Minnesota Tradition

A fun fall Minnesota tradition is apple picking! The whole family, plus our good friend Carl, headed out to Apple Holler on Sunday morning to pick some apples. The adventure follows...


Abbie got the hang of the "pick one eat one" philosophy pretty quickly!

Here are the girls heading out into the orchard



Alex and Carl posing with a juicy red apple - unfortunately the mosquitos were kinda bad before the sun came out. Everyone was a good sport about it though. Carl even consented to tying a baby blanket around his head like a bandana to keep them off his neck - believe me - the look was fetching; a real way to pick up ladies...toddlers that is (see below)

Carl came bearing gifts! He brought clothes and books for the girls - for a bachelor, he sure knows how to match stretch pants and onsies! Abbie took to him right away - she wasn't shy like she usually is. She convinced Carl to read her a few books before we left.


I think this one speaks for itself :-)


Carl turns out to be an excellent stroller -pusher! He was in charge of the wheels in the orchard. He gave the new double jogger a thumbs up and said it handles well, better than his Z3 back home.


Daddy and Abbie snagging a big pick.


The whole fam in the orchard.

Abbie deciding to ride the pumpkin like a horse...too bad they didn't have pony rides :-)

Grandma's beautiful knitting handiwork

Again - matching sisters!! Thanks to Grandma M. for knitting these beautiful fall sweaters...perfect for apple picking!

Our littlest apple-picker. Happy One-Month birthday today Isabel Elizabeth! We love you so much!

Before they realize what I've done...

Before they realize they are dressed alike and don't want to cooperate anymore, I'm going to take full advantage of their innocence! Yeay for Grandma M. finding the girls' first matching outfits! Alex said the rule was that if the girls matched I had to match too...somehow I don't think they make these spiffy flowered pants in my size - too bad. :-)


Isabel was done being photographed, don't worry, she was fed and happy shortly after I snapped this one :-) Getting a picture where both kids are happy, much less looking at the camera, is a miracle I have realized!


Matter-of-fact, here she is yawning and ready for a nap now that her belly is full. Isabel is FOUR weeks old today - where did those four weeks go?!

Here's a little video of the monkey I found swinging on my treadmill - does she look somewhat bored and ready to go to the park?!! Good thing someone uses the treadmill around here :-)



Here's a little family photo taken last night while we were having a picnic by the lake - the sunset was so beautiful and the lake so peaceful.

Procrastinating

So a good friend of mine just started a blog and she's already putting videos on the blog - I can't believe I forgot about this feature! So instead of folding the laundry and cooking dinner, the chores Abbie, Isabel and I were going to do this afternoon, we are fooling around with the blog trying to learn how to put on a video. Well, Isabel is sleeping, so there was only one daughter to video..but I caught her doing her newest favorite activity - email! Don't be surprised if you get an email from Abbie one of these days. Good thing our computer is kinda breaking anyways, because some of the buttons she hits and the menus she pulls up are completely foreign to me - or maybe that's WHY our computer is ailing...hmmm...

Happy Monday everyone. Click on the Play button to make the video work. :-)

And a little picture of the sleeping beauty...

Doesn't everyone need a big huge bear hug sometimes? Our library opened a new children's section and they have this very large, furry friend there...at first Abbie didn't know what to think about him, but as you can see, she warmed up quickly!

Hanging out

Yikes - we've meant to post more pictures for awhile now - our baby is already three weeks old! Katie had a nasty cold which is finally seeming to abate - so now we can function, and blog, once again!

Sleeping beauty...such a calm second child thus far. She seems to enjoy schlepping along with us everywhere - we were delighted at how enriching this must be for a newborn, until we realized that for now she sleeps through all of these enriching experiences!

Strolling along at the zoo - Abbie belongs with the monkeys. Really, we've entered a climbing phase - watch out she climbs everything! And then sometimes she can't get down...is it bad if I'm tempted to leave her up there for awhile so I can get something done?! :-)

Papa and Abbie communing with the polar bear during Papa's visit.

Daddy and Isabel hanging out...she thinks his ticker sounds pretty good and really seems to enjoy listening to it :-)


The girls and Papa during his visit - it was nice to have an extra set of hands and some good company during the week!

Abigail and Isabel - future Luther grads?! The grooming starts early...:-)

Whoosh! Poised and ready to go... we take this sliding business pretty seriously around here :-)

I'm awake!

Hi guys!! Mama caught me during a brief stretch of about 30 seconds when I was actually awake yesterday! I don't look that happy to be awake though...so I was off to dreamland again soon :-)