Fall hiking begins

Did I tell you I love to hike in the fall?  Now that the weather has cooled off (well it was cool last week) we went out for some hikes.  Seven Mile Creek (near Mankato) is always a great place for kids with all the bridges, play areas, rocks to climb and lots of trails. Just don't forget the Ergo for those little hikers.  Griffin (3 and 1/2) loves hiking and wearing his special hiking shoes.  Eme (2) is content in the carrier looking around and getting down when we find good places to climb, explore, or what-have-you.  With nap time in the afternoon, we always go in the morning and pack a snack and lunch.  Then we're all tuckered out and ready for a nap when we get home.  A perfect day in my books!

From Drop Box

Where's your favorite place to hike (in case we're in the area)?

First day of "school"

Yes, we started school here too.  Griffin is in pre-school two mornings a week and Emerson, one morning a week.  Eme goes half the time with Mama and half time with the teacher & kids.  The first day(s) went well!  Griffin ran into the room and didn't look back.  Of course I had to track him down to say, "Good-bye, be good." But he loves going to school.

From Drop Box

The first day with Eme went well. Luckily she has two other friends we knew from Griffin's class last year in class, so she at least has a buddy to help her feel more comfortable.  Not that they even played together when we were there, but oh well.  We met new friends as well and met for a hike later in the week.  I love fall hiking.

From Drop Box

So another "first day of school" under our belt.  Notice the picture of them with the tree.  I'm hoping to see how it grows with them over the years.

I heart Etsy

From Halloween

Looking for a Halloween costume for your kids?  Check out Etsy.com for some creative inspiration... or if you don't have the desire or time to create it yourself, go ahead an buy it from one of the shops on Etsy.

 Here is one of my favs

found at Nana's Tutus



All these creative people making things and selling them on this one website.  It's a great place to spend a few minutes or hours looking at anything from clothes, jewelry, decor, art, purses, you name it, it's there.  Also, you can shop local. Local like Minnesota, or local like Mankato.  Have fun!

Visit to Target Stadium

We made a family trip to the new Twins Stadium.  I can remember watching and listening to the Twins games when I was very young at my Great-Grandma Tut-Tut's house and my Grandma & Grandpa's.  Mom and Dad made a sign 40-years married, 50-years Twins fans

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

the view from our seats

From Drop Box

most of our group wore mustaches like Carl Pavano (who was pitching that day)

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

the kids made signs

From Drop Box

From Drop Box

Griffin & Maya wore Joe Mauer sideburns

Tri to get motivated

Our friends, Chris & Jan did the Dare to Tri Race last weekend in Maple Grove.  

We all had a great time and the boys started giving all the racers fives as they came in the home stretch.

     

It was fun to watch some of the runners slow down to get each little hand.  

The kids thought it was something special along with the crazy hair and bag from the dental clinic.

 

Great job Chris & Jan, and their friends Kristin, Tricia (sp?) and Andy!  You all did great and your hard work was very motivating.

Now on to the next race- my brother, Trav and friend, Kim are doing the Twin Cities Marathon October 3rd.  Good luck to you!  Your awesome for putting so much effort into training thus far (esp. for running 20 miles on Sunday).