Fall Favorites

It's the most wonderful time of the year...okay, maybe the second most wonderful time. We have been taking full advantage of the lovely fall weather to visit (and re-visit) some of our favorite local haunts.

Apple Farm Field Trip

It was a dream-come-true for Mommy to tag along as a chaperone on Eli's first school field trip. We went to an apple farm, where the kids went on a wagon ride, learned about the apple cider making process, and got to sample apples. While the biggest source of excitement on the trip seemed to be the bus ride (first ride in the classic yellow school bus for many of the kiddos!), the farmers did a wonderful job sharing information and tasty treats with the kids.

 Two apples - one for each hand!

The whole class with their teacher

Family Farm Trip - Apples and Raspberries

Continuing the apple theme, we took a trip as a family back to one of our favorite local farms to pick apples and raspberries. The kids were enthusiastic helpers when picking apples (Eli likes the green ones best) and used their previous raspberry-picking skills to help fill our baskets (and once again Evelyn filled her belly faster than any container - yum!).

Heading out into the orchard

Taste testing is important

A skilled, happy apple-picker

One of Eli's favorite treats

 The whole family had to share the massive caramel apple

Pumpkins!

We visited a different farm this year to select our pumpkins, and although we did not get to do our usual walking tour of the entire patch before selecting pumpkins, the kids were excited about their finds. After a few additions of white and baby pumpkins from the farmers' market, our pumpkin collection for this year was complete!

Found one!

Pumpkins bring big smiles

Looking over our haul

Evelyn takes a stand

More apples for our sweet little lady

Those brown eyes get me every time

Hello, chickens!

Hayride

Continuing what I hope will be a fall tradition, we joined friends for a hayride followed by a bonfire with s'mores in one of the city parks along the lake. The weather was a little more prickly this year, and we experienced some misty rain at the end of our ride (we'll just pretend we were in the Pacific Northwest, and then would not even notice it!).

The boys (and the cheesy smile)

Still cheesy

All aboard for a hayride!

Happy (and a Little Cold) Campers

You may think that early September is a perfect time of year to go camping in Wisconsin - not too hot, not too cold, just warm fall days and nights. However, mother nature likes to keep us guessing, and the one weekend we picked to go fall camping ended up being a bit colder than we expected. Luckily, the excitement of camping with our buddies, aided by many layers of clothes, as well as hot coffee and s'mores, helped us push through the chill in the air to still enjoy a great weekend outdoors. This was the first camping trip where all the kiddos are walking and able to explore, and they had a blast collecting sticks and rocks, climbing over logs, and chasing each other all around the campsite.

Daddy and Eli set up camp

Just relaxin'

 This little ladies enjoy a snack

Our campsite came with the best natural jungle gym

All snugly in three hooded layers

We survived the cold night - hurray!

Exploring in the woods

She looks skeptical about whatever the other kids are up to...

Family picture while hiking

Blue sky, sunny day, fun with friends - doesn't get much better than this!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

While our big 4-year-old is off at school learning all sorts of new and exciting things, the ladies of the house have been out on some of our own adventures (just don't tell big brother that he is missing any fun...if he asks, tell him we just run errands and clean the house and other totally not-fun stuff!) :)

Sometimes, we just watch a little Elmo in our pjs (and fashionable hats).

We grab all the toys we never get to play with and play with them...in big brother's room!

We go, "Wheeee!"

We brave the WI weather for afternoon pick-up.

We have picnics at a farm.

We take a selfie.

We take another selfie.

We run...

...and run

We have a picnic on the capitol lawn.

We take Toddler Art Class at the library.