a visit to chicago

we made a little trip down to chicago at the end of october so that tyler could take the second half of his boards two exam.  it was the perfect excuse to crash at my sister's place with her family to see them one more time before we left for texas.

a really didn't take a ton of pictures while we were there, but we did happen to make a stop at a fun pumpkin patch that morning.  it was perfect because there was a kiddie area with a bunch of free things for the kids to do.  you can't say no to free!

no matter how hard we tried (well, how hard camille tried since i was trying to take the picture) we just couldn't get all three kids to hold still long enough for a picture with cinderella.  if you look close enough, you can catch a glimpse of camille trying to corral the boys to get in the picture.

did i mention that getting three little kids together for a picture is tricky? 

door county part two

you definitely can't go to door county without taking advantage of the beautiful hikes in the area.  although it was a cold day, it was so nice to be outside surrounded by the beautiful leaves.
before we headed on our hike we stopped at this lighthouse to take a look.  it was pretty small but still fun to see.

and onto the hike.  katelyn found a nice walking stick to use on the hike. 

and since tanner loves to do whatever katelyn does, he found himself some sticks as well.

the view was so beautiful.

the kiddos got a little tired after making it to the end, so before we headed back we let them rest for a minute to play with the leaves.

this really was the perfect getaway for our family. 

door county

taking this little getaway to door county couldn't have come at a better time.  october ended up being an incredibly busy, crazy month full of appointments and errands.  it felt like we never caught our breath that month.  so it was nice when we finally got to take a little break and just enjoy some time together as a family.  and door county was just the perfect place to do that.  it is so beautiful and relaxing.  even in the cold weather.

one of our stops in door county was to this great farm called dairy view farm.  it was completely free and had tons of fun activities for the kids. 

cookie the cow.  we actually did see real cows and got to watch as they were being milked, then shipped out and the next batch of cows was sent it.

there was a little hay maze for the kids to run around in.  katelyn and daddy were able to successfully get to the middle.

tanner however was not, at least not honestly.  he found other methods of making to the middle.

while in door county we stopped at the best restaurant for kids ever.  not because of the food but because of the fun atmosphere.  it's a restaurant called pc junction.  they sit you down in a bar area where there is a train going around the bar.  the kids just sat and waited for the train to come around again and again to see what new stuffed animal had joined the train. 

our food was also delivered on the train. 

lambeau field

as a family we decided we wanted to head up to door county before our time ran out here in wisconsin.  we'd heard so much about this beautiful county that we knew we couldn't skip out on this opportunity to visit.  again, since tyler had october off, it really was the perfect time to go.

after doing a little research, tyler discovered that lambeau field was actually on the way up to door county.  and since tyler is a fan of the packers, we left some time in our shedule to make a stop to take a tour.  tyler was one happy man that day.

of course the kids weren't as excited as their dad was about the tour.  they found other ways to entertain themselves. 

it happened to be a really cold, rainy day as we were doing the tour, but it was still worth walking down the tunnel out to the field.

halloween

i don't know why, but i get a real thrill out of dressing my kids up in coordinating costumes.  after throwing around a couple of ideas, we finally came up with one that katelyn was okay with (and me as well since i would be the one piecing the costume together).   i really didn't want to do costumes that would take forever to make or would cost a fortune.  so after looking at ideas for woody and jessie on-line, we were all over it.

the kids were lucky again this year because they were able to go trick-or-treating twice.  they scored big time in the candy department.  big time.  we went around the neighborhood and went trick-or-treating at mcw.  both were very fun and both times the kids were running from place to place grabbing the candy.

when we were at the medical college trick-or-treating we happened to see none other than woody's favorite horse, bullseye.  we couldn't leave without getting a quick picture.  i have to say that costume was well done.

this is the stash from just one round of trick-or-treating.  they honestly had so much candy.

playing in the leaves

since we planned on taking a month-long trip to texas in november, we knew that we had to take care of the falling leaves in our backyard pretty soon.  and since october was such a beautiful month here in wisconsin, we took advantage and raked up those leaves.  actually, i didn't really do anything with the leaves this year.  tyler took care of all of them.  we think he's pretty darn amazing.

but before we did any raking, we headed outdoors to play in the leaves a couple of different times. a favorite activity of ours in the fall.

here's a mix of pictures from our different outings in the leaves.

the riverwalk

our family finally ventured out to the riverwalk in october.  since tyler had the whole month off it was the perfect time to go.  it actually ended up being a very warm day in october too.  an added bonus.
we had planned on taking a nice long walk down the riverwalk, but when we got there we found that there was a construction going on that was blocking much of the walkway.  so sadly, our trip was cut a little short.  at least we were still able to find the bronze fonze and take some pictures by the statue.