Quote to start the week.

Over garlic-lime chicken one night last week:

Alla: Daddy, you still have a lot of dinner to eat.

Daddy: Well, Mommy gave me a whole chicken breast.

Alla: What's a breast?

Mommy: A boobie!

Alla, to Daddy: You ate a whole chicken boobie?

Ten on Tuesday.

1. On our way out the door this morning, Alla asked me if she could bring her two pet slugs to school today.

2. We're in the week-long process of putting away shorts and tanks to make room for fleece and mittens. Kids' room done, only our room and the coat closet to switch out.

3. I am a new iphone owner.

4. How can it be that today is October 25th, meaning that two months from today we'll be sitting around a tree?

5. Today is the last day of our Farmer's Market. It's brisk out there, but I think we'll try and snag some sweet potatoes.

6. Saturday is Alla's first ice skating lesson, and afterward we are seeing The Okee Dokee Brothers! We're like groupies I think.

7. Alla discovered the Beatrix Potter collection at our library and has been making her way through the tiny books. I'm not sure what is more enchanting, the sweet little size of the books, or the old-fashioned language.

8. Hart of Dixie (yes, on the CW) is so enjoyable.

9. Have to go help Fisher clean up blocks from quiet time.

10. And then we're off to pick up Alla!

Another journey to the Mississippi River.

As I mentioned, we do it up good when folks come to stay. Fisher pretty much thinks everyone needs to visit the Mississippi River in case there's a barge to come through the lock and dam, so we agreed and headed out to enjoy the sunshine.
We did in fact see a barge and a boat go through! Oh, happy day.
Jamie and Fisher, two peas.
Megan and her buddy.
Jamie got a close-up of the lock.If you notice Alla is absent from these pictures, poor girl had to go to school.
That little boy held onto his mama's hand the whole walk across the bridge.From the top of the bridge you look down at a rickety staircase (all those colorful steps are actually the ones marked to be fixed), and the kids were excited to find out that we were going down there!
The view from river's edge.
Love that buddy of mine!

Thanks, Stahrs! Goodness we had fun.

Fire station open house.

We do it up here in Minnesota, when friends come to visit. First off, Alla's soccer game and the touch-a-truck event in the parking lot there (pictures to come), and then, after lunch, we drove a mile to the fire station for their open house. We are Big Time here, folks.
I just want to point out the beautiful skies and the fact that everyone is in summer attire, because surely in a few weeks, we won't be.
Spending the 4 days with these kiddos and their mama and daddy was just awesome. Tell me again why I can have all of my friends and family all in the same city?
Yep Fisher loves The Stahrs very much, but hello, he got to RIDE IN A FIRE TRUCK. IN. A. FIRE TRUCK.
I think I'm an honorary deputy or something.
He got to ride in the fire truck because he first practiced putting out the fire. Notice the stance.
Along with Firefighter Fisher, I introduce you to the other brave firefighters we love.
Firefighter Jacob.
Firefighter Mazie.
Firefighter Jamie.
Firefighter Ron.
And, Firefighter Alla.

The rest of us were too busy fighting fires to pose for pictures.

Some fun kids.

We had some super fun house guests over the weekend, and took a bajillion pictures of them all, and mostly just enjoyed them being back together again. More to come!

Last picnic.

Tuesday after swimming class we enjoyed this burst of warm air with a walk through the Farmer's Market and a picnic on the grass. I told the kids this would probably be our last picnic of the season - October picnics are pretty unheard of in these parts. We watched geese and ducks fly in v-formation over our heads out of the pond, hoping they weren't aware of some weather change we can't yet sense. We hoped they weren't flying south.We let it get dark, saw the moon, the kids had fussed, but hopefully I won't remember that part.
And the next day Fisher asked me, Mommy, was that our last picnic? Yeah, buddy, for a few-ish months, anyway.