We were so fortunate to have Steve's grandma, Edna, visit us. We did a lot of shopping, a lot of talking, a lot of eating, and a lot of laughing. I hope that she had as much fun as we did. We truly enjoyed having her. I'm still amazed that she flew half-way across the country alone at 82!

It wouldn't be Halloween without sewing costumes. I get excited about having a new project. But, I buy fabric thinking that I'm going to save a few dollars from not buying a ready-made costume, and the time I spend sewing I'm not spending cleaning or playing/refereeing the kids. So, when I'm done I'm frazzled, the kids are mad, I have less $ in my wallet, and my house is a wreck. I experience this every year. You'd think I would have learned my lesson by now. Despite it all, it does bring a sense of accomplishment to see the kids wearing all the love and time I put into them-just like mom would always do.

Almost wasted space

Can I tell you how much I am enjoying having an attached garage, and a three car at that? I went to Sam's Club today and didn't have to run laps up and down the driveway to get everything in the house! We really like having more space, but have yet to use the living room and dining room. Someday we will have a use for them. As for now, they are great places for Andrew to try out his crawling skills. He was so mad that he couldn't squeeze between the pillar and the wall.

Stade's Fall Festival

Stade's Dairy Farm is a "Christian-based" farm about 25 miles west of where we live. Each fall Stade's puts together a Fall Festival - there is a corn maze, wagon rides, pumpkin pickin', games and rides for kids, petting zoo, etc. We thought it would be fun to take the kids there.

When we pulled up to the place we immediately went into near shock. There were thousands of cars and the place was teeming with people like flies on stink. I asked the parking attendant if we could get a map of the lot so we could find our car when we were done having fun. He said today was pretty calm - it would be a real mess on Sunday when the Christian rock band comes. Evidently Stade's packs it in from 10-1 for its weekly Sabbath worship.

Stade's completely gets how to cash in on family fun, though, especially since the median income of the adult attendees was probably about $35,000 per year. You see, Stade's employs the ticket method for paying for things (which is a great way to get people to forget about how much the tickets cost and spend away!). So we picked up $20 worth of tickets (42) and off we went!

All in all, Stade's came through on its promise for family fun. We even got to meet Stade himself, which was a true pleasure. The weather was great and the kids enjoyed the pony ride and pumpkin patch the most. The total damage - $20 for pony rides and games, $6 for a modestly sized pumpkin and $8 for a dozen apple donuts. Based on what it looked like everyone else was investing in Stade's, I'd say we got out of there relatively unscathed from an economic perspective.

Fall Pictures

Alex's 7th Birthday Party

On Saturday the 11th of October Alex had a birthday party. She had friends in attendance from here in Illinois as well as friends who drove down from Milwaukee. I think everyone had a great time. They played flag tag, made a number of butterfly-type art projects/crafts (the party had a butterfly theme), ate cake and ice cream and generally just enjoyed being outside on a beautiful warm October Saturday.

Goodbye Wisconsin

Here is a picture from our last month in Wisconsin. We will certainly miss our Sunday morning walks to Lake Michigan to pick up beach glass and enjoy the beauty of the sun glistening off the water. It really was a blessing to live within walking distance of such a picturesque lake. Plus, we were also able to see all the multi-million dollar mansions that line the shore, which was always impressive.

Door County

Our summer ended with a short trip to Door County, Wisconsin. Where's Door County? It's northeast Wisconsin - people always say that Wisconsin is shaped like a person's left hand with all the fingers and thumb kept together - hold your left hand in the air as though commanding someone to stop and Door County is the thumb.

The picture of the huge fire is actually a fish boil at Pelletier's restaurant in Fish Creek (Door County). We went up there for a short trip (which felt even shorter because Steve spent two full days negotiating the sale of our Whitefish Bay home). It was a relaxing, fantastic place to spend a few days. Little Bud mostly just slept in the shower (they didn't have infant beds at the Eagle Harbor Inn, so we put a bunch of pillows and blankets in the shower stall and he slept there). The girls made some beaded bracelets, went swimming, showed Mom and Dad how to canoe and climbed to the top of a really tall tower overlooking Green Bay!

Back to the fish boil - essentially it is this: a bunch of potatoes, onions and whitefish is mixed in a huge cauldron of water - probably 30-40 gallons. The fish oil rises to the top of the water and just sits on the top of the water so the guys running the fish boil pour about 2 gallons of kerosene on the fire and the flames shoot up the side of the cauldron and actually burn away the fish oil on the water's surface. They then pull out the fish, onions and potatoes and serve it with a lot of butter, bread and cherry pie for desert. It was a lot of fun to experience a true fish boil and the meal was delicious!

Alex's 7th Birthday

Through the generous contributions of our viewers, Alex received her first American Girl doll. We drove to downtown Chicago to pick it up on Saturday afternoon (the 4th of October). Dad got a great parking space at a meter just one block off of Michigan Avenue at the base of the Hancock tower. It was really a great piece of work. Alex chose Felicity and a few different outfits.

Also, Sammi was really excited to get a Hershey bar from Grandpa and Grandma Scrogham. Since she's seen Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a few times recently, she expressed her disappointment at not getting a golden ticket, though.

The last days of summer