Apple Orchard Fun

It's fall! Which means fun fall activites like the apple orchard! We went to the Minnetonka Orchards with our neighbors Nick, Jen and Lily, and with Jay, Erin and Kendall. Lucky Ben, he always seems to be the only boy surrounded by cute girls :) (I don't think he fully appreciates that yet). The orchard had all sorts of fun things for kids to do.

"Hey, let's get this thing moving!"

"Whoa, how do I get to that car?"

Ben sized ponies!

"Hey Kendall, do you see what I see?!"


"There's goats on the roof of the barn!!"

Our little pumpkin.



"HAY - Get us down from here!"



"Ewe! Girl germs!"



"Look at me, I'm 2 1/2 feet tall!"

"Riding" the tractor with Daddy.

What a great family fun day!

Eastman Nature Center

Although we've lived in Maple Grove for over 6 years now, we've just recently discovered how cool a place the Eastman Nature Center at the Elm Creek Park reserve is - only a couple miles from our house, free, and the perfect place for a little boy to explore.

Ben and I went for the first time just a couple of weeks ago, along with our friends Nicole and Ethan. They were having a special "Family Activity Day" and had fun activities, like making your own walking stick, seed art, live reptiles to check out, making cider, and an obstacle course. Those little boys were in heaven!

Can we have this Pumpkin Mommy? Please?

Live animals!

Ben and I had so much fun that first weekend, that we decided to bring Daddy back with us the next weekend. This time we explored the hiking trails behind the center.

Ben got to put his new walking stick to use.

Mommeee, Daddeee, come on!

What's that Daddy?

Shower Downstairs

Ben seems to do something everyday that makes us shake our head and think 'How old are you?! Your not even 2 yet!

For example, not expecting a response, I asked Ben how he was feeling after his first day back at daycare after being sick for two days...he surprised me by answering "I feeling better Mommy". He also shocked us and made us laugh when he asked the waitress at dinner on Saturday night for some more water! How grown up!!

What's really cute to see is him taking a shower. He's decided baths are out, and the shower "downstairs" is in-he relates taking a shower to downstairs so that's what he says when he let's us know he wants to shower and not take a bath.

Such a little guy, taking a shower all by himself!

He even wears a towel like one of the big guys!

He's growing up way too fast!!

Poor Ben?

Another wardrobe mishap at daycare. This time I think it was to teach Mike and I a lesson: DO NOT RUN OUT OF SPARE CLOTHES FOR BEN. Unfortunately we had not been paying attention to what Ben had left for spare clothes, and so when he needed a new shirt (and didn't have one of his own) he was dressed in this "pretty" shirt.

Now, you'd think that maybe he'd feel some slight embarrassment over having to wear a girls shirt....HOWEVER, he seemed to really embrace his new look.

Hmmm...I think we'll do a better job of keeping him stocked up with spare clothes in the future.

Ben's New Bike

Ben got his first tricycle, and got straight to work making minor repairs and adjustments.

He has to be sure everything is just right!

Such pride, and he's ready to ride!

What Talent!

We may have a future American Idol here...click below to hear Ben's fabulous rendition of
Happy Birthday to You.





Ben's currently hiring out for party's,
and practices his singing all the time so he's ready to go at a moments notice!

Maple Grove Days Parade

One benefit of our new house is that each year the Maple Grove Parade runs right behind our house. So we decided that a Maple Grove Parade Party was in order. Here are pics from our 1st Annual Maple Grove Parade Party.

Kick off to the parade - a fly over! Pretty cool, but very loud!

Decorating bags for all of the "loot" before the parade - good idea Natalie!

Waiting for the parade to start....

Look at this line-up of goofy kids!

Ready and waiting for the candy!