Happy Halloween!

Wow, Halloween was such a blast for Ryan. He loved all the festivities. We went to Spirits in the Garden (Rieman Gardens), the playgroup Halloween party, preschool Halloween party, and trick or treating. We were suppose go to Living History Farms Halloween Walk with some friends but I was feeling under the weather so we missed that one. It was okay though because we really did participate in lots of other festivities. Ryan favorite part was definitely trick or treating. Ben and I took him to great grandma's house so she could see him all dressed up. We then went trick or treating around her neighborhood. He did such a good job. He went up to the houses all by himself (he won't let us go with him), rang the doorbells, said trick or treat and said thank-you. So cute. We probably went to 20 houses and I am sure he could have done that all night!

I have to tell you about the most funny part of the night. Ben is all about CANDY! He made the comment to Ryan, "I hope you get some good candy and not all tootsie rolls." So the first house we come too that has tootsie rolls Ryan says, "My dad doesn't want any tootsie rolls." I was embarrassed but Ben was laughing in the background. I had to laugh a little too. So we told Ryan that tootsie rolls are fine and we need to be thankful for whatever the nice people are willing to give us. So the next house we go up too is handing out Skittles, Ryan says to the lady, "My dad wants tootsie rolls." Once again LAUGHING from the peanut gallery (BEN)! You just can't win when you are a parent.

Spirits in the Garden getting candy from all the different characters

Preschool costume party

Ryan and Great Grandma

Painting

I mistakenly put Ben in charge of supervising our little Picasso the other night. I just wanted to get the dishes done and this is what I turned around to see. I had to laugh because Ryan loved it. Next time Ryan wants to paint, I better make sure he doesn't try painting his face by himself.

Go Diego Go LIVE!

I took Ryan to Go Diego Go at the Civic Center in DM last night. My friend Anna and her little boy Treyton went with us. It was a really neat show. Ryan and Treyton had a great time. Their eyes were glued to the stage. The show had a lot of audience participation so the kids didn't have to stay seated and be quiet. They got to jump around, clap, dance, yell and pretend to be baby jaguars (masks included). It was definitely a SUCCESS! The first thing Ryan said to me when we walked out of the auditorium was, "I want to do this again!" I am glad he enjoyed it so much because I LOVE going to live shows even it is a kids show. Ryan is still talking about it this morning. At breakfast he said he wanted to sit in the front row next time. haha! We were pretty close to the stage but I guess Ryan thought we needed to be closer.

Ryan and Treyton showing off all their Diego/Dora loot

Pumpkin Patch

Ryan and I made our annual trip to Carroll's Pumpkin Patch in Grinnell. We started visiting this pumpkin patch when Ry was 14 months old and we keep going back. This place is the coolest for young kids. There is a machine shed that holds the tricycle obstacle course, a corn crib filled with hay so the kids will have a soft landing when swinging on the rope or going down the slides, a chicken house covered in loose corn from the field (it is like a sandbox but with corn), hayrack rides out to the pumpkin patch so Ryan can pick his own pumpkin for the year, goats, and much much more!

Rain Break

The field work in moving very slowly. It keeps raining. A few days in the field then a few days out. During the last rain break, Ben and Brad decided to replace all the rollers on the corn head. Of course Ryan had to get in on the action, goggles and all.

WI weekend wrap up

We wrapped up our WI trip by spending the morning exploring the bluffs high above the Mississippi River. BEAUTIFUL!
First stop: the cheese store in Mt. Sterling. Cheese always tastes better when you buy it from an actual cheese factory. Yummy! When we walked into the store they had just cut some really stinky cheese so Ryan held his nose the entire time.

Next stop: Gays Mills for squash. All the squash were .50. CHEAP! So we got about 26 squash.

Last stop: Sunrise Apple Orchard. WOW that was a lot of apples. We purchased a bushel of honeycrisp apples and apple cider donuts.

We had a wonderful few days in WI. I wish we could have stayed much longer but we all had other things going on for Sunday. I am already looking forward to next year!

Our hotel and Cina's camp sight were close to railroad tracks (Ry loves trains). For three days we kept hearing train whistles in the distance but we didn't see any trains. Finally, as we were a few minutes from leaving WI we spotted a train so grandma pulled over so Ryan could watch the train from up close.

Wisconsin

Ryan and I, along with Donna and Lynn are in Prairie Du Chien, WI visiting Ben's great aunt for a few days. She has a quaint little place on the Mississippi River. Ry has been doing some fishing. He caught 5 fish today. We have gone on a couple boat rides, made s'mores, went to an apple orchard and enjoyed the great outdoors.

Ryan and Lynn hanging their toes over the dock

Last year we were up here this same weekend and the fall colors were beautiful. This year the colors are not as impressive. We are little early. It doesn't really even seem like fall this weekend since the temp was 85 degrees today.

I really love it here. I look forward to coming back every year. My favorite season is autumn and there is no other better place to enjoy it then here! Ben doesn't get to come up here with us since autumn also means harvest time. I wish he was able to enjoy this with us. Ryan misses him too. I think Ry has called him 4 times to share his exciting moments (like wanting a sandbox at home after playing in one at the apple orchard and telling dad that he caught a fish all by himself).

According to Ryan: This is Grandma's Halloween Costume

Tomorrow we are going to some more apple orchards and going to get some cheese and squash before heading to Washington for the rest of the weekend.

First Day of Preschool

Last March was the appropriate time to get signed up for preschool but I felt Ryan was not ready for preschool so I didn't sign him up. Ryan's birthday is only 15 days from the age limit cutoff for preschool. So he will either be the youngest in his class or the oldest in his class. That is a hard decision for us to make. There are many pros and cons of both. I feel he is physically and academically ready but not ready on the maturity level. Well August rolled around and I felt Ryan was more ready for the preschool experience then I expected. So I gave the preschool in Story City a call to see if he could possibly enroll for the fall. The preschool was full but she put Ryan on the waiting list. We got a call from the preschool teacher last Wednesday. There is a spot open and Ryan can have the spot if we wanted it. Obviously, we agreed to give it a try.

This morning, I took Ryan to his first day of preschool. He did not want to go. He started crying the minute we got into the vehicle. I ended up staying at preschool for an hour then finally just gave Ryan to the teacher and walked out. He was crying but like always he stopped within a minute or two. It is tough being a mom. It broke my heart to leave when he was crying. When I picked him up, the teacher said he was fine! WHEW! He says he had fun and wants to go back so hopefully Wednesday will be easier. I am sure the dropoff will get better and better each time we go. He is definitely the youngest but was able to participate in all the academic activities with the older kids. I was very happy to see that. I think this is going to be a great learning experience for Ryan. He is such a big boy and I am so proud of him.