthy. So we dug them all out, split them into much smaller plants and replanted a few of them. Check out the Before (acutally mid-project) pic below and the final picture above.

Labor Day Camping Trip

We spent Labor Day weekend camping with the Ohme's at Kiesler's Campground in Waseca . What a great trip! This was Isabelle's first camping trip and I cant believe how well she did. It was a gorgeous weekend but was a little chilly at night.

The campground had a lot of activities including an arcade with ski-ball and a few other games..and a little pink car that the girls liked to ride.

Eric and I found a turtle on the road and brought it back to the campsite. The girls had a ball with it. We made a nice little cage (home) for him and the girls pretty much stared at it for most of a day. There were a few tears when it was time to release the turtle, but the next day we brought him to the lake and let him go.

The girls had a good time painting rocks...who knew how much fun that was? I now fear that every rock in my backyard landscaping will eventually be painted...

The girsl didnt take a single nap the whole weekend but they did snuggle up in the tent for a little quiet time and a movie.

Ice cream cones at the resort store!

On Sunday we rented a pontoon and spent a couple hours on the lake. It was windy and a little chilly but the girls seemed to enjoy the ride. We spent some time fishing and Isabelle was a little disappointed in Daddy for not landing any fish. We had a few fish on but never got one in the boat.

Sunday night the campground held a kids dance with a DJ. The girls danced for a while and had a good time...Isabelle got a box of popcorn and a free ride home on my shoulders.

Isabelle turned out to be quite a little trooper...brushing her teeth by the fire with only a bottle of water and her headlamp.

Long fun filled days make for very tired little girls...they both fell asleep sitting by the fire!

All together we had a fantistic labor day weekend!