Leaves, leaves and more leaves

One of the things that we really like about our back yard is all the trees. During the spring we enjoy watching the new leaves grow and summer is filled with playing in the shade. Of course the fall colors are wonderful but I have to admit that at least once each fall I think, "Oh crap each one of those will be coming down." Believe me I am not a fall grinch, I do quickly snap out of it and enjoy. Sorry I said crap.

Getting to work

Over the past few weeks, Apple Valley has exploded with beautiful fall colors. We have really been enjoying the view. But, of course, we have to rake the leaves to get ready for the next season that is coming...not that we are in a hurry for it yet! Erik and the Apple Valley Kiddos worked together today and got a lot done. They filled 28 brown yard bags and we still have 1/2 our yard to go...and the leaves are still falling! Andrew took the first picture of dad. The next picture was of the process..kids stomping (mulching) the leaves so they can fit more leaves into the bags. The last one is Emily building up our big leaf pile. Mom, in case you were wondering... No parades were missed during making of these leaf piles..hehehe.

Time for fun

Needless to say there were a lot of leaves being raked today. We had to have some fun too. I mean really, who can resist a good leaf pile?

Ryan comes out of the waterslide

Vortex pool video

The apple orchard

The Apple Orchard

What kind of Apple Valley mom would I be if I didn't take the Apple Valley kiddos to an apple orchard? We went to Fischer Croix apple orchard in Hastings, Mn. We had such a great time. We picked Honey Golden apples. Let me tell you they are wonderful. In fact Ryan said it was the best apple he has ever had in his life. We did make apple sauce with them and it was so yummy.

Exploring Lake Superior

One of our favorite activities was just spending time on the shores of Lake Superior. The waves were fun to watch. Erik got wet from a huge wave. We got explore the rocks. We got to see ships come in off the lake. We also got to see the bridge go up and down. We are already looking forward to our next visit.

We discover Duluth

Duluth is an amazing city. We were able to visit the Geat Lakes Aquarium. There we learned about the lake...one cool fact is that if you spread all the water from Lake Superior it would cover North and South America with one foot deep of water. That is a huge lake. We also visited the Children's museum. It was not that great, but we took a family picture so I put it up. The train museum was a great stop. We got to go up into the different trains. We are excited to go back to Duluth. There are so many things we still want to do.

We discover yummy treats along the way!

Like all good Minnesotans, we stopped on the way there (and back) at Tobies. It is a yummy bakery in Hinkley, Minnesota. The ladies all thought Andrew was so cute and one gave him a free bag of of pretzels. Yes, I had some goodies too, but somehow a picture of me stuffing my face isn't as fun to look at.

Swimming at The Edge

Did I mention that we went swimming at the hotel? I think we swam each day for at least 5 hours. Yeah, we got wet!!

Getting ready to go.

This is the post I wrote before we left for Duluth....we are back now. (I realized I should not announce that our house was going to be empty.) Hopefully I can put up pictures up tonight after bedtime!

Well we are getting ready to go on a fun trip to Duluth Minnesota. The kids have a week off from school so we decided to skip conferences and make a run for it. I packed last night and we are leaving shortly. The kids are excited because we get to stay at a fun hotel/waterpark called The Edge. I have to admit that I am pretty excited too. Oh fear not this entire trip will be on the blog...dare I say even a short video? I am slightly addicted to the whole blogging thing!

Summer Fun Slide Show

Here is a slide show of some of the things we did this summer. We had a great time going to the cabin, swimming, zoo, and other great places. I cannot believe summer is over!

The Apple Valley Kiddos

As you can see Ryan went to the butterfly garden too.

Here is Emily at the butterfly garden at the Minnesota zoo.

Just started

I guess I am just going to start this blog to catch people up on our lives etc.