Uncle Aric

Two weeks ago Uncle Aric (Andy's brother) came for a weekend visit.  Andy and Aric had tickets to the Badger and Minnesota game for Saturday and afterwards the kiddos and I joined them down town.  The kiddos loved having Aric here,  as it was like having another child in the house with many wrestling matches!!

Between the wresting matches he was able to squeeze in a hair apt. with Claire;)

The Saints

This past fall Drew participated in his first real flag football  recreation league and LOVED it!  His team was the saints and we couldn't have asked for a better team.  The league consisted of practice once a week and  games in Saturdays.  Drew was quick on the field and a lefty!!  

Andy was able to help out with many of the games, which Drew loved!

Drew has an awesome season and we look forward to spring football

Birthday Weekend Bash

This past weekend my sister Allison and her cute fun family came up for the weekend.  We had SO much fun full of non-stop laughter!

 

On Saturday we did the Color Run here in Madtown.  The run is a 5k race with participants being spread  with paint every quarter mile. 

Us After the race!  Jeremy (Allison's husband) dropped us off for the race as it was raining the morning of the race.  When he picked us up Andy had sent our NICE white new bath towels for us to clean off with before we got in the car.  How nice of him:)

The week before it was my sisters birthday, followed by her daughter Lucy's Birthday, my birthday, then two days later it was Andy's birthday!  The kiddos were in heaven with all the treats!

Ali and I snuck our of the house while the boys were home smoking our dinner and went out for a Birthday brew.  While we were there the pub was voted "Best Pub Bunch In America" and we had free drinks for 30min.  We felt like we were on Candid Camera as these things never happen to us!

Lucy and Claire are the same age and Cade and Drew are the same age, makes for one fun crazy house!

Andy and his special "Seabee" cake that the kiddos chose for him on his Birthday!

Fall In The Midwest

A few weekends ago we went to a fun farm here on the outside of Madison for a fall fest.  The farm was full of baby animals to bottle feed, a corn maze, tractor rides, a bard, full of kitties, and a garden that the children could work in.  We had SOOO much fun!

 

Bottle feeding the baby goats

Claire found a friend she wanted to take home!!  This cat was SO chill and would lay like this while Claire hauled her all around the bard!

The kiddos could have played in the car bard ALL DAY!  They loved it and the little kitties were so fun and playful!

Drew and Claire each picked out a pumpkin for home

So Midwest!!

So we LOVED living in Spain, however it's crazy to think that Drew and Claire have not experienced fall!!  Being back in the Midwest they have been able to experience fall to the fullest!

I have a feeling that I'm going to be in a bike crash this fall as I'm always looking around at the gorgeous fall colors and not always looking straight!!  The other day I decided to stop on our street and take a photo:)

Devils Lake

On Sunday we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to Devils Lake State Park, which is about 40 minutes from our house.  The park is so amazing and full of so much color this time of year.  We spent our entire day there and the kiddos did an amazing job with a five mile hike!!

 

*All of the photos were taken with my phone camera, so they might not be the best!

 

 

The park is known for its rock climbing.  Andy went back to his college days and gave it a try...

Of course Claire and Drew needed to try then

Andy was concentrating very hard on taking this family photo!

Claire our little navigator

Picking up colorful leaves as we walked!  They then wanted me to carry them in my backpack so they could save them for home.  This then turned into one huge leaf pile in my backpack and a MESS to clean out!

Love, love, love all the colors in fall

So I did not tell all three of them to pose like this.... there were TONS of eagles flying above this part of the lake!!  Claire then thought she might be taken away by one of them, so we moved on...

Mastered!

Drew has been working so hard on mastering how to tie a shoe and he did it!!!  I will have to say, he is actually really good at it and his shoe lace is nice and tight!  Way to go Drew!!

Yellow Stone State Park Camping Trip

This past weekend we took a camping trip to Yellow Stone Sate park (the smaller version located in Wisconsin!!)  The park was only an hour from our house full of lush greens, a huge lake, and wonderful trails.

 

We did a lot of camping while in Spain, however there you couldn't have a fire!!  So we were really excited to show the kiddos what it was like to camp with a fire!

Claire was a huge helper and unraveled 100ft of rope while we sat up camp.  She told us she was trying to catch a bunny, so how could we be mad at that!

After setting up camp we took a four mike hike around the park and lake.  The hike was really nice as it had really clear paths and beautiful views. 

We were extra proud of the kiddos as Drew did all of the walking and Claire did 3/4 of the walking. 

Their favorite part is trying to find the perfect hiking stick during all of the hike:)

The hike was really gorgeous and it really felt like fall with leaves falling off the trees.  Being away from fall for three years really makes you appreciate it after not seeing it for so long.

Claire also became warm and took her shirt off!

After our hike we went fishing.  Since being back in the states Drew and Claire are obsessed with fishing!  I told Andy he couldn't have asked for better fishing buddies as they would do it all day! 

Drew with one of his big catches!

Claire for a three year old does really well waiting.. and waiting... for a bite!

The kiddos loved wearing their head lamps once it got dark out and would find all sorts of fun bugs with them!  Of course we had to roast some marshmallows!

We had a great camping trip and look forward to our next one