Pumpkin Patch Scavenger Hunt

October started out nice and slow - and finished at quite the accelerated pace. Last weekend, Mike and I were frantically trying to get the camper winterized and stored, rake all the leaves, and get ourselves in game shape for winter. Several hours of work, one trip to our friends' pole barn, and three trailer loads of leaves to our neighbors farm ... and we were in much better shape.

It used to feel so much harder to do the seasonal change work - because it always felt like one of us was working and one of us was watching the kids. But not this year. They wandered in and out of the house. They played with friends. They helped (a little). They were hired to help the neighbor clean out her garden. Basically they were self-sufficient (other than getting lunch on the table) and it was pretty great. Mike's next goal is that they actually do the raking for him ...

Because of this, we finished early enough that Sunday afternoon, we headed to the pumpkin patch. It's a local patch where you actually get to go out into the field to choose your pumpkin. What we learned (and hopefully remember next year thanks to the blog) is that going the Sunday before Halloween means there are not a lot of pumpkins left! We really had to search through the brush in the field to find good pumpkins. Everyone learned about pickers - what they look like, that they hurt, and that Dec's groin area is not a great height for walking the brush when there are pickers. 

We did manage to find four awesome pumpkins and took them home. Where they sat in our garage for a couple days - because Mike had hockey Sunday night and not enough time to carve them. But never fear, Tuesday night, Mike and his dremel were ready. The kids drew their faces on a piece of paper and the girls were really helpful in scooping out the pumpkin guts. Dec wanted nothing to do with that part! 

They were very pleased with how daddy recreated their drawings - and I was very pleased that we managed to squeeze showers in without anyone missing their pumpkin being carved. Sometimes it feels hard to fit everything in - but we had a great evening together and really enjoy our pumpkin carving traditions.

Family Costume - and a Power Ranger

I say it year after year – campground trick-or-treating is far superior to actual trick-or-treating. There is no doorbell-ringing requirement, none of the awkward “are they home? Is someone going to answer the door?,” and less distance between bowls of candy. Vannestes look forward to this night all fall!

In September, we started the very important “what do you want to be for Halloween?” discussions. We’ve learned (the hard way) that early preparation is critical. The girls are currently in the heart of their obsession with Descendants (the third movie came out in August) – so they quickly decided to be Mal and Evie.

Then there were a couple of loooong days where Q decided she wanted to be Mal too and Fiona was.not.having.it. They worked it out and Q happily (?) returned to being Evie. Next step, they decided Mike should be Hades (Mal’s dad) and I should be Maleficent (Mal’s mom). I let that ride for a couple days to ensure Q didn’t get mad about Evie being parentless. She did not so we went with it.

Next up, should little brother be Carlos or Jay? What the ladies did not take into account is that little bro does not believe in group think and had decided he wanted to be a red Power Ranger. Despite their best marketing efforts (mom was proud), Dec stood strong – so red Power Ranger it was (let’s all pray this ability to ignore peer pressure remains rock solid in the teen years!). My Amazon cart was full of colored wigs – and a power ranger suit.

My shopping was mostly successful – except for Mike’s blue mohawk. It looked way more “flock of seagulls” than “Disney god of the underworld.” I put in one night of effort and a lot of hair gel to make it moderately better. Thankfully, Gma N has far more talent and patience than me and spent two days (when they were down watching the kids) making that wig a thing of beauty. Fiona is crazy in love with her purple wig and pretty much wants purple hair now.

The camping crew decided to skip the parade and getting ready was more relaxed. Mike even let me put some heavy eye-liner on him and he killed the look. It was so fun and the kids LOVED it! Real truth: the adults did too.

Trick-or-treating was less frigid than last year, which everyone appreciated. We went through 2.5 loops, found the site that hands out the shots, and called it when the kids all happily agreed with being done. Then it was back to the sites to hand out candy to the final trick-or-treaters and to participate in a pretty awesome dance party. We headed up to the program and our group took home a couple door prizes.

The only bummer of the weekend – they changed how sites are booked for the next year and when we went to get our sites for 2020, all the electric sites were already gone. After a group discussion, we committed to non-electric sites. And have a year to figure out how to not freeze to death!

Fall Break Camping When We Don't Freeze

I spent this morning hustling about, cleaning and packing up the camper for the season (while Mike raked the endless piles of leaves in the backyard). We go through the same cycle every year - we hustle our butts to get the camper ready for Father's Day camping in-between the end of school and Dec's birthday. And then we camp during Fall Break and have to hustle it up again to pack and store before .. you know .. things freeze. Mike actually did run the heaters one night this week because we hadn't drained the pipes yet. But - today was productive and Mike and the girls have successfully stored the camper in our friends' pole barn for the winter. Check and check.

Even though we know what the cycle will entail, it's totally worth it. This year's Baker Boo camping trip was nothing short of awesome. The weather was perfect (we are very grateful after last year's "Baker Brrrr" experience), the kids were in great moods, and it was just a fun and relaxing time. We also came more prepared for the cold with electric heated mattress pads and I was not sad!

We arrived early afternoon on Friday and the kids ran off to play with the Pilcher kids while the tall people set up camp. Then, as we did the year before, we wandered over to the giant leaf pile to give it a test run. There was lots of fort building, leaf jumping, and stick burning happening throughout the rest of the day. A new addition to our three campsites was our very own slackline - which was a huge hit and where Quinn spent the majority of her time! She and I mastered a couple pairs moves on the slackline that got me some solid "Mom cred."

My very favorite part of the day - after dinner, when it started to get dark, the eight kids played quite the game of Ghosts in the Graveyard. And the biggest boy T made sure that he and Dec were always partners so D both felt like a "big kid" but also didn't get lost in the woods! After a lot of flashlight games and some s'mores, it was off to bed for the kids. The rest of us hung around the campfire with the bottle of Fireball until 11:00 or so.

Saturday morning was chilly, so I sent Q and D out in hats and their winter coats. D even had gloves. I spent the next several hours occasionally collecting discarded layers of Vanneste outerwear as the sun warmed the day. We ended up HOT - and not sad about it. Quinn remarked that we were not in the camper all day. She was right! And it was just great to not need to warm up or cool down!

After lunch, we headed to the Halloween Festival in F loop. We watched the Pilcher boys brave the climbing wall and asked short Vs if they wanted to try. They did not. And then, Miss Fiona Grace Vanneste said "I'll do it." You guys, we were shocked. And proud. And quickly moved her into the line before she could change her mind! She did a.mazing! They put a "monkey tail" on her so they could help pull her down (she's right at the minimum weight), but she climbed up about 2/3 of the wall. Her sibs were sufficiently impressed!

Then we hit up the face painting line, the gross station, the game stations, the scarecrow stuffing area, and more games. Our friends were about to head back to the sites when the other two short Vs decided that they wanted to try the climbing wall too. I don't think Quinn liked being shown up by Fiona! Back we went to a much longer climbing wall line. But all three climbed and did a great job. Dec didn't quite weigh enough so his harness was actually pulling him up and making it harder. However, he did his best and had a good time.

After the climbing wall and a couple more games, we also went back to the sites for more playing, bike riding, perfecting our site decorations, and playing on the slackline. Then the traditional pizza dinner arrived. After a full day outside, those eleven pizzas did not stand a chance! We were grateful for full bellies - because next up was trick-or-treating!

October's Silver Lining

She will make friends with
literally anyone

I've mentioned a couple times that we haven't had a lot of "big bloggable moments" in October. That has been a blessing as there are a lot of things churning behind the scenes that have us all a little unbalanced. Some are things that aren't for the blog, some are things that we aren't ready to share quite yet, and some are just part of the season of life we are in (three young kids). But to say there has been a lot of adulting on our plates the last few weeks would be very accurate. It's definitely not all bad stuff - but it's all big stuff.

So as today's spina bifida clinic appointments* approached, our October really needed a win. And let me tell you, the day delivered. We started the morning with Fiona's 9 year well check. You guys, she is 47.5" - which is at the 2 percentile mark!!! We have been hanging out in the less than 1% area for years! So she doubled her percentile! Even more importantly, her growth velocity (which is what we really care about) was at its highest rate ever (2.7" per year). This is phenomenal news and F, Dr. H, and I most definitely had a celebratory moment. She weighs 44.5 lbs, which is still under 1%. But much closer to that first percentile than we have been!

Hospital cafeteria lunch

I mentioned to Dr. H that Fiona has been complaining about being extra tired the last few weeks and has been noticeably more rundown. We did a quick hemoglobin check to rule out anemia (totally normal) - and she feels fairly confident that it is a "pubescent growth spurt." Excuse me ... what?!?! Apparently that "p" word is rapidly approaching and I am not okay with it. For the record, neither Fiona nor the growth spurt seem to take my "not okay" into account.

Spina bifida clinic was the fastest we've ever been in and out (only 3+ hours). Bugs was a trooper and went in with just the best attitude. She paid attention, engaged in the conversations, and took an interest in her health. We were so proud of her. Everything is looking really good. All tests came back the best we can hope for and all the doctors were very impressed with how well she is doing. Her shunt looks good, Mike is planning to replace her button at home (he feels confident that YouTube can assist if needed. Bugs feels less confident), and her legs and feet are holding strong. We stay the course and go back in a year.

While we were all a bit emotionally exhausted post appointment, it was a great morale boost for everyone. If we had to pick something in October to be the silver lining, clinic day would top the list! We are grateful for every year of good reports - and don't take a single bit of it for granted.

*All health information shared was cleared with Fiona ahead of time. I told her that she is now in control of how much is posted on the blog.

Cottage Adventure

Well, we headed to Barnum for a second time this year on a mini-vacation. For anyone who knows Barnum, that's a shocking statement. We have now pretty much experienced all Barnum has to offer - the campground, the Lazy Bear Cafe, and a tiny little cottage next to the motel ... which happened to be the only room left in the entire Duluth/surrounding area region by the time we decided to head up.

Saturday morning, we pointed the car northward, dropped Yogi off for a sleepover at Auntie's, and continued up to Barnum. We stopped to drop our stuff off at the cottage, which was surprisingly perfect for a last minute find. It had two bedrooms with 3 queen beds, a little living room, and a great view. Then we grabbed a late lunch at the aforementioned Lazy Bear Cafe, which was a huge hit with the small Vs! After lunch, it was off to Duluth for a visit with Grandpa!

Grandpa recently had a bit of a run-in with his four-wheeler and is recovering, so we came armed with lots of food and a banana cream pie. He was not sad about the pie (or the food either). The kids checked out the train room and admired the new enhancements. Q and D even got to drive the trains a few times! The weather was pretty rotten on Saturday (rain/snow mix, cold, and super windy), so we were stuck in the car/house for most of the day. That made for some squirrely children.

So after our visit with Gpa, we headed over to the Duluth Mall to burn off some energy. A trip through the toy store and the book store helped and then we grabbed a quick dinner at the food court. They also made their first wish in the mall fountain. Verdict is out on whether Fiona's wish came true. She wished that we would buy something at the mall. I bought a new Halloween book ... she would have preferred a toy. Mike was having all the moments as we sat in the food court. Apparently he and Brad spent a lot of time during their teen years in the mall! We saw the lights of Duluth as we drove back to our cottage and the kids loved that!

Sunday morning, we were back at Lazy Bear for breakfast and the syrup rush did not disappoint. Mike took Q and D on a walk while F did her flush so they could run off some energy and check out the tiny piles of snow that stayed on the ground. Bonus was that they came back with coffee! Then we loaded up, said good-bye to our cottage, and headed back south.

Since the weather was much better on Sunday, we made a quick stop at Banning State Park for a hike. Q and I had exclaimed  how pretty the fall colors were approximately 1,349 times over the weekend - so we were both really excited to get out and see them up close. We also successfully campaigned for a few group pictures. At one point, Mike used a tree as a phone holder so we could get a family shot. I think he was secretly hoping that it would make Q and me stop gushing about the leaves. It did not.

The hike was awesome. All three kids did a great job climbing the rocks - even though the girls didn't have appropriate climbing footwear in any way (ooops!). We found a cave and the kids went in it (once Mike confirmed it was uninhabited). And everyone successfully climbed out of a pretty big rock canyon. We had so much fun and did a lot of laughing.

We scooped up our puppy (and used Auntie for her bathroom) on the way home. It was a super fast trip. But everyone agreed that the cottage, the lazy bear, the hike, and the Grandpa made it an awesome weekend. Fiona did say that she wished it could have lasted longer. They were troopers to do all that driving for such a quick trip!

Moments

First snow of the season

I told Mike a few days ago that I needed to blog - but that I didn't have anything to write about. We've had a couple normal, uneventful weeks, which were just what we needed to finally settle into the new school routine. September was crazy and October has started off at a much more relaxed pace. October is a little confused about whether it is summer, fall, or winter though.

On Sunday, by early afternoon, the kids were running around in shorts because the sun was so intense. Wednesday night was the perfect fall evening and the kids spent it outside playing with their friends. At dusk, they discovered how much fun hide-and-seek in the dark can be. And Quinn thoroughly enjoyed the extra cover for her hiding spots - she went full-on stealth mode and scared her friends by jumping out from between the garage freezer and shelves! And today, it's snowing. The kids still went out to ride bikes (and hit golf balls) - and proudly showed off their very cold fingers when they came back in.

School pictures

Since we have no notable big moments from the last couple weeks, here are a few small ones for your enjoyment ...

Declan
Not news to loyal readers, but Declan continues to be his own walking soundtrack. The most recent mash-up on repeat is a unique combination of Thriller, Achy Breaky Heart, and My Favorite Things. If nothing else, the boy has range.

Dec and I were discussing something a few days ago. I told him that it was "cool." He looked at me, sighed, and said, "No, Mom. It's tight." So we are now officially being pop culture corrected by a 5-year-old.

Fiona
Last night, Mike went out to meet a college buddy. When he got home, he was telling me about it and about our friend's cousin: "Chad. Chris. Carl? Maybe Cory? It starts with a C." Then tonight, Bugs was telling us about her field trip to the fire station. Her friend's dad is a firefighter. Dec asked if it was Firefighter Rob (we love him) and Fiona said "No. It's Firefighter Aaron. Or Andrew. Or Adam. It starts with a A." And my brain exploded. They are the.same.person.

Also tonight, Mike was recapping how his retainer broke earlier today and the wire nearly choked him. Fiona almost spit her soup across the table because she was laughing so hard. Again, she and her dad - the same person!

Quinn
Quinn and two of her girlfriends from school are writing a book series together. They've decided on 30 books. She's been working so hard on writing and illustrating her share of the books. Such sweet teamwork and we are all excited to read their series.

Mike was helping Q with her homework during breakfast yesterday. He mentioned that she was struggling more than usual with the concepts and that surprised him. I asked her about it after school when she was finishing it up. Turns out, these were brand new concepts to her because she told Mr. P that the original homework was too easy and asked for a harder worksheet.

Fall Life

Other than Monday, when it was "oh my gosh we are going to die why is it in the mid-80s and so incredibly humid" weather, fall has started in Minnesota. The air is crisp, the leaves are starting to change, Halloween costumes are ordered, we are dreaming of pumpkin bread ... we really love fall here!

I survived (but am still replenishing my sleep bank) Emerson Exchange last week. Mike and Fiona are touch and go whether they will survive this year's fall allergies. The congestion is no joke! It's also currently touch and go whether we will all survive Dec adjusting to life as a kindergartner. The dude is tired - and therefore, a bit of a beast. It's our third time through this particular adjustment phase. We knew it was coming. It doesn't make the constant meltdowns more pleasant. On the bright side, he fell asleep in his bed before 7:30 tonight - so there is that.

Fiona was thrilled yesterday when I picked her up. She was excited because she had applied to be a "Junior Leader" in the after care program and was chosen. You have to be in 3rd grade or higher to be eligible, so it's also something that is just hers (this year. You better believe Q has her eye on this opportunity). To be a Junior Leader, you have to fill out an application form with several questions, like "why do you want to be a leader?" and "who is your hero?" Curious parents that we are, we asked what her answers were.

She wants to be a junior leader because she wants to help people. Her hero is Helen Keller. Because Helen Keller was blind and deaf, but she didn't let her differences stop her from doing the things she wanted to do. She was amazing and she didn't let it matter that she was different. [Paraphrased, but very close to what she said] You guys, Mike and I had a parenting moment like few others. How amazing is this child!?!?

Today was a big day at school. Both girls ran the mile in gym class. Fiona was plotting how she could fake sick to get out of it. Q was annoyed that she had to wait until late morning to run. Then to further ruin Fiona's day, I scheduled our flu shots for this afternoon. Other than Dec freaking the crap out (Mike claims the entire flu clinic was staring at us) and five out of five Vannestes having tender arms tonight, we all survived both the shots and the mile.

Last Saturday was a momentous milestone for physical activity. We took advantage of the perfect weather day and embarked on a family bike ride to Dairy Queen for lunch - with everyone riding their own bike and no one using training wheels. It was so much fun! We had food and ice cream (of course) and then biked to a park to help burn off all that sugar. Then took the trail home. I'm not going to lie - the bookends were pretty burned out by the time we were done. But everyone agreed that it was good fun and we look forward to many more family rides together.

Best of all, the fall fun is just beginning!