dysw: October 2014 Happenings

In September my sister, Shannon, approached me about going away for a weekend with the whole family for a mini-vacation to a cabin in northeast Iowa. We could celebrate our 2 anniversaries, Mom's birthday, and Dad's retirement. She had done some digging and there were beautiful cabins up in the "hills" and found one that would accommodate the 12 of us. My only regret is not going in September when it would have been warmer in the morning and evening and also not taking a half day off on Friday to start the 3 1/2 hour drive. We stayed in a log cabin not far from Harper's Ferry. It had a master bedroom on the main floor and then 2 beds upstairs on the loft. The kids slept on the huge floor of the loft. The quality time we had together was wonderful. The kids spent hours up in the wooded hills exploring, building, and pretending. They even asked if the next time we went on vacation if we could stay somewhere with trees:) The adults enjoyed visiting and just sitting around talking and playing card games. We of course had to have our little squabbles and stressful times like when it was 8:00 at night, pitch black and we were arriving to the area and couldn't find the cabin. Or when Lanie put her stuffed bear down the heat vent and we were scared to death it'd start the cabin on fire anytime.

Saturday morning

Saturday morning we all got up and went to the National Monument Effigy Mounds. The temperature had risen into the low 50s and the sun had come out. We went on a beautiful couple mile hike and ended up overlooking the Mississippi River. The history teacher in Matthew came out as he taught us about the mounds along the way:)

Effigy Mounds

We had to leave early Sunday morning from the cabin to get back for Carter's football game and then later that night Matthew and my gift to each other for our 12 year wedding anniversary was an Ingrid Michaelson concert at Hoyt Sherman. She was amazing and the sound was beautiful. We were less than 50 feet away from her!

Lanie's girl scout troop had a Fall Fling on a Saturday in October. We had to catch up with them after Carter's last football game at Ledges. They played games, sang songs, and had a hotdog supper. Then it was off to the Iowa Arboretum for pumpkin painting, hiking, hayrack riding, and snacks.

The day I'd been training for all summer arrived and I passed the test:) I ran the Des Moines Half-Marathon with 2 great friends on a beautiful Sunday morning. Mile 10 - 12 were ridiculously awful, but the rest of the run felt great. I'm glad my friend Mindy pushed me to come in under 2 hours and not quit. Can't wait for Relay Iowa!

We had a free day to squeeze in the Pumpkin Patch tradition and decided to try out the Pumpkin Ranch in Winterset. It was a really nice pumpkin patch with lots of things for the kids. The hour long drive there gave us time to relax together and enjoy the beautiful fall colors. We enjoyed the ziplines, log balance beams, playground, corn maze, and giant pillow.

Happy 42nd birthday Daddy!

The family appeased me by trying a new way to carve our pumpkins this year that I'd seen on Pinterest, by drilling holes for the design. It was really fun to do and they looked good too.