7 Photo Worthy October Days

Baby Gwen's Blessing
We traveled down to South Beloit Illinois the first weekend in October. It was our first chance to meet baby Gwen and see Brian and Jamie's new house. The kids were long overdue for some play time with their cousins. I feel like I hardly saw Reid once we showed up. Jackson is such a good buddy for him.

There was a rainy outing to Edward's Apple Orchard (a long time favorite), some pool time at our hotel, and lots and lots of smiles. Although, Nell was clearly not smiling for the skeleton jammie photo shoot.

Isn't this photo of Mara just the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?

Grandpa Came to Oshkosh
Rick turned the trip into a Midwest work week. He drove through Oshkosh one night after some work in Green Bay. The kids were over the moon excited to have him here. It felt just like old times; Reid and Nell were definitely glued to his side. I'll tell you what, it just made missing him that much harder (especially for Reid).

Trip to Little Farmer

I think we've gone to Little Farmer every year since we fist discovered it in 2012. Reid had an early out day the second Wednesday of the month (and Nell had no school), so Ben decided to take off early as well. 

For this photo worthy day, videos actually serve it better justice. 

It was such a fabulous day on the farm. Of course we filled our bellies full of caramel apple treats, and we also came home with some 70lbs of apples. I'm typing this in January and I can tell you all the sauce and rings we made have already been devoured. Wowza!

Clearing Out the Garden
I decided it was time I finally pulled everything out of the garden and prep it for winter. The kids were eager to help with the task at hand.

We ate our last grilled pizza for the season. I can confidently tell you this was my favorite thing about summer/fall/gardening. Yum, yum, yum (and yes, that's a PB&J pizza)

Hike in Hartman Creek State Park
We were about five days too late for peak fall colors, but it was still such a beautiful hike. Plus, it hit 70 degrees on this particular Saturday, so peak leaves or not, we were getting out and going on an adventure!

I vaguely remember Ben threatening to take Coraline back to the car just a few hundred feet in. She was not too keen on riding on his back. She also wasn't keen on walking. She wanted me to carry her, but her choices were Ben or the car. I remember thinking "I'm going to die if you take her to the car!" Luckily he didn't, though that's probably what she really deserved, little stinker. You can tell she brightened up soon enough (like a good ten minutes into our 45 minute hike).

I love days like this. They are good for the soul. We stopped at a gas station Culver's (first one I've ever seen) and ordered the 10 piece chicken dinner to share. The kids were both filthy and in heaven. 

A random Sunday Evening

More often than not, Sunday's are a eight hour  (+) work day for Ben. I remember being particularly grateful for the gorgeous sunset this Sunday evening. It gave me that extra energy I needed to keep dealing with the kids all on my own for another hour or so. They were pretty proud of their silly pumpkin creations. 

Halloween (four or five times over)
An October post isn't complete without Halloween! This holiday has become such a big deal. I'm not sure how that all happened, but we ended up going to four different parties/events before the real deal. That's a lot of dressing up -- which we love -- and a lot of sugar -- which I'm starting to grow weary of (no lie, we still have some of our trick or treat haul stashed away in the basement).

The above photo was taken at a free event on the University campus. It was a fairly warm night and fun to go to a carnival style event hosted by various college clubs. We also had the ward party, the school pumpkin walk, and Festival's trick or treating. Plus, the kids got to dress up for their school parties. I wish I could remember what Reid dressed up as for school, I remember thinking it was kind of crazy -- like three things rolled into one. Shoot, I'll have to ask Ben and see if he remembers.

Nell all ready for her 4K Halloween Party

Trick or Treating with neighbor buddies Bella and Dominic