MEA Break

It was MEA break this past week.  Since Steve and I are both educators, we got Thursday and Friday off to play hooky from the actual educational conferences to spend time with family. Growing up, this long weekend signified a trip to my grandparents' farm in Iowa in time to join in the harvest fun.  This year, we took our family of four to one of our favorite vacation spots, Wisconsin Dells, now only two hours away.  We spent some time at the indoor water parks, as usual, but also added some new activities to our schedule.

Riding in a car at Hooligans arcade.

Jumping at Hooligans.

Giving her brand new puppy, Token, an air bath at Build-a-Bear.

Bundled up for Timbavati's zoo.

Feeding the animals.

This white tiger was so cool!  (And so close!) The tiger cubs were especially adorable. But I do always feel badly for the animals, when not in their natural habitat.

Camel!

On the train at Timbavati.

Tuckered out and now front-facing in the car.

We came back to Rochester early Saturday afternoon and spent some time at the Children's Museum.

  

Face painting.  She requested a puppy.

My quick attempt at a puppy face.

Reading puppy.

Lots of things to touch and see!

Ha ha!  I can walk!

Counting money at the fruit and vegetable stand.

 

We finished our weekend of fun at Tweite's Pumpkin Patch after church on Sunday.

So tall!

Roping some steers.

She looks like a natural.

Off to the next area.  This place was HUGE!

Cutest jailbird.

Bode's facing the wrong way!

The monster is eating Maggie in the Enchanted Forest.

Skipping into the corn maze.  We soon discovered this enormous maze was not designed for a family with young children and traced our way back to the entrance.  We'll revisit this in about 10 years.

Obligatory pumpkin photos for 2012.

First time at a pumpkin patch.

The full weekend is catching up to her.

Okay, one pumpkin photo.

My method of catching our escape-artist-cat has clearly influenced Maggie.

Happy Birthday, Bode!

Bode Christian is one year old today!  It's hard to believe that it's been a year since my precious 8 lb 7 oz baby boy was born into the world, nine days past my due date.  He is such a sweet and loving little babe, who loves puppies, kitties, playing peek-a-boo, making animal noises, and laughing with his sister.  We are blessed.

Birthday pancakes, courtesy of my mom. We visited for a couple days.

Maggie felt left out so she got some belated birthday pancakes, too.

We made it back to Stewartville to celebrate at Pizza Ranch (Maggie's idea).

He loves to pound on his new toy.

Smiley guy.

Leftover birthday cake from the weekend party.

Getting more confident with walking all the time.

Playing in the sand a couple days ago.

Walking in leaves at Grammy's.

Grammy's helper.

Pretending to be a puppy in the pile of leaves.

Here is a simple video slideshow that I made for Maggie and Bode's party this past weekend.

Birthday Bash

It wasn't really a bash, but we did have a lot of fun at our family birthday party for Maggie and Bode!

I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked, but here are a few from the evening:

And this one is from this afternoon.  What a gorgeous afternoon!  Perfect weather to eat sand.