Bentleyville Light Display

Connor with his Grandma Ellyn!

Bundled up with Shelby's hat to keep me warm!

Sophia and Leo entering the magical world!

Leo had other plans besides a group picture

Vixen and Blitzen say cheese

Cody and Sophia get their mallow on!

Gary helped Sophia get it done!

Scott and Louise didn't want to miss out!

Brendan going back for another round!

LOL!  I'm clearly annoyed about something here!

sharing popcorn on a cold fall night

Maren and Brendan give Mrs. Claus some notes to tell Santa

Sophia and Leo's turn!

Bentelyville was certainly one of the major highlights of our trip!  The kids spotted it from the highway one evening and after finding out it was open and free, we jumped right on it!  Apparently this light display started in a man's yard but grew so big he needed more room.  Now it is an attraction for everyone, paid for the power company and other various sponsors.  Plus, they give out free cookies, free cocoa, free popcorn, and free marshmallows to roast (and they even had wet wipes!).  It was awesome!  The line for Santa was ridiculously long and it was already kinda cold, so opted for the Mrs.  The kids loved it, and so did I!  After this we headed back to Louise's for dinner and catch up with the Chicago crew who had just arrived!

Duluth Children's Museum

We were lucky that Maren and Brendan skipped school on Wednesday to hang with us!  I don't normally condone school skipping ;) but Sophia and Leo loved having extra time with them.

We went to downtown Duluth and explored their children's museum.  They had a few larger exhibits that kept my kids busy all morning!  The first was the fossil digging, and all the kids got into that one!

Cody got into some magnet action!

Louise tested her reactions (and just for the record so did I...I got a 100%, better than my husband! ;)

They had an old computer that they let kids take apart and put back together.  It was pretty cool and kept the older kids interested.

Road Trip!

For Thanksgiving we took a road trip to Duluth, Minnesota.  Going there we had to do it over 2 days because of Charlie's work schedule but the kids were more than happy with a hotel stay!  Plus, we got pancakes and pool time in the morning!

Sophia and Leo are ready to rock out in the backseat!

Sophia and Belinda ready for bed!

The next day we got to see Connor play hockey.  Sophia was very involved in the game and enjoyed running back and forth after the puck!  She declared Connor the best hockey player ever! :)

The gang!
Cody and Leo in the front
Bridget and Josh (Bret's brother and SIL), Bret, Aunt Ellyn, Brendan, Louise, and me

Louise and Sophia get a snuggle!

Brendan showing off his cello skills!

Leo helps make Daddy's birthday cake!

Cody plays piano for Brendan and Sophia

Play Adventures

Since I'm a little behind on posting I combined some cute pics from some of our latest play times outside of the house.  The first set of pictures is from Wonderscope, our children's museum.  They have a vet/doctor room that was a big hit with my kids!

They also had an underwater/submarine room that was built from Legos.  We enjoyed that as well!

Sleeping in the submarine house

water table fun!

These pictures are from Emerald City Gymnastics.  They have a toddler open gym each week and it's pretty fun.  There is a lot to do and it keeps us busy for the entire hour!

There is a giant swing hung from the ceiling and the kids love it!  They go super high!

Here's our friend, Trevor!