Heritage Days

A few weekends ago, our little family traveled back to Elkader to visit an annual celebration at a local nature center.  We had a wonderful time walking around and visiting different exhibits celebrating the pioneer time.  We also enjoyed seeing some of the animal exhibits, especially the bear.  The weather was beautiful, and it helped me relive memories of attending as a young girl!  Here are some of our highlights.

Kate discovered how much she loves rock candy!

There are two cute little girls in the caboose.  Audrey told us Kate was scared to ride, so she was sure to hold her hand throughout the ride. :)

Coming soon....

to the Food Network!  A cooking show starring the three ladies of our family. :)  For the first time, I had two helpers assisting me in the kitchen as we baked pumpkin chocolate chip bread.  Besides being squished together, it all worked out perfectly.  The bread was delicious, and I can tell we have many fun years of baking together ahead of us.  In case you wonder why Audrey does not have a shirt on, it's because her sleeve got wet as she was washing her hands.  Doesn't that make sense?  At least she had an apron on!

Dad's New Toy

After months of research and weeks of waiting, Dad's new tractor has arrived!  He was extremely excited to have it delivered, and both girls were pumped about getting a ride.  This is probably Dad's favorite part of moving out in the country, and the tractor has already been tested out and played with to break it in.  If you happen to drive by our driveway on Sunday evenings, don't be surprised to see Dad, Audrey, and Kate driving the garbage down to the end of the driveway with the tractor.

Pumpkin Patch

We traveled to a pumpkin patch on Monday.  The crowd at the patch that day was really small, and the weather cooperated nicely.  It all added up to a perfect hour picking out pumpkins.  Audrey took the whole experience very seriously, and she pulled the wagon around, helping Dad closely examine each pumpkin.  Kate and I just wandered together, and she would start yelling "Dada" excitedly each time she thought she found the perfect pumpkin.  This careful hunting paid off because each girl found a very nice pumpkin!

The pumpkins look perfect outside, decorating our steps.  We're just keeping our fingers crossed they last until carving time in a few weeks!

Aunt Jade

On Saturday night, we crashed Aunt Jade's Homecoming photo shoot, so that the girls could see her all dressed up.  Since the weather was sunny and the setting was beautiful, I snapped a few neat pictures of our little ladies as well.  I was actually able to get one where they were both almost smiling.  We hope Jade had a fun time!

Go Pirates!

On Friday of Homecoming week, the girls dressed in the finest Pirate attire they had!  It was finally "Parade Day", and Audrey was so excited!  They both really enjoyed gathering candy at the parade and dancing throughout the pep assembly.  To cap off the night, we had a delicious meal before the game, and we made it through the chilly first quarter.  The Pirates did go on to win 48-18, so it was the perfect ending to a fun week.  Now begins the nightly battle over how much candy to eat.  We'll finish up this round just in time for Halloween.

I told the girls to hold up one finger, to show that the Pirates were number one!  It took Kate just a second to understand. :)

Go PIRATES!!

Audrey quickly grew a mustache that day to look more like a Pirate.  I told her she looked like Geeka!

!

Red, White, and Blue

Audrey and Kate had a fun week participating in the dress-up days for Pirate Homecoming!  One day was "America Day," so the girls put on their red, white, and blue.  It was a cool day, so we had to go with skirts with leggings. :)  Even though it was really early in the morning, I was able to get a few smiles out of them to start the day.