:: fall hiking ::

Our fall weekends have been so good to us! We have had no lack of sunshine and decent weather. Taking advantage of what is not usually afforded to us in Duluth, we have put our weekends to good use being outside as much as we can.

One of our favorite places to hike is Hartley...

and we newly discovered the Chester Creek trail, being one of our new favorites...

can you find owen in the tree?

and most recently, on a 70 degree day in October (what?!?), we hiked the Lester River trail.

Here's to more warm fall days, sunshine, and Duluth trails.

:-)

:: fall fun ::

Kicking off our [at least mine] favorite season, we took advantage of some fun activities in town while Seth was away on business.

We headed down to the balloon-less hot air balloon festival and took part in the family kite fly. Alden's not one for patience, so kite flying wasn't initially "his thing".  We got his kite up in the air though and he enjoyed {all five minutes of} it!

Then, we headed over to, one of my favorite fall places, the Chester Bowl Fall Fest. However, I'm not sure that it is my favorite on my own with three children who all have different ideas of what they want to do. I'm really not sure that weaving the stroller through crowds of people, at a slant, while balancing 3 corn dogs with ketchup, is my favorite thing either....

The next day, Rem and I met with Cara and Kelly for breakfast and got a sneak peak at Kelly's new house! One point for leaving the older boys home with a babysitter :-)

That afternoon, we met with our favorite Linns and traveled to Simek's Farm in Cotton, MN. It was SUCH a fun time! Even more fun for the boys is when your moms show up dressed almost exactly alike. Unbelievable! And hilarious....

What a fun weekend! We're looking forward to more that will follow!!

:: first day of school 2014 ::

It is unbelievable how time flies, but the fact that Alden is in kindergarten this year sure hits that feeling home. Owen enters 2nd grade a few teeth short and a couple inches taller. Both are excited about new challenges, routines, and friends!