Fall Fun

This past weekend we enjoyed some wonderful crisp fall days!! What better activity to do in the fall than play in the leaves!!

On Saturday we went to a pumpkin patch. They had a corn "sand box", which the girls loved. And I loved that it was so clean.

Madi loved the big slide and wanted to go again and again!

We had met Dan and Dee and the kids there also. Madi and Erika are in the front barrell. Andrew is in the next one. Emily is holding Taylor in the last one.

Our new home

Before the farmers did a lot of harvesting last week, we were surrounded by nothing but corn. Now we don't even have that!! :) Us girls really enjoyed watching all the tractors while we sat at our kitchen table and ate our meals. Madi had a lot of questions, like, "what's that?" and "what are they doing?". My typical response was, "I don't know, let's ask daddy when he gets home". Yeah, I so don't know my tractors or harvesting process!! :)
Here's a couple of pictures of our view. The clusters of trees in both pictures are where there are other homes. The closest neighbor we have is about 1/4 mile away. The area we live in is a plain, so its very flat and very windy!!

Country life is quiet, beautiful and very different from the life I've always known. This next year is going to be an adventure!!

We are Moving!!

We're packing up and moving out!!:

This is the house we will be living in for the next year. Its in a tiny town in IA called Cedar. Yep, Eric is turning me into a country girl!

Family Time

My parents and brothers came out to visit last week. They came out to help Dan and Dee move and meet their newest grandson. We had a lot of fun.
One day we went on a paddle boat up the Mississippi River. It was a Perfect day for a boat ride.

Madi and Brian watching the water, waiting for the boat to take off:

Watching the paddles:

Jason, chillin' on the boat:
Reading stories with grandma and dressing up in the new princess game she gave Madi:

Eric took the guys out on the river in his boat for an afternoon of fishing. Brian caught 3!! And Dad caught one big one! We ate them the next night for our 2nd annual fish fry!

I have a new nephew! His name is Zachary John. He is number 4 in Dan and Dees family! What a cutie! Thats him snoozing by Auntie Kari:
A week after he was born in Chicago he moved to Iowa! Now Dan and Dee are only 2 hrs. away- Woo-hoo!! Kari came out for a few days to help with their other three kids and help get them settle in the house. So the girls and I went down to add to the chaos! :)

We helped unpack a bunch of boxes and grocery shop and such but we also had some fun. We went to the waterpark one day and had a hot dog roast another day:

My niece, Erika seems to be enjoying her s'more!! Isnt she a cutie!!