Octoberfest

Friday night was a busy night. First, the Crazies had Fall Festival at the park. Fall Festival is a fun event for all the kiddos from their school. Every grade, as well as all the organizations (Girl Scouts etc.) make a booth. The booths run the gamut from plinko, shooting baskets and even throwing wet sponges at the eighth graders. The games cost on average a quarter. And your reward for playing is a handful of candy or a really noisy toy. And sometimes if Mommy and Daddy are really lucky... Both!
After Fall Festival, we decided to go to Octoberfest on Main Street. I had never been. It was exactly what I pictured. Lots of German beer, and even more German food. What I hadn't expected was all of the entertainment choices. We spent the evening riding rides, playing more carnival games, and eating massive amounts of German food. As it turns out, German food isn't my favorite. But, I still was pleasantly stuffed when we arrived at the car at the end of the evening.

Slumber Party!!!!

So on Saturday night, we had a Trapp Family first. We threw the Crazies a Slumber Party! When I was young, it was a pretty regular event to camp in the living room for a night, rent movies, and chow down on junk food. I was afraid Wade would veto the idea, but he seemed to love the idea of a family night in front of the TV! Honestly, we have lived in our house over six years, and we have NEVER slept in the living room. Not once!

First things first, we had to cover the hard wood floors. So the kids and I drug out all of the cushions for the patio furniture, which are conveniently kept inside away from puppy teeth, so they were dry and clean. We then proceeded to cover the area in front of the couch. We then layered it with every pillow and blanket we own. The kids were so excited they were dancing from place to place. We even managed to get in a few board games, while Wade ran to the grocery store for a healthy supply of sugar. He came back with every thing you could ever need for sundaes. The makings for chocolate chip cookies and popcorn. Yummy! Our first movie, Marmaduke was a big hit. The kiddos loved it! After Marmaduke and a whole lot of ice cream, we dove into Alice in Wonderland (Johnny Depp Version). Only Noah, Sofia and I made it through the whole movie. And honestly, if it hadn't been an amazing movie, I would have been out after the first 15 minutes. The kids are begging to make Slumber Party a weekly thing. I think that may be a bit much, so we agreed to once a month.

Naples, Florida

So last weekend, I spent in Naples Florida on a girls trip. I had never been to Naples, but it was better than I could have ever imagined. The beach is beautiful. The water is so warm and amazingly calm. I think the Crazies would love Naples. (There has to be an RV park around there somewhere right?) We spent our days lounging in the sun, and our evenings eating in wonderful restaurants. We even spent one evening on a private sunset cruise. The cruise was phenomenal! It was a small catamaran. Six guests and one Captain was capacity. I had never been sailing. And the workings of the sails looked completely complicated. However, it was an very enjoyable experience. Loved it! After our long weekend, I was pretty worn out and ready to get back to Wade and the Crazies. But of course before we could head home, we had to get in a little shopping. The perfect end to the perfect weekend...

Cool Beans - The Boat

The Girls (Sheri, Julie, Heather, Elaine, Myself, Fran)

Funny Stuff

So normally, I try and keep the content of the blog about our family, but I thought everyone would enjoy these ads. It's like I am always telling Wade "If you want a 50's wife..."

Labor Day 2010

On the way to Marble Hill, Missouri for Labor Day weekend, we stopped for dinner at a little Chinese restaurant. I snapped the photo below with my cell phone. I thought it was so cute, that I had to add it to the post. Noah, Rylan and Sofie were goofing off. Sofia thought she was so funny because she put a fortune cookie on her nose!

The weather was beautiful for Labor Day Weekend. A little on the chilly side for swimming, but the kids managed to brave the Arctic waters. The evenings felt like fall, but we enjoyed sitting around the fire after dark. It's nice to be able to roast marshmallows without roasting yourself as well. All in all, it was a great farewell to summer. (Shelley we are sending it your way... Enjoy!)

Caleb and Rylan LOVE to play in the dirt. And there is nothing wrong with being dirty while you're camping right?
Jake, Noah, Caleb & Rylan enjoyed the long weekend. Noah, Jake and Rylan spent the weekend catching crawdads, frogs and lizards. The kids always enjoy seeing their cousins.
Wade combing all of the burrs out of Syd's hair... Sydney thought it would be a fabulous idea to take an unguided solitary romp through the woods of Missouri. I think she enjoyed the freedom, but she didn't anticipate the hours of grooming it would take to rectify the situation.
It was a weekend full of bugs. Numerous walking sticks, pesky bees, and this scary bug. I made sure I got a great photo of it, so that I could look it up. None of us had ever seen anything like it.
The results, it is an ichneumon wasp. Here's the wikipedia link if you are interested. It was a large one, three to four inches long. And just look at that stinger! Ouch!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichneumonoidea

Our Artist

Rylan is becoming quite the little artist. He drew this amazing photo of Spongebob, using just his pillow as a model. I was so proud of him. I had to display it on the blog for all of you to admire too!