This weekend we took a short trip northeast to La Crosse, Wisconsin. Ryan will be spending a month there next year and we thought it would be fun to check out the hospital and the town where he will be living for 4 weeks. Plus, it's a potential residency spot after he graduates, so there's a chance we could live there for 3 years. It is a small town right along the Mississippi River. While it was hard to imagine myself settling there long term with my family, I think it would be a great place for us to spend 3 years. We'll see if that happens.
La Crosse Children's Museum
Racing boats down the Mississippi.
The trains were his favorite part of the museum.
Maddie found a hand puppet and snuggled right up to it.
Isaac with the farm animals.
This is the closest he'll get to having a dog as long as he lives under my roof...
Shopping for onions and milk at the grocery store.
Playing with the dump trucks.
Driving the fire truck.
She can never get too much of her own reflection. :)
The Hotel Swimming Pool
Our hotel had a kiddie pool with slides and fountains for the kids. They LOVED it and probably swallowed a gallon of water each.
I think she had gone down the slide 30 times before Isaac warmed up to the idea. He ended up loving it almost as much as she did.
Here Ryan is telling her at least 10 times to sit down--there was only one time when she didn't listen and tried to cowabunga dive down the slide.
All tuckered out after swimming.
Here are a couple of videos of the kids at the pool. The first word out of Maddie's mouth after going down the slide and immediately trying to wriggle out of our arms was either "down!" or "more!"--both so she could climb right back up the steps and go again. These videos are especially for you, Corey, since you never seem to tire of the cheesy clips.
Playing with friends at the church trunk-or-treat.
Doing the chicken dance?
This was pretty much the view I had while trick-or-treating. She is getting fast and we can't figure out how to contain her. Tonight she had to go on trunk or treat probation for running away from me too many times. It didn't slow her down as much as we would have hoped.
After walking up to the first house, Isaac figured out the fun of begging for candy pretty quick. So did Maddie. She tried to take off with the entire bowl of candy instead of just the one piece offered to her. That's my girl. Now, if I could just train her to choose the Snickers over the Smarties...
The entire chicken suit.
This picture is blurry but I love it because he's holding her hand. How did the chicken cross the road? The firefighter helped her, of course!
Isaac crawling through the tunnel at Ryan's school party.
She's currently fascinated with balloons.
Painting a pumpkin.
We've had way too much sugar this weekend.
Shoveling it in as fast as she can for fear it will disappear.
You have been replaced.By an annoying brown haired girl who speaks Spanglish and talks to her pet monkey and her purple backpack.
Don't worry, we still love to play with you. Just not as much as Dora. Think of yourself as Woody, and Dora is the new Buzz Lightyear. Our new favorite past time (since the weather turned chilly) is to go to Ryan's school and make up our own Dora adventures (i.e. Map says, first find the game room, then we go through the underground tunnels, and that's how we find the skeleton man!)
Say it with me: Game room...
Tunnels...
...then we find the skeleton man!
I don't just love Dora, I think I am her.
Hey Maddie, Who do we ask for help when we don't know which way to go?
Here are some pictures from this year's caramel apple making. We make them every year in October, and it was fun to have Gavin and Amanda, our next-door neighbors and good friends, join us. I made them do all the work while I barked out orders and took pictures. They didn't seem to mind too much.
Isaac and Gavin dipping the apples.
Maddie anxiously awaiting a taste of the goods.
Ryan was in charge of crushing the Reese's Pieces--both delicious and appropriately colored in orange, brown, and yellow--the perfect Halloween candy.
Here is Amanda with the semi-finished product. After the caramel, we dipped the apples in white chocolate and then either cinnamon sugar or Reese's (or both). Sadly, I never did catch a photo of the completely finished product---we ate them all before I realized it. You'll just have to take my word for it when I tell you that they both looked and tastedamazing.
Racing boats down the Mississippi.
The trains were his favorite part of the museum.
Maddie found a hand puppet and snuggled right up to it.
Isaac with the farm animals.
This is the closest he'll get to having a dog as long as he lives under my roof...
Shopping for onions and milk at the grocery store.
Playing with the dump trucks.
Driving the fire truck.
She can never get too much of her own reflection. :)
Our hotel had a kiddie pool with slides and fountains for the kids. They LOVED it and probably swallowed a gallon of water each.
I think she had gone down the slide 30 times before Isaac warmed up to the idea. He ended up loving it almost as much as she did.
Here Ryan is telling her at least 10 times to sit down--there was only one time when she didn't listen and tried to cowabunga dive down the slide.
All tuckered out after swimming.
