Pine Tree Apple Orchard

We checked off another item on our Fall bucket list with our trip to the Pine Tree Apple Orchard in White Bear Lake.  We didn't get to pick the apples ourselves (they don't let you pick the Honeycrisp's, my fav), but we did take a walk through the orchard and enjoyed some apple treats, of course!

Mmm mmm, apple donuts and apple cider, delicious!

Happy Fall :)

Eveland Family Farm

Lady Gaga & Papa (aka Grandma & Grandpa Olin) were visiting us this weekend, so we started checking some activities off of our Fall Bucket List!  On Saturday, we went to check out the Eveland Family Farm in Andover.  Farm animals, a pumpkin patch, a hay ride.....a perfect outing for the fall!  What a chilly morning, as mittens and hats were in order.

This pig was massive (and kinda gross looking, if you ask me)!  It was roaming around the property, destroying (aka chowing down) the decorations in it's path.  Henry sure didn't mind, "more pet pig".

He said this guy (or girl, not sure) was his favorite thing of all at the farm :)  

For the hay ride, we sat right up front so Henry could watch the tractor, in awe, as the farmer drove us through the corn field and the area where the cows were hanging out. 

He had the pumpkin patch all to himself, what a selection!

He picked out 2 little pumpkins to bring home, just the perfect size for him.  We'll have to get our carving tools out pretty soon!

Jackson Street Roundhouse

Last week, we checked out the Jackson Street Roundhouse in St. Paul for their Tots & Trains event with Henry's bud, Harrison.  The more these two play together, the more nervous I get about what kind of mischief they'll be up to when they're older :)  They are two peas-in-a-pod!  What more could a little boy ask for...big trains to check out, little trains to play with, train puzzles, and train storytime.  Here are a few pics from our fun day..... 

The boy loves his choo-choo trains!

North Shore

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to Henry's Oma & Tante for letting him have a sleepover at their place so Phil and I could head up north for the night.  We had absolutely beautiful weather, and you certainly can't say that everyday, especially in September!  

Our first stop was at Gooseberry Falls, but there really wasn't too much water that was fallin'!  It was the driest conditions that either of us have ever seen.

Cove Point Lodge, our favorite little place to stay up there!

5 layer chocolate pie please, mmm mmm good :)

How cute are these, our individual s'more kits for the fire.  We shared one of the packs and then I managed to polish off the rest of the marshmallows, of course.  

I managed to finish a book (yes, it was actually a fiction book - not potty training, not discipline, not anything like that - yeah) while listening to the waves of Lake Superior, does it get any better than that.  Thanks again, ladies, we really appreciated it!

pigpen

Do you think the kid had a good time at the park?  No, that's not a large unibrow.....yes, that's dirt (and one good lookin' smile, I might add)!

So, what's Henry been up to?  Here are some random things I've been thinking about lately.....

Singing!  He loves to sing.....Happy Birthday, Rockabye Baby (Rocky Baby), Pat-a-cake, Itsy Bitsy Spider.  He also loves it when I sing.....ABCs, Oh Mr. Sun, and a new one he learned at Oma's - The Autumn Song.

Those pesky 2-year molars are coming through.....ouch!  The boy is drooling like a baby again.

Favorite sayings....."I make a sound", "I see man working - pound shingles", "Henny doin'" (whenever he's doing anything he wants you to see)

It's so flippin cute when we go to church or talk about praying, he says "fatha, son......amen" (and folds his hands).  When at church, he LOVES giving Peace to everybody in the Little Angel's Room and saying "hi" to random people...his dad thinks we may have a future politician on our hands.

J-town

What would a trip to the Buffalo City be without an actual trip up to see THE big buffalo?!  There's always stuff to see and do up at the Frontier Village :) 

I wonder how many times we heard "I go see buffalo" from both kids.....lots and lots!

There was just one lonely (real) horse to see up there this time of year, the other ones must be "nigh-night" according to Henry.  

Somebody didn't like being stuck in the jail at the Frontier Village :( 

(let's hope you remember this experience, Henry, jail is no fun)

You always have to get a good photo in a cut-out, right?

Whoa, what happened here?

After the kids had gone to bed, while eating dinner, we would often talk about Henry's (again, how should I put it) "high energy level" that my parents just weren't used to with 3 girls in their house.  I think Papa and Gaga were a little tired - keeping up with my little wild man :)

checking out the city

We took Riley to a few of our favorite places to play in the metro. 

First day, the Children's Museum in St. Paul, of course!  We love that place!

Oh, Curious George.  I do wish Henry could sit through a Curious George book, but nope, too long yet. 

Henry was quite the hoarder at the grocery store this trip!

We had to bring them to Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater, too.  Then we snacked while seeing the sights down by the Mississippi.

This visit from Riley gave Henry a lot of, how do I say this, "learning opportunities" (to put it nicely) to SHARE HIS TOYS!  Oh man, why is that such a hard lesson to learn?!  Steph & I decided they truly acted like brother & sister this week.  I would tell Phil each night how much he simply picked on her all day (literally.....poking at her, sitting on her, stealing her favorite blanket and giggling while saying it was his blanket, and the list goes on) and Phil would feel really bad because he said he was a BIG teaser to his sisters (which he still talks about to this day, Sarah & Katie, and feels really terrible about it), so I'm going to have to blame Phil for that behavior, right?!  Of course, the day before they were leaving, Steph and I busted them playing TOGETHER like little angels up in the loft, yessssss, but then unfortunately they were leaving the next morning :(

We had so much fun, little Miss Riley!

More pictures to post from J-town.....

Miss Riley

Little Miss Riley was visiting us, along with her Mom and baby-brother-to-be, this past week.  

Whoa, were we ever busy!  

We traveled to J-town and Bismarck for a few days to see the fam :)  Henry sure thought Great Grandma's "house" (aka, the nursing home) was pretty cool because the bathroom had automatic hand dryers (LOVES them, even gets sad when we go to to a public bathroom and they have paper towels instead of dryers)!

We made a quick stop by John & Marilyn's house in Mandan, just checking out the big Missouri from the deck.

He kept spotting "Thomas and Percy and Henny" on the train tracks outside of John's house.  

"Hold hands" - he sure will hold anybody's hand (except his mother's, of course) when in a parking lot :)

Henry, why the face?  He's keeping one eye on that Great Grandma and one eye on his Mama!

I have lots more to post, will get to it soon.....

weekend in review

Aaahhh, the end of summer, Labor Day weekend.  Nothing too crazy going on around here this weekend, which was nice after a busy week with Daddy being home!  

Lots of good breakfasts as you can see by the smile on Henry's face when he was whipping up his own eggs.  That Daddy definitely does it right when it comes to breakfast on the weekends! 

A night out with the adults to celebrate Mrs. Gillespie's big 3-0!

Some good 'ol pool time with Miss Greta on Oma & Opa's deck.

As always, lots of hugging on their Oma!

Henry and Daddy had a date together at the MN Zoo on Sunday morning, followed by a delicious "hamabur and fa-fies" Happy Meal from McDonald's too :)  When they got home from the zoo, I was asking Henry all about it.

Mommy:  Henry, what was your favorite animal at the zoo?

Henry:  Ah, ah, ah, the leopards!

Mommy:  What else happened? 

Henry:  Henny was cwying (crying)!

Mommy:  Oh no, why was Henry crying?

Henry:  T-Wex burped (apparently, the mechanical T-Rex at the Dinosaurs exhibit made quite the loud "rooooaaaar" and somebody got a little scared).

Mommy:  What did Daddy do then?

Henry:  He pushed the stroller away (all smiles)!

This kid cracks me up!

  

oh no!

say it isn't so.....

.....no more swimming!  is summer really over?