A Little Autumn Fishing

The warmth of yesterday afternoon (68-70F) lured us outside for a little evening autumn fishing on the Rock River. We quickly ate dinner, and headed out to Theo's favorite spot.

Theo was still in his hunting clothes, he took Laura out for a few hours just before we fished.

Hunter and Benjamin were excited to bring some of the candy from grandma's packages with them for snacks.

Ben loves Butterfingers, but I don't buy them a lot of candy. This was an awesome treat for him. He woke up and asked for another first thing this morning, too. Cried his eyes out when I would not give him a butterfinger at 5am. Nice.

We don't pay for me to have a fishing license. I prefer to sit in my cozy leopard camp chair with my knitting or a magazine.

I love watching the water. I want to live on a river someday.

The shore, with the sand, rocks, and fallen leaves was so pretty to me.

The breeze was strong and the water was calm: the result was leaves floating through the air and landing on the water.

The boys caught one fish, a sheephead. Apparently they do not taste good, so we put him back.

My Wisconsin boys.

We stopped at the Indianford dam and watched some guys catching walleye. The sunset was pretty.

Happy Autumn.

Ben's 6th Birthday Party!

Today we had a party to celebrate Ben's 6th birthday. We had a Halloween theme again this year, and asked all the kids to wear costumes. It was 85F today, a stark contrast to the 40F temps from last year. We had the whole party outside! Ben wore his brand new soldier costume and looked just like his daddy.

I made yummy cupcakes and loved decorating them with Halloween themed sprinkles.

My mom paid for the boys to rent this bouncy house for 4 hours. This was the greatest thing ever- not a single dull moment the whole party!

Theo actually got inside the bouncy house to kill a bee, and all the kids jumped on him.
Here is Ben with a few of his buddies.

I made these party hats from some basic metallic looking hats, boas, garlands, glitter pom poms and hot glue.

Hunter rocked his Scooby Doo costume!

Here is Hunter swinging at the pinata.

Here are all the adorable kiddos.

Happy Autumn.

More Pumpkins on a Field Trip

As a stay-at-home mom I have been lucky enough to drive on several preschool field trips over the last few years. It should come as no surprise that one my very favorite places to tag along is the pumpkin patch. I have been to this particular one before, and I love their selection and animals.
Hunter could not be cuter in this newest hat- knit my me with wool and alpaca yarn. So in love with this yarn and his hat!!!

New this year, a wagon ride.

View of the Hermanson homestead from the wagon ride.

Love these guys!

Sheep!

Piggy tails.

Tons of different pumpkins!

And Hans the St. Bernard.

Mr. Attitude.

Saucy little smile, right?

And my favorite part of the day? The cross-eyed kitten.

Someday I will have my own farm. Mark my words.

Happy Fall, y'all!

Pumpkin Patch Time of Year

I could spend all day at a pumpkin patch, staring at each pumpkin deciding it's personality, imaginin what it could be. I love their shapes, sizes, colors, bumps, and bends. So it should come as no surprise that we visit several patches each fall. Usually one on a field trip, one for donuts and play time, and then another to buy the pumpkins. We were shown a great little fmily farm that sells their pumpkins 4 for $10; it's on a quiet rural road and has a table with a cash box. There is something so charming about trust. I love it, and glady give them my $20 each fall.

The boys have big plans for their pumpkins. This year I am letting them carve their own. Even bought then their own knifes. Ben wants his to be a vampire, and Hunter wants his to be a monkey. Hence, the monkey pose.

Really happy with the boys' individual pumpkins shots!

Happy Pumpkin Hunt to you all.

We took a nice autumn drive up to Fort McCoy, Wisconsin to get Ben's Halloween costume. He's going to be a solider, and we wanted to get him the realistic costume sold on base at the Px. Theo took the boys on a little tour of the base, including an outdoor museum. We saw deer, and plenty of incredible fall colors. We had a great time!

Happy Autumn.