Pumpkin Carving Time

Chinese Acrobats

Last Saturday we went to see the Chinese Acrobats at the Berry Event Center. They were pretty good but they sure focused on balancing. Not a whole lot of acrobatics. Worth the price of admission, though.

Fall Fun!

Mall of America

This past weekend we took a quick trip to New Richmond Wisconsin to visit the kids cousins. We went to the Mall of America on Saturday. We've saved for the past 2 months so they could go. Realistically, we will probably never get to Disney so this was an achievable alternative. The kids had a blast. At the end of the night Jon gave me a giant hug and said it was his best day ever! I've never seen that kid so happy.

These are at the Underwater Adventures Aquarium:

Inside a shark cage:

Check out the eye in the stingray video above.

Of course we HAD to stop at Build-a-Bear for a new outfit thanks to Auntie Merry:

Dinner was McDonald's overlooking the park:

They take photos of you when you are on all the rides and they are available for purchase. If you look closely, you'll see Jon in the photo on the left and Lauren and I in the photo on the right. We are on the log ride. Cool!

The kids didn't want to waste time having their pictures taken with the characters so I just had them stand to the side for a quick snap:

Jon was brave enought to go on Rock Bottom, the ultimate ride at the mall. I was sick just knowing he was up there. He loved it! He went on it 3 times.

Gnocci

I have been on a homemade cooking kick lately. This weekend, I tried gnocci. It was delicious! The first time I make it we just put on a marinara sauce, but this time we fried it with onions and garlic in olive oil. Tasted something like perogis. Definitely something we will make frequently.

Mia

We had a surprise house guest this past weekend. A girl from Sweden that Steve was friends with in Helsinki stopped by for the weekend. She and her parents came to the states and visited DC and NY. Mia rented a car, alone, and traveled west to visit Steve and a friend that lives in Minneapolis. She is a very sweet girl and we really enjoyed having her. It was fun to get a foreigner's take on life in the US.

Here are the kids this morning

Lauren was VIP at school the other day. She was proud :)

Homemade Pasta

My terrific neighbor Cindy stopped by on Sunday and showed me how to make homemade noodles. I put them in a chicken soup I was making and they were fabulous! I decided to try on my own yesterday.....well, they weren't quite as good as hers. They were good though and I will keep trying until I get it right. Easy to make, just flour, egg, oil and water. Oh, and the tomatoes and zuccini were the last from our garden. I'm really gonna miss being able to go out back and gather fresh vegetables.