Happy Halloween from our basketball player, unicorn & sloth!

 What a great Halloween~ Definitely the nicest Halloween weather wise we have had in years. {High was 55 degrees} The girls were able to trick or treat a few hours without their jackets on, that never happens. Maeve did have to add some clothes under her unicorn costume but she was okay with that.

 The littles had a costume parade at school today as well. Once they got home they were all itching to get out the door to get trick or treating with friends. Margaux & her crew were the first to run off. They were so darn anxious to fill their pillow cases. I loved their little crazy zoo of costumes. Maeve & her friends waited patiently for the moms to get bundled up to tag along with them. It was so fun to see their excitement.

 No surprise Marin & her friends were the slowest to get moving. They were all about the photos, taking countless selfies together before they headed out. Big fun group of girls!

Maeve was the first one home & she was ready to eat some jack-o-lantern pizza and snacks. The big girls were in it for the long haul. They all checked in, but were eager to get back out. They all trick-or-treated right up to 7pm when it was done. Then it was time for food/snacks & get to the basement to dump and sort candy.

The piles of candy in the basement were insane... They had so much fun sorting through it & trading their favorites. There were a half a dozen other kids/piles that I couldn't get in the photo. Needless to say we'll be donating some candy, way too much for us to eat. Fun night for all the kids. I am looking forward to some Halloween days that fall on weekends again so we can not have to worry about school in the am. Regardless, they all had fun... we did our best to get them settled down & in bed at a decent time tonight. We'll all be tired tomorrow & in a candy coma! xoxo

After a busy day of apple picking, shopping, working on house projects, getting in another batch of dehydrated apples & family dinner we finally got to pumpkin carving last night around 8:00pm.

Busy day, but the girls were excited to get their carving in.

 This is the first year that the girls did a large part of the carving. Gary still helped a bit, but they definitely did their part. Marg a jack-o-lantern face, Maeve a unicorn 

 & Marin Hi Boo!

 All three turned out great! Easiest pumpkin carving we've had. We did decide to throw the seeds out this year and not bake them. The girls don't love the seeds & we've all been doing so many darn apples. Time for a pumpkin seed break!

 Always fun to see them all lit up. 

Three more sleeps until Halloween. Fingers crossed for good weather, right now the forecast looks great. Sunny & 50 degrees. We've had a lot of cold & rain the past few years. Looking forward to it! 

xoxo

Finally made it to the orchard this am. A little late better than never! I honestly didn't think we would get it in this fall but today was perfect! There were still so many apples left on the Cortland trees. I was very surprised. First time for little Fitz & he loved the apples enough he couldn't put it down for the photos without screaming. Love these 5 so much.

 Our crew!

 All together we picked 66 lbs of apples. Enough to make a few more batches of dehydrated apples at Grandma & Grandpa's. The girls are loving them & we can't make enough of them. They dehydrate down to nothing & once we open a bag they are gone before we know it. Apple monsters!
Hoping to get a big batch of applesauce too. Estelle joined us as well, we were happy to have her. She & Marin spent their time loving on Fitz.

 Maeve & Marg were on a mission to find tiny apples for their school snack every day. Some of them were barely a bite! I may have threw a couple of those out. They came home with a bag full of snack apples to share.

 Margaux spent a bunch of time climbing trees {with her blanket}. She was yelling "mom, come take my picture in the tree!" A lot of good apples up there.

We are hoping to carve pumpkins tonight too. Fun filled fall day. Hard to believe it's Halloween this coming week. Almost time to put up my Christmas tree!!! xoxo

Happy 13th anniversary to us! 

The years go by so fast, hard to believe it has been 13 years. We've made such a wonderful life together & I am very thankful for each part of it. Especially these girls...

 Busy night... I had a photo session, Marin had basketball & the littles had religion. We all enjoyed a quick pizza dinner & ice cream cake for Katie's birthday. I love that we share our day with her. Once we were done with cake, we headed down the road to Grandma & Grandpa's to dehydrate apples. My mom & dad picked 100lbs of apples & the girls wanted to try out Grandpa's new dehydrator. 

So fancy!

Big assembly line of apple workers & we had all 12 trays filled in no time. 12 hours until they are ready to eat & the girls are sooooo excited. Hoping to get a few batches in with all those apples. Can't wait to try them tomorrow. xoxo

Yesterday Margaux & I headed to Madison for her 4th grade trip. Long coach bus ride together, we were up early {5:45am} in order to get to the capitol by 10am. We watched movies, listened to music & had lots of snacks. Having lots of friends on the bus made the ride go much faster.

We arrived right on time for our tour of the capitol. 

Margaux was so happy to see Uncle Jesse too! He came to spend a little bit of the morning at the capitol with her. Brought her a special little gift too. Tiny glass pig from the Caribbean that he had made for her on vacation. She loved it!!! 

They had a great tour. So many interesting rooms in the capitol with lots of history that we never knew about. I think the kids loved it! Class photo in front of our state capitol.

 Mom & Marg day! We had so much fun together.

 After we left the capitol we headed to the zoo for lunch & more fun with friends. It was pretty cold, we definitely needed our winter coats & hats/mittens. Typically they eat lunch outside at the zoo. We chose to eat on the warm bus & then enjoy the zoo all bundled up.

So hard to believe she is in 4th grade already. We always think of her as being so little {because she is!!} but she's growing up fast. Loved my day with her. xoxo

And just like that, another cross country season in the books! We love watching her in her element. Of all the sports she is involved in, cross country has been the most fun to watch. She is def a great runner & has improved tremendously in the last year.

This afternoon they had their end of the season party. So proud of Marin for her Fab 5 aka "Varsity" award. When they get to high school only the top 5 runners scores qualify for their team. Marin is among the top five in her age group. We are triple crossing our fingers she decides to keep running. At some point she'll have to choose between cross country & tennis. They are the same season.

 Lots of great awards for this crew! We enjoyed cheering them on all season.

Not only the last day of cross country.. also Grandma's birthday! We brought her a pumpkin cheesecake that was pretty delicious. Marin was at basketball so she had to wait for hers!

Happy Birthday Grandma!! xoxo

While we were away, the girls had some fall fun with Aunt Katie, Uncle Mike & the littles.
Perfect cool day for the pumpkin patch & corn maze.

 The bigs were excited for the corn maze... Maeve not so much! She can be such a chicken. Happy that Marin & Marg enjoyed the maze. Maybe by next year our crazy little will join in on the fun. Ugh!

Hoping to get to the apple orchard yet this fall. The weather has been so wonky. Not many nice fall days yet. Either hot, mosquito filled, freezing cold or rainy. Hoping for some nice days here in Oct.
xoxo

After the chaos/fun in Upper Michigan we booked a quick get away to Florida for a long weekend. Super fun time with Wendy & Travis. Definitely much needed! 

We spent Friday-Monday at Travis' cousin Ryan & his wife Brooke's house. Such a great time.
Palm trees are good for the soul.. along with the warm weather.

Ryan is the ultimate Packer fan, this is his back yard. Complete with an amazing Packer building that he calls Lambeau Southeast. Lots of fun was had in that building this past weekend!

 It was in the 90's every day & their back yard was a little slice of heaven. 

A great pool complete with a foam machine. Our kids would have been in heaven! The sunshine felt amazing & we soaked it all in while we could knowing the temps were quickly falling at home. 

Monday we packed up & drove back to Orlando to spend the day at Universal Studios.

I was like a kid in the candy store with the Harry Potter experience. The whole set up was amazing. I wish our kids were fans. Someday they will read the books & watch the movies with me. Then we can visit again. Just so darn fun!

We spent the day at the park, then strolled through downtown Universal for an hour or two before heading to Disney Springs for the evening.

Shopping while having a few beverages?!! Gary would shop with me all the time if we lived near this place! A little shopping, we enjoyed a few street entertainers & then had dinner before heading back to the hotel.

Long & really fun day. No matter how much fun we have, it always feels great to be home. We've missed our girls & enjoyed their hugs upon arrival this afternoon. xoxo