Fall Fun!

We went to the Oktemberfest parade:

Jack ran in the Fun Run (1/4 mile):

Trip to Carol's Pumpkin Patch for a preschool field trip:


Oh yes, and a not so fun part....a shelf in the bathroom that was up high that just so happen to have my basket of nail polish on it went crashing to the floor in the bathroom. It will require sanding, priming and repainting part of the bathroom. Did I mention this happened 20 minutes before my in-laws came for the weekend?

Never a dull moment here in Iowa!

Jack's Birthday!

I still can't believe that Jack is 5 years old! Where does the time go? It makes me sad to think that in a year from now he'll be off to kindergarten. Yikes! He is a sweet boy who loves to play with Henry and look out for him. He is very into anything superhero like and is finally thinking that writing his name is okay. He goes to preschool 3 mornings a week and loves it (and I think Steve does too!). He is transitioning from naps to "rest time" so that's kind of weird for me on the weekend. An hour just goes too fast for my nap! :)

We celebrated his birthday over 3 weekends. The first was at Grammy's house. She made a fruit tort and we ate tacos (one of Jack's favorite meals).

For his birthday party Bapa came down to visit so that was fun! Bapa was here for a few days so that was a special treat. Jack was having asthma issues and Bapa left with bronchitis but hopefully he'll still come back!

Grandma and Grandpa Stepec came down for a weekend and we had fun too! Of course Jack got the flu but at least it was a quick bug and we were still able to have fun. A trip to the apple orchard was also had that weekend.

Jack we love you and are such a blessing to our family!

back to school

We have been back to school for 2 weeks....

Jack started preschool at Sonshine Preschool here in town and goes 3 mornings a week and LOVES it! After I had him all ready to get a new teacher and not have his best friend, Ava, in his class we get to Open House and he has his amazing teacher from last year AND Ava is in his class.

Henry not too excited to be a part of 1st day pictures

notice how Jack wanted to stand in front of my 1/2 dead plants...nice.

sweet brothers

finally at preschool

our Minnesota summer...

We spent 6 weeks in Minnesota at the lake! It was amazing. The weather was perfect and we couldn't have asked for a better summer. The boys loved swimming everyday, fishing off the dock, going for boat rides and playing in the woods! You would think they live in Iowa where there are no lakes you would want to swim in and are surrounded by corn fields.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from our time.

We had or annual 4th of July crew there...20 of us total! It was a blast!

Went to Duluth to visit the Stepecs and were able to sneak down to Canal Park. Makes me miss living in Duluth!

The boys both figured out how to jump off the pontoon!

Paddled around the beach in a raft with Jaxin (probably talking about being pirates or something)

Held Laurin (Jack's favorite thing to do when we saw them)

Spent a week with family

Hung out with friends and laughed so hard we cried...

Thank you for a great summer!

Minnesota!

We're off to Minnesota and will be out of our house for 6 weeks! Yikes. It will be an adventure that's for sure. Looking forward to some time away and being "unplugged" from the world! Sorry you won't get the daily updates like our Montana trip. It will be random when we go to a place with wireless.

If you need us you know where to find us! :)

Sue

I should have posted this before we even went to Montana. But just wanted to share how we know Sue. She was one of my mom’s many friends and they met when my mom lived in Montana. My mom had gone out and visited Sue for a week just 2 weeks before the accident. Sue then came back to Minnesota for the funeral and we were able to reconnect. Since then we have exchanged Christmas letters, facebook messages and random phone calls.

Her friendship is such a blessing to me. She reminds me so much of my mom…always laughing, very welcoming to anyone, and just a dear. It was seriously like spending a week with my mom! Amazing. A true blessing.

As I am typing this I am so thankful for the time I got to spend with her and get to know her more. I was so glad she finally got to meet Jack and Henry. They loved her, as we all do!

I miss you already, Sue! I can’t wait for our next phone call or facebook chat!

We LOVE you!

Day 11 - Last day in Montana

Last Day on Flathead Lake

We drank coffee outside on the patio, which was one of my highlights. I never got sick of the amazing view! Seriously…..I was in awe! The boys got to go to their favorite playground one last time on the 4 wheeler with Steve.

They like to play restaurant there. It’s a great playground at a little school in Dayton. Jack did the monkey bars all by himself! He came back and told everyone! He was so proud of himself.

I went to Polson by myself to get some snacks for the trip and shopped a downtown at adorable little shops. Everyone was so nice. I met some new friends! It was a refreshing afternoon!

The boys loved to go with Chris to the dump. They were beyond excited when they got to throw the garbage in. Here’s the view from near the dump. Just like in Iowa....yea right!

We were treated to supper at Fazooli’s. It was this great Italian place on the lake. We all got all you can eat spaghetti and meatballs and it came with a ½ pound meatball.

(notice the huge door!)

We finished our last night in style by having a bonfire and roasting s'mores.

I can’t believe it went so fast! We had an amazing vacation and can’t wait to go back. We all miss them already! Many tears were shed as we pulled out of the driveway yesterday.

Day 10 - Flathead Lake

Flathead Lake Day!

It has been a fabulous day here in Montana! We have been outside playing in the water and relaxing!

Day 9 - Glacier National Park

Yesterday we went to Glacier National Park!

Henry was reading the map for us...yes, it was sideways and backwards.

We went on a hike to Avalanche Lake...it was so muddy! Jack walked the 2 miles into the lake, I couldn't believe it! We carried Henry because he would have been in all the mud and loved every moment of it. They both got carried out or we would still be on the trail.

We saw a black bear on the trail. I couldn't believe it stayed that close.

Avalanche Lake. It was incredible views! The waterfalls were coming off the mountains and you could hear them. There was so much snow left.

Avalanche Gorge

We didn't get to go on Going to the Sun Road because it was still closed from all the snow. So I guess we'll just have to come back out sometime.

We went out to eat at Mackenzie River Pizza Company. It was so yummy! What a treat after hiking all day.

In this cute town on Flathead Lake is a town called Lakeside. They have this decoy police car and policeman sitting in it. I couldn't believe it! I laughed so hard I was crying. Check out his mustache and glasses. Not to mention the car says "Lakeside Decoy". They move the car every so often. Can you imagine that job? Slide over the mummy and change locations.

Day 8 - Whitefish Mountain/Hungry Horse Dam

We drove to Whitefish Mountain to go on the alpine slides and ride the chairlifts. Well, it was raining so no alpine slides but we still got to ride the chairlifts. The boys loved it! I guess that means they are ready for skiing! Maybe this winter?

We also drove to Hungry Horse Dam. It was amazing how far down that goes. Jack and the boys loved the waterfalls. Henry was again wondering if we packed his swimsuit.

Waterfalls at Hungry Horse

View from the top of Hungry Horse Dam.

We finished off the day with Huckleberry Ice Cream at a sweet shop. The boys were so well behaved that the store owner gave them a little stuffed bear. Melt my heart! They have been so good on this vacation I can't believe it!

Day 7 - Brunch, Camp Tuffit and Hot Springs

Father's Day was great! Wanda (another one of my mom's friends) came up for the day. We had a lot of fun and good laughs with her. We went to brunch at Lake Mary Ronan Resort for a great breakfast and walked around a bit. It was very yummy!

After breakfast we went to Camp Tuffit. It was this sweet resort area....they had a building with a pool table, a building with ping pong, a cafe, etc. and it was all outdoors. Not to mention on a lake with mountains all around it. We saw some great RV/Camper set ups and funny signs posted all over. Here is an example of cabin that people rent. Isn't it like stepping back in time?

We came home and grabbed our swimsuits and headed up to Hot Springs. It was the perfect way to end Father's Day and relax a bit. The boys loved it! They swam and swam.

Oh, I almost forgot about a stop at the dump. Henry and Jack loved that! Henry came home and was playing dump at Sue's house.

Jack also finally got to go meet the neighbors. He has been asking Sue all about her neighbors, etc. They were finally there last night and they Jack got to meet them. He was going to go over there by himself!

Day 6 - Drive around Flathead Lake

Today we drove around Flathead Lake. Amazing! That's all I kept thinking. We spent some time in a great town called Big Fork. It was raining on and off, but we didn't care. Henry really didn't care. He was wondering where his swimsuit was to play in the fountain. He did get soaked, and I luckily found a pair of pants on a clearance rack...kind of hideous and the wrong size, so we called them his pirate pants.

We had amazing coffee and cookies at a place called Brookies Cookies and they had a great backyard where we could sit and listen to the river.

We finished off the day with a spaghetti supper outside on the patio...and of course the boys went swimming when it was 53 degrees outside. I was watching them in my fleece jacket and finally made them come in when I was too cold to stay out any longer!