While I was out...

A couple of weekends ago, I was across the river in WI for a scrap- booking weekend with the girls. It was a beautiful fall weekend...

We even got out for a walk!



Our scrapping retreat

 ... and when I got back, I saw what they kept busy with on the farm...Playground Resurrection!!!!!  I was quite surprised & pleased!!!

The tractor works a lot better than the Durango in "raising the tower"!

 

Grandpa even mowed the grassy area around the playset!

All done... let the fun begin!!!!

The playset has a great spot on the edge of the front yard.  The kids were very excited to have their playground back!

Family Fun!

We've been busy & as a result, the blog has been neglected & there are lots of updates on a variety of things to post... so hopefully this week I'll attempt to get somewhat caught up.

At the end of September, my mom & Bill (& their dog Sage) went on a road trip with their 5th wheel & came to visit... and the Uncles, Evan & Mic (& the kitties), drove in from Pittsburgh at the same time too.  They set up camp at Prairie Island campground along the Mississippi & only 10 minutes from us.

They had quite a nice spot with a great view out their back window & since it was well after Labor Day, the campground was not too busy!

 

It was a treat having them visit... gave us lots of time to read, play games, cook together & much more!



New Mexican cooking in the 5th wheel



We even had our own excitement!  After going back to see the cows, we noticed 2 calved had gotten out & were in the neighbor's pasture.  Evan, Mic & I set out to get them back.  Mic kept guard at the place where we cut the fence to keep the rest of the cows where they belong while Evan & I chased the 2 runaways back to their moms & then repaired the fence.

Of course, this all happened just as the rain was starting & the thunder & lightning began.  We were lucky that it was only lightly raining & only got us moderately wet... shortly after, the deluge began & didn't end for about 24 hours!



And 6 inches of rain later, the area down by the garage looked like a small pond!  A few days later, they even had to pack up & move to a different campground as the other one had the potential for flooding due to the rising Mississippi from all the rain!

Cooking with the Uncles

The kids got a few preChristmas gifts from the Uncles & were obviously thrilled!

Another afternoon, we went for a walk/bike-ride down by the lakes...it was a gorgeous fall day!

 

And afterwards, Mom, Melanie & I ventured up the hill to check out Garvin Heights Vineyard. 

Garvin Heights Vineyard



Dinner at the Monarch Public House in Fountain City

 



We had a wonderful time with family but as always, it goes so fast!





Porch Progress!

September has been a busy month & we have lots of updates from visits with family to fall fun to stuff with the house... so for this post, we'll start with a house update.  While the inside issues (insulation) were being addressed, outside work continued on.  They got the majority of the house sided except for the front because they needed the porch to be completed so next on the agenda was working on the covered & screen porch.

The floor decking went on quick & with the addition of the front door, it started to look like a porch!

The kids liked it too... but were curious how they were going to get on & off the porch!  They didn't realize that there would eventually be stairs!

Running around the porch is fun but equally fun is playing with the remaining mud puddles around the house... oh to be a kid!

BEFORE....

... and then the staining could begin! Thankfully we had a good stretch of weather to take advantage of to try & get it done this fall...

AFTER...

 it took about 4 days of staining but finally it was done!

We couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out... we love our porch!