Picking Pumpkins at Pahl's

I'm kind of sad about this but this is the first year we haven't gone to Emma Krumbee's since Meredith was born.  I guess I have just started to get bored?  The drive is too long?  I just don't know.  Since Pahl's Nursery is about a 1/2 mile away and I had a buy 2 get 1 free coupon, we just decided to go there to get some pumpkins.  They have a blow up bouncy pumpkin every year but Meredith was SO disappointed that she was too tall for it this year.  But it was fun.  They have a corn pit, a hay bale maze, free popcorn, and goats.  

So these pumpkins that we picked are a hot commodity amongst the zillions of squirrels we have hanging out in our neighborhood.  I think there's a nest in every other tree.  And there is one out back of our house that is like a $5 million squirrel mansion.  It's monstrous.  They seem to like to eat the small pumpkins they can get their hands on.  And they do it right out in the open when we walk to the bus top every day at other houses in the neighborhood.  I noticed that one night they tried to eat my pumpkins but I think they are too big.  Just a few bites taken out of the top and they have been left alone for the most part.  

Anyway, the squirrels  climb up the walls of my house to get to my deck (not connected to the ground in any way) to eat my bird seed.  I. hate.them.  I've resorted to chasing them off my deck with a tension rod.  Actually, my ultimate goal is to beat them to death but I have not succeeded with that yet.  I've broken my tension rod though.  And I purposely accelerated my car near my driveway to try to run one over but was unsuccessful.  I'm sure my neighbors thing I'm a nutjob.  

I'm waiting until the evening before Halloween to carve though as once they are carved, it becomes a squirrel delicatessen.  

Meredith's 6th Birthday

It has been brought to my attention that I never shared pictures from Meredith's birthday in September.  I guess that's a Mom Fail.  We kept her party small this year and took all the kids to Kid's Hair to get their nails and hair done.  They all had a blast.  Then we continued on to Davanni's where we used their party room to have pizza for lunch, cake, and open a few presents.  

It turned out great and they all had a blast.  

Here she is letting her nails dry and getting her hair done.

 

 Here are all the girls with their crazy hair. 

 They all played a bit before we left the salon. 

She picked out princess cupcakes so we stuck 6 candles in one. 

And the  best part of all...presents!

Fall

My favorite season is upon us now.  I absolutely love fall.  What a glorious month of September we had and I'm looking forward to a lovely October.  Meredith is on her SECOND field trip of the year today.  They headed up to Lebanon Hills Regional Park in Eagan to do a nature hike.  What a perfect day!  

Meredith is very excited about Halloween.  She's going to be Cinderella this year.  Anna is going to be a bumblebee.  The same bumblebee that Meredith was when she was 2.  

Hockey is going to start in a couple more weeks.  We're all really excited about it, although Meredith is doing a clinic this fall already.  It will be fun to see the kids she played with last year again.  

We bit the bullet and booked an Alaskan cruise with the whole family for next August.  We are really looking forward to that and having some other family come along with us.  I have been saving for years for a vacation.  I've been saving all my cash back on my Discover card, all the money that I make selling my gently used kids stuff at JBF consignment sales, I take surveys online, etc. for this.  Alaska is a bucket list destination so I'm really excited for it but 10 months is such a long time away!

We found out a couple weeks ago that Greg is the recipient of an all expenses paid, 7 night cruise for two courtesy of RBC (his employer) which will set sail in early January.  Every year, RBC charters out  a WHOLE ship for a week and holds their performance conference on board.  So we will be enjoying that this winter with 800 of RBC's finest and their guests.  CAN'T WAIT.  They have not announced the itinerary yet so I am very impatiently waiting to find out what our destinations will be.  We do know that the ship is the Celebrity Constellation and it will leave out of Ft. Lauderdale.  

Just a few pictures to share this time.  I literally have taken ONLY these pictures since Meredith's birthday party a month ago.  

Here's Meredith's Halloween countdown witch she made.  Pretty cute if you ask me.  

And look at this little cutie.  Her cuteness makes up for her 2-year-old stubbornness.  

Yesterday, my friend Amanda from Amanda Kellogg Photography took these pictures of the girls.  Love them!