Fresh Minnesota air

Grandpa and two grown sons took the oldest seven grandchildren for some great fresh air and a walk in a state park not far from our home.
It was just what they needed to work off some energy!

Before the walk they cooked some hotdogs and had some hot chocolate.

And after the walk they had a big surprise - a kind lady who had gone for a trail ride on her horse gave each child a little ride on her horse!

Wasn't that a perfect fall day for these children?

Meanwhile, the three youngest went out for lunch with their moms and grandma... here is a cute picture of our 2 year old sharing with her 1 year old cousin... These two will be good friends in the coming years!
Another perfectly lovely ordinary day.

Nothing like reading to grandchildren

Though these little feet (many many little feet) love to run around, they can sure stand still or sit still once someone begins to read aloud a book...
It is clearly one of the joys of being a grandparent!

The other joy is just seeing their happy faces - as they circle my chair singing to me!

Quite a celebration indeed.

A little halloween fun

Today there was some halloween fun, since there were lots of grandchildren in town.

In the afternoon, just two of them stayed with grandma for a "grandma day" (actually, a "grandma afternoon") We had an activity to do, along with watching the "Cars" movie...
Shirts were off to minimize and paint mishaps...

Then there was a fun party at Uncle Daniel & Aunt Meghan's house. Costumes, painting cookies and...

Bobbing for APPLES!

They lined up to take their turn...

There were many good laughs!

A good time was had by all!

Cousins, more cousins...

There was some excitement in our home today as 5 cousins came from Wisconsin to see 5 cousins in Minnesota.... including...
meeting their newest cousin!

He was so precious to hold!

Of course, I had to take lots more pictures of the main attraction..

For all the world, it looks like he was laughing. But he is only 10 days old, so I think this was not a real laugh... what do you think?

And, of course, is there anything more precious then a sleeping baby?

Today's favorite

Six days old. Oh, sooo cute!

Today's favorite picture...

Sleeping like a baby

There is a reason for the expression sleeping like a baby. This sweet child slept through the evening of commotion with no problem! Here he is 2 1/2 days old. Isn't he just darling?

36 years already?

Today hubby and I celebrate our 36th wedding anniversary!

Precious new grandson!

And here he is now! Grandchild #11, born early this morning, October 17, 2011

Boston Daniel

8 lbs 1.5 oz. 19 1/2 inches long

Everyone is a blessing!
Welcome to the world!

The law of averages

It seems that it would stand to reason that if there are a high number of grandchildren, there would be a cooresponding high number of broken bones... one grandson just had his cast removed from his broken leg and now this little fellow has a boot on his foot from breaking two bones in his foot. (He was playing by himself in the playroom when he either stumbled or slipped somehow and began to cry that he hurt his foot. Just like that!)

We have a 2 year old....

Happy Birthday today to our sweet little granddaughter, who is now a 2 year old!

(Her birthday celebration was held early, as her newest sibling is due to be born this week.)
One of her favorite books is the classic "Go, Dog, Go!" , so her momma made a cake with the pictures of all those dogs at the end of the book who celebrate a BIG party!

It was a wild party, indeed!

Her party was not quite so wild. Just her siblings and her adult fan club: parents, grandma's, grandpa's, great's, and Aunts and Uncles.

She had some help trying those delicious cake pops her momma made for her!

Even at two years of age, she knew she was the center of attention. She loves shoes and here she is showing off her new shoes!

And then it was time for a few more presents, with just a teeny little bit of help from her siblings.. our birthday girl can now be the helper with her new mop and..

her very own broom! Just her size!

Happy cleaning and happy birthday, birthday girl!

Fall walk

Fall is upon us here in Minnesota. In the early part of this past week we went to Lake Superior and Duluth and hiked up to some spectacular vantage points to view the leaves and the lake. It was wonderful and I'll try to get a few pictures on here in another post. But this post is about a local hike that we took just yesterday with my hubby and some of his brothers and sister-in-laws. It was just wonderful to enjoy the smell of fall leaves, hear the rustle beneath our feet and enjoy being together.
The state park in which we walked also has many horse riders enjoying the trails. We came upon this fabulous scene as we walked; the party had 11 horses and were enjoying a brief respite by a little shelter and picnic table. It looked like a Bev Doolittle picture to me.

And here we are- one quick picture with the camera on a timer and it sure captured our happiness and pleasure with the day!

A good time was had by all...

Having fun

What little boy doesn't love to toss stones into the lake? I have a picture of our three sons doing exactly what this little grandson is doing - throwing stones into Lake Superior.
The lake shore felt like the ocean the day we visited as the waves cascaded into the shore again and again.

And this fella was enjoying every minute of his adventure.

And he learned what we all have to learn at the water's edge...

Wet feet.

Happy Birthday Alison!

A special birthday hug to our dear niece Alison! I sure wish I were there to help celebrate your birthday today! I'm so glad you are my niece; have a great day!

Happy Birthday Jill

Happy Birthday today to my niece Jill! When you were born I became an Aunt - and I've loved being YOUR Aunt! Have a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday Stacey!

Today is my dear niece Stacey's birthday! I don't get to see her very often since she lives in a sunny warm climate and I live in a sunny cold one! Here is a cute picture of her with my mom, (who is just a few months away from her 94th birthday) when Stacey was visiting the family in New Jersey. Happy Birthday today!

Tasty acorns...

This is the year for acorns. I made a post not too long ago about the abundance of them on our property. We even investigated making "acorn pie" but had a good laugh because almost all of the recipes called for pecans! (At least a mix of pecans and acorns... what does that tell you about acorns in pie?) But today we had some tasty acorns!
They were made by little hands and consisted of mini vanilla wafers, chocolate icing and chocolate candy kisses...

Viola.

And if one wanted to, one could add a little piece of broken pretzel to make a stem.

With stem.

Our little cooks had a good time doing it "all by themselves."

And no, they didn't eat all the acorns. Grandma was very clear about that.

But they did a fair amount of licking their hands and fingers...
Another perfectly lovely ordinary day.