Leaves, Leaves, Leaves

Here are some of my favorite leaf pics from our trip.

Galena, Ill

After spending Sat. in Dubuque we headed across the state line into Illinois to visit the town of Galena. I'm a sucker for old towns and it was beautiful. The leaves were a bit more colorful there. We found a neat park for the kids to play in. We took a little nature walk and had a leaf fight which was great. After the park we went downtown to tour that and see what it had to offer. We tackled a few antique stores searching for an old milk can to store Buddy's dog food in and were successful. Yippy for no more Iams dog food bag in the dining room!!!

On our way home we stopped off in a random little town and had another picnic their local park. It was a great weekend. I think the kids had a great time....and I got my leaf fix!!!

On to Dubuque

After the Field of Dreams we continued on to Dubuque. We visited the River Walk that they have and had a picnic lunch and watched the boats and birds. I even spotted a bald eagle, which was cool. The leaves weren't as changed there as I had hoped, but it was still a beautiful day. After our picnic we visited the Mississippi River museum where they have exhibits of all of the animals that live in and around the Mississippi. The kids enjoyed seeing all of the animals. After the museum we headed to the hotel to check in a relax for a bit.

For dinner we went to my beloved Olive Garden (love the chicken scampi and sangria.....I skipped the sangria this time around). Tiffany, the daughter of friends of ours from Japan is attending college in Dubuque so we took her to dinner with us to catch up. Her folks are still in Japan so it was important to me to make sure we touched base with her so she could see some familiar faces. It was great to see her and she seems to be doing well.

After dinner we let the kids swim at the hotel pool for a bit and then hit the sack. I was pooped!

Here are pics of the kids at our picnic, Brett trying without success to touch some large fish at the museum, us all in front of a river boat paddle, a river boat as it paddled down the river, and the kiddos with Tiffany. Tiff used to babysit for us a lot on nights and weekends. Brett doesn't remember her since he wasn't even one yet, but Reagan was a complete leach and loved seeing her again.

Field of Dreams

Is this heaven? No, it's Iowa. We went on a road trip this weekend to North Eastern Iowa to check out the fall foliage. Fall is my favorite time of year so I planned the weekend as one of my last "outings" before we have four kids!!! Our destination was Dubuque, but we first stopped off in Dyersville to visit the site where the movie Field of Dreams was filmed. Brett is slightly obsessed with the sport (and pretty good I might add) so I thought it would be a hit, and it was. Scott, Reagan, and Brett took their ball gloves so they could play catch on the field. We watched the movie when we got home on Sunday night and the kids thought it was pretty cool that they were just at the farm they were talking about in the movie.

Apples and Tomatoes

Brett and I had a farm day last week. We visited the apple orchard and selected some perfect apples for making apple crisp for dessert that night after dinner. We checked out all the trees and even enjoyed an apple turnover for a snack....it was great! Today I made applesauce and tomorrow night am attempting apple turnovers of my own for a dessert. Brett got to tell all about the orchard at preschool and they even used apples as stamps for their art project so he felt he was somewhat of an apple expert. We spotted pumpkins at the orchard as well and will have to make a return trip in a week or so with Reagan and Daddy to search for the perfect pumpkins for carving and for a ride on the hay rack and tractor!! Here are some pics of Brett checking out the apples in the trees and of him enjoying his snack at the orchard.

After the orchard we continued on to our vegetable cooperative for our weekly pickup. We visited the wall of cherry tomatoes for Brett to sample. Reagan got to do so the week before while Brett slept in the car. He was excited for his turn to eat them right off the vine, not that you could tell by the photo......I think I took 10 pictures and this was the best one. Apparently the dogs and kittens running around the farm were more interesting than Mom trying to take yet another picture of him.

Of course no drive in the country is complete for Brett if we don't HAVE to stop on the side of the road to pee. He thinks its the best thing ever...I'm pretty sure he holds it all day on veggie trip days just so he CAN do it. Seriously. On these particular days when Scott comes home and asks what he did today the very first thing from his lips is he peed in the grass. Choose your battles, right?!!?

Family Weddings

One definite advantage of being so close to home is that we get to partake in family events that we used to only hear about. One of Scott's cousins got married on Sept. 20 so we got to go to that and help them celebrate. Reagan and Brett had an absolute blast dancing around. Brett is still trying to do the Macarena (sp?)and copies what he thinks he saw Scott's cousin Luke doing on the dance floor!!! Interesting stuff, for sure!! Here's a picture of Reagan and Scott's youngest brother Jeff. One of Brett dancing with Grandpa Tom. I should say Brett only danced once he asked Scott if it was OK for boys to do so....such a funny little man. Here's another of Rea and Brett on a slow dance I'm sure. They think parties like this should happen every weekend....with as many cousins as Scott has they happen often, but never enough for the youngsters. It was great to see family we hadn't seen in a few months.

On Sept. 20 we also were blessed with a new niece. Scott's brother Philip and his wife Misty welcomed Zhara Brielle into our family. We're anxious to get to snuggle on her the next time we get home again.

Dining in, Kelly's Birthday

Scott and I attended a dining this month for his unit. The kids (and Buddy) got to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa Schmitz, which is always a hit. We had a great time or it could be that we hadn't been out alone in quite some time, but whatever!! I really enjoyed being around other Marine wives, and actually didn't really realize how much I missed doing so until that night. I rarely see anyone from his "unit" since they are all over the state recruiting. Here's a picture of us from that night. Also in the pic is Scott's Gunny and his wife and his MSgt. They're a pretty good bunch to hang with when we do get together. I look forward to the ball in November to hang out with them all again. I don't look forward to the size my belly might be by then....yikes!!!

I turned 31 on September 18th..yeah, not a big one, so no big deal. Reagan had a school function that night so we did that and then came home for dinner and cake. Rea helped blow out the candles, I'm positive Brett only spit on it....he means well!