Fall around here

Before we get too far into winter, I better recap fall or I'll forget what happened. We are moving at light speeds lately, and I don't want to forget anything. 

It's not a true change of season unless we get over to Como Conservatory and check out the sunken gardens. This time, I told the girls maybe they should have a wedding in that beautiful place some day. I got a few sideways smiles. But it's just so pretty! 

We had our first fire of the season in our fireplace. Man do we love that thing. It's so toasty warm and everyone usually cuddles around it at some point in the day. We sure get good use out of it. 

We taught Lincoln how to ice skate, in 10 minutes flat! Honestly, that boy picked it up faster than I ever anticipated. He used a walker for a very short while before announcing he was ready to let go. Ryan took him back a few days later and he did great. Thinking Santa has some gifts in his bag for our new skater :) 

Sidney painted Lincoln's face like a tiger.
 On more than one occasion. 

Sadly, they neglected to use Crayola brand markers and he was left with streaks across his face for days. Opps. 

Regan and I ran another turkey trot on Thanksgiving Day, pretty sure this is now an annual event. It was much colder than last year, and my "snot catcher" sure came in handy!

We celebrated Grandma Jan's birthday with gifts and a trip to town to help her decorate for the holidays. 

And upon buying our own Christmas tree, we had our first visit to the big guy (who wasn't such a great big guy since his daughter was hollering "HI DADDY" from around the corner). Yikes!

Now onto the holidays! 

May little things

With the pace at which we are moving around these days, I'm going to borrow the idea of monthly "little things" and hopefully it will mean at least a memory of the fun things that happened throughout each month. We'll start with May little things.

We shared some fun lunches before the end of school with the girls and their adorable friends.

Mother's day came and went, was full of love from our little ones and a (not as terribly long as I thought) U of MN Graduation commencement ceremony.

Regan performed in her band concert, then raced over to her dress rehearsal before having to skip softball practice for the night with all the other hoopla going on.

Our girls had a combined 4 dance recitals and together performed 14 dances and I sat through all of it :)

We started playing summer ball, then it got cold and then it got warm again. And although it's June, I still have the bag of hats, mittens and warm clothes in my trunk....just in case.

Sidney won player of the game.

And then took 2nd place in her gymnastics meet! Way to go Sidney :)

Ryan ventured over to Germany for a week of travel, fun and far too much food! We were very jealous that he left us behind.

The kids and I ventured to New Ulm while Ryan was away and got to meet one of my dad's trees on the golf course.  Plus I managed to help my mom do some tree trimming and somehow the girls and I ended up on the roof of the shed as I trimmed trees!

It was a wild month, but I wouldn't want it any other way! And just like that we were on to end of school events and the beginning of summer. 

Through their eyes

We took a quick trip down to New Ulm last weekend, and couldn't pass up a visit to Herman the German. The kiddos love going up all of those stairs and seeing the town from up above. 

Ryan and I have to laugh, that this was a trip we took countless times growing up. My childhood home was not terribly far from Herman and I remember going there over and over as a kid. And to our kids, it is such a special experience; each and every time. 

I just love their smiles. 

And how we get to see something through their eyes. This time, Lincoln looked at those lions (pictured below) and commented that it was the "lions butt" in his face. 

Thanks for that comment buddy :) 

We headed over to Hudson's birthday party after Herman and Lincoln spent the bulk of the afternoon jumping on the trampoline despite the 90F heat. His hair was a curly humid mess!

These cuties help us see life through their eyes and we are so grateful for them!

Full weekends

Ryan and I looked at each other the other day and smiled at how full our weekend was. We couldn't have fit one more thing into it if we had tried. It was full, but it sure was fun! 

We kicked off the weekend with an 8:30am call time to the softball fields for Opening Ceremony. It's kind of a big deal around this part of our city, and so Regan was in her element as the teams paraded around the field with pride, posed for pictures and played a 2 inning scrimmage. Just as she was getting ready to bat, I took the 2 younger ones to Sidney's gymnastics practice so she can work on her meet routines. 

After some lunch and a little biking around the neighborhood, we packed up and headed to New Ulm for 24 hours. What was jammed into that short time period is draining to even type! We checked out 2 different parks.....Ryan and grandma Jan had some fun too :) 

We had dinner out, Regan's request, at Lamplighter. And after some baths (they were filthy from softball, gymnastics, a total of 3 different parks and a lot of time in the sun!), the kids crashed but woke early!

Ryan headed to the golf course for an early morning round (6:30am early!) with some of my relatives and I met up with my mom and some gal cousins for brunch, 'nails by Kenzie and Emma' and some playtime on the deck 

We got a surprise visit from my BFF who happened to be driving past :) These days, we'll take a 5 minute visit. Poor Lincoln was falling apart quickly and in need of a nap by 11am. My mom and I decided to take him on a drive around town in hopes the car would put him to sleep...eventually it did! So while Grandma Jan stayed on the sturdy ground in the car with Lincoln, I climbed the steps to Herman with the girls. 

Sidney's practicing counting for her end of the year assessments and so we counted each and every stair. I got 100 and they got somewhere in the 90's....that's a lot of stairs! 

Nap time ended, we descended the stairs and headed to pick up Ryan from my parent's house. Sidney and Grandma shared a jar of pickles as we got ready for the next event. Mmmmmm 😋

The whole reason we came to town was for Harlow's 3rd birthday party! Sweet little girl got a Peppa Pig (I still don't know who that is) party and our kiddos were happy to celebrate with her, even if it was only for a couple short hours. 

We climbed back into the car, prayed that Lincoln would take a decent nap, and drove back home for the final event of the weekend. 

The girls participated in our local ice show 2 months ago and now it was banquet time. Little did they know, we were aware of a BIG secret that was about to make one of them really happy.....

Sidney's group: Olaf, was awarded Best Show Number! And gosh almighty, were those little girls excited! I could have cried proud tears, but I was laughing too hard at her perfect reaction. 

Even Regn was proud of her and commented "it was the cutest number of the show"! Sure was Sid, congrats! 

And with that, this exhausted family literally fell into bed Sunday night! 

Turkey day

Thanksgiving has come and gone and we have loads to be thankful for this holiday season. On Wednesday night, before all of the festivities and travel, I asked the girls what they were thankful for and it was a round of "my family" or "Lincoln" as we went around the table. Sure they have the reasonings for naming who they named "he plays with me" or "she gives me chocolate", but they were excited to talk about who and what, they were thankful for.

I for one, am thankful for each and every one of these beautiful blessings (and their daddy too but we rarely get a picture together!).

We traveled to New Ulm for the holiday; with Hope in tow we packed into the truck. I'm really thankful that Ryan convinced me to buy that sucker over a year ago. It's sure come in handy to have 3 rows of seats. We celebrated with each side of the family and lots of good food, loving family and entertaining conversations. 

The kids enjoy our trips to New Ulm....although Sidney doesn't love the drive. At 6 years old, she's still our worst traveler. If it's not a nap, Lincoln isn't far behind. We barely notice that Regan is in the car, our stellar traveler :) They do enjoy playing with grandma's toys, staying busy with her in the sewing room as they create their masterpieces and chasing puppies at family gatherings. 

As we wrapped up Thanksgiving and look to the next holiday, I wrapped my arms tight around this amazing family of ours and said a big prayer of thanks for all that this live has given to us.

Loss

We lost a devoted blog follower and dearest family member this month. Just over 2 weeks ago, I raced to Abbott to meet my oldest godchild, Hope, where we would tragically and unexpectedly say goodbye to her mother.

Hope recently told me that Cheryl read this blog religiously (I really never know who reads these posts). And I recalled that Hope knew when Lincoln learned to crawl..all because Cheryl had read it on this blog and immediately messaged her. I've spent the last two weeks remembering my aunt Cheryl and how wonderful she was to everyone who had the opportunity to meet her. The woman was never without a smile, and if she spotted you, be it in a room full of 400 other people, she would holler for your attention, just to say "hi". 

We are deeply saddened and will forever miss her. I couldn't avoid writing about it, for its what has been on our minds, the topic of conversation, and the endless questions from the girls (who are just trying to comprehend the concept of death). 

We will take care of her dear Hope who we love so very much. 

Watch over us Cheryl, we love you. 

Grandma's house

We have some pretty crazy schedules these days and getting out of town hasn't been easy. But this weekend we were invited to my cousin's graduation party and were able to double the fun with an overnight at grandma Jan and Papa's.

The girls were pretty excited...partly because of those bunk beds with the built-in  ladder.  

While Ryan and my parents went golfing, the kids and I were lucky enough to hang out with my dearest friend and Lincoln's Godmother-Kari and her kids. It's never long enough but it's always fun to catch up in person. The kids all played at the park and were filthy when we left; a sign of a FUN playdate! Lincoln took a turn swinging too, giggling away at the fun.

My parents brought the girls up to Herman Monument, a favorite of theirs. Grandma promised them she would climb to the tippy-top (freakishly afraid of heights), but chickened out while visibly shaking on the way up.

I think she much preferred to play trucks with Lincoln instead, safely on solid ground.

Regan cried her eyes out at bedtime that she forgot her chapter book at home. Among the 3 + bags of items packed, seems like everyone forgot something! It's becoming challenging to leave home.

I would say Lincoln did fair-to-good on his first overnighter. He travels well in the car, much better than his sisters at this age. But he matches them in overnight sleeping while away from home. To put it in perspective, at home he wakes for his pacifier one time (on a bad night). At my parents house, he was up 10 times.

TEN

I'm surprised that I didn't have bags under my eyes here!

Between the tears of forgetting things and the lack of sleep, might be a while before another overnighter.