What's Up October!

Well it's mid-October.  Countdown to Halloween and all the holidays thereafter has started!  It's a short week of school here in MN for MEA, so looking forward to some family time without having to work on homework, study for tests and spelling!!! 

This month has been pretty low-key so far. We celebrated National Taco Day on October 4th with homemade tacos at home (Ella's favorite) and then we went to Cold Stone Creamery for a super fun ice cream taco!  We shared...it was HUGE!  So delicious!

And then this past weekend....

We got the white stuff!  SNOW!! Insane.  October 14, 2018.  SNOW!! But, it melted pretty quickly and Ella had fun making a tiny snowman family on the deck! The weather people tell us it should be warming up into the 60s by the end of the week -- hurray!  We still have pumpkins to buy and paint for Halloween! 

Catching Up Post - September!

We are a month into this school year already, which seems so crazy!  

Here's a look back at our September 2018....

First day of Fourth Grade! 

I can't figure out what went wrong with the tomato plants I grew this year.  Look how giant it was!  But it didn't produce any tomato.  Not one.  Such a waste!  I think next year I'll just skip it all together.

Ella had her first braces check-up and picked pink bands for her braces!

Her smile is coming along nicely!

We went to a car show in Northfield to meet with my dad. He brought a newer specialty car (can't remember what it's called!) so Ella wanted to sit in it! 

Afterwards, we all headed to Culver's for some ice cream!

At school, Ella had to make her arm reflect things about her.  She did a great job!

The new dance season started!

Turkey Day in Worthington this year was SO HOT!  We went to the parade for a short bit and then we left for ice cream and air conditioning!  HA! 

Homecoming!

 Field Trip to River Rendezvous! Weather was totally opposite from the previous week of hot weather!  It was freezing!  We should have worn winter apparel.  It was still fun though!

On the last day of September we headed to a new orchard this year in Northfield (new to us). 

It was a really fun place to get apples and enjoy the grounds!

They had lots of cool pumpkins!

Cold Apple Cider! YUM!

She can't get enough of the posing with anything that looks picture-worthy!!

 YES! LOL!

Watch out - Ella's driving! 

We love a fun apple orchard!

Catching Up Post - August (State Fair, Taylor Swift)!

Some more August happenings...

 Ella and I pulled out our Vikings gear for a pre-season game!

We headed to the MN State Fair on one of the busiest day in history!  It was a record breaking day and you could totally tell while we were there - it was so busy!  We didn't really do much because it took forever to walk everywhere with the crowds.  We saw the animal buildings and a few other exhibits, but we definitely missed a bunch of stuff!

Ella and I went to a Taylor Swift concert at the end of the month with some friends!  

This was Ella's first concert ever and it did not disappoint!  

 This picture might be my favorite!  The joy on her face is awesome!  We had so much fun!

A night we will never forget!!

Catching Up Post - August (Dance Camp, Fair, Detroit Lakes)!

Back for some more updates!! August 2018 was probably one of the busiest summer months I can remember!  We packed in a lot of stuff!

The first week of August, Ella had JFK dance camp!  She had a friend join her this year so that made it more fun I think!  She had a great time dancing jazz, kick and hip hop (her favorite)!

I made refrigerator pickles for the first time ever!

And they were actually pretty delicious!

We made a trip to the Dakota County Fair on a week night to watch some lawnmower races...but due to the wet weather, they were extremely delayed in setting up the track, so we didn't end up watching any races!  It was a so-so fair....kind of felt like "been there done that"

 MOOOOOOOO!

Frappe on a weeknight - say what?!  (Coffee-less, of course!)

 Mid-August we headed out for our 2nd vacation of the summer to Detroit Lakes, MN

We had never been...

 

 HAHAHAHAH! Another Abbas family selfie for the win!

 Someone noticed us failing at the family selfie and offered to take our picture! :)

Doesn't seeing the lake just make you want to stop what you're doing and head there right now!?

Ella and Jay did some fishing (Ella's first time!)

And we spent time floating in the lake...

While others were catching little fish...

We did some paddle boating too, but I was too busy paddling that I didn't get any photos!

The sunsets from our hotel were pretty fantastic!

 So great!