A Little Fall Interlude...

We interrupt the last week of the 3 week road trip recap for a quick fall interjection...

Fall seems to be going almost as fast as our summer did, so thought we 'd take a quick moment to post a few fall pictures before the snow flies!  Of course it just isn't fall, without some fall field trips!  The 2nd grade classes at Brandon's schools all got to go to the Tews Corn Maze...

They had fun navigating the corn maze & finding their way to various check points! Not as easy as it might seem with so many eager map readers trying to decide the best way to go!

They also got to go on a hay ride & have a picnic...

... then learned all about framing from the resident farmer & rounded out our visit with an exciting pig race!

 

The Kindergarten classes all hit one of the local apple orchards that are in the area... Melanie picked the perfect apple &

...then they let the kids put it through the machine that cleans it up for them before they could eat them. 

 

 They also got to go on a "train" ride around the orchard & learned all about bees & the role they play in growing apples. 

Of course for many, the highlight of the day was getting to ride the school bus! Go figure!

The bluffs in the Mississippi River Valley in SE Minnesota where we live are quite a scenic destination during leaf season.  This is a view of one of the bluffs across Lake Winona from my morning walk one day.

We are fortunate that we have to go far to enjoy the beauty of the bluffs as we live smack dab in them!

We get to enjoy the views from just about anywhere in our house!

Our spring & summer involved trying to get the hayfield we built in to look something like a yard.  That meant seeding, seeding & more seeding... as well as digging in edgers all around the house, planting shrubs, trees & lots of perennials & mulching.  It was a lot of work over the course of the summer but finally this fall we are done with what we hoped to get done this year & get to breath a sigh of relief before winter is upon us!

Then - Last October (above)

 Now- This October (below)

Then - the "yard" last fall (above)

& the fence being put up this spring by Mike & his dad (below)

Now - the yard (below),

...fence & all! 

We also finally got rid of the temporary stepping stones that had been put down last fall to navigate the dirt/mud in front of the house & had our sidewalk put in...

... & a concrete apron in front of the garage!

Even though the waiting list was long, we couldn't have been more pleased with the work our concrete guy did for us & it was certainly worth the wait!