a trip to Madison...mostly

I couldn't get the pics in order so please try to keep up. :)

We went to Madison last Saturday for the State diving meet and to check out the Henry Vilas (aka free) zoo. A timer pic - always a must. A little fuzzy but I figured it was good enough.

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Checking out the giraffe's. Josiah has a giraffe named Tip Top so these fellas were a BIG hit with him. You probably figured out that Hannah is jumping in this picture - see the beads??

This would be the random pic that I just threw in the bunch. It was taken in early November. The girl likes to dress herself....in many layers usually topped off with a costume/dress. Oh, she knows fashion!!


Back to our trip to Madison - here's Dani with her fan club. She got 7th place - her best finish at State. Way to go, Dani!!

More zoo fun. This place was just so great!

Josiah was the only one brave enough to pet this critter. Don't remember its name. Thankfully he was a very mild fella - Josiah poked his eye, pulled his ear and examined the nose and snout.

In addition to the wonderful animals, the zoo also had some great playground equipment including a giant tree house. Loads of fun was had by all.

We didn't even go shopping and I STILL had a great time. ;)

Emmer-time

One of the things we love about being in Fargo is that we get to play with baby Emmerich. One afternoon I picked him up from daycare and we watched him before Emily came home from work. Hannah quickly took on the "caregiver" role. She covered him up with a blankie and gave him toys to play with. She was so proud of herself.

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Thankfully, Josiah was pretty nice to Emmerich. We think he's coming out of his "challenging phase" - praise God!!

This boy is soooo stinkin' cute. I just want to (and do) squeeze him all the time. Now if we could just get the little guy to snuggle a bit...

cousins

Wow! What a great weekend we had in Fergus. We got to see all our Berge cousins. It is so fun to watch the kids together as they grow up. They really play well and enjoy each other.

Luke continues to be our baby lover. He had a good time interacting with Tobias - who is such a honey.

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Luke and Preston are starting to spend more time together. They HAD to sit by each other at lunch on Sunday.

The biggest answer to my prayer for the weekend was that Josiah and Seany P got along!! They played, ate and giggled together throughout the days.

Seany always squints for his pictures so Josiah thinks this is cute now too.


Ahhh, the beautiful girl cousins! They play quietly, cooperate for pictures and are just lovely all around. Little Emersyn will get lots of attention from Brooklyn and Hannah as they both enjoy little babies.

And the boys - all 6 of 'em. Aren't they a sharp looking bunch?

Grandma is amazing!

We met up in Minneapolis last weekend to cheer for Grandma as she ran the Marathon. The weather was cool but no rain! Here we are at mile 1 - just a block from our hotel.

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Luke was waiting for high 5's from anyone willing - he got quite a few!

She's off to a great start!

WOW!!!! She can still smile (and stand up) after running 26.2 miles.

Way to go Mom! We're so proud of you!

a day in La Crosse

As proper parents, we started our adventure out at McDonald's....with a playland.

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we found this awesome park along the Mississippi with lots of green space, a beautiful fountain, flower garden and cool climbing trees.

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Timer pics work wonders for our family!
Very pleased with the outcome for this picture with the river in the background.


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Lots of Native American influence around our area.
Couldn't resist a fun picture in front of this statue.

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Adam work on his acrobatic skills...

At the end of the day we hit up The Pearl for ice cream treats. It was a wonderful day!

the Amish auction

It appears that Westby is smack dab in the center of Amish country. On Labor Day we went to this growers auction...and Amish growers auction.

Note the parking for non-vehicles.

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There were hundreds of mums to buy. Aren't they beautiful?

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and quite a few pumpkins


and of course plenty of Amish baked goods. We ate donuts that had FROSTING on the inside. Delish!!
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and notice the sweet Amish girl in the background. She just stood around quietly watching all the commotion. And all of the kids, like this little lady, were barefoot.

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Josiah is really into horses. Our friend took him over to have a closer look at this horse. Whenever we're driving Josiah calls out, "Horsie" - "Cow" - or "Buggy!" when we pass farms or Amish travelers on the road. It's funny!

confused

Apparently the seasons have gotten a bit confused. We had a cool July and now after the kids started school and the days are shorter, summer shows its face.

I think this pic is so ironic - kids in a swimming pool, leaves on the driveway and a beautiful orange tint to the tree across the street. I can't say that our kiddie pool usually sees much action in Sept.

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Getting caught up in a whole 'nother type of confusion is poor Josiah. You see, we live in Packerland. Packer games are piped in through the speakers of grocery stores. People wear dressy packer clothes to church each Sunday. The neighbor kids sport everything green and gold... I could go on, but I digress. Anywho, like most boys, when Josiah sees a helmet laying on the ground, he tries it on. Poor thing. Wearing this hideous helmet must have seriously affected Josiah's judgement because he promptly tried on some sassy hot pink heels.

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I think we'll get him a Viking's helmet for Christmas.

big boy stuff

Guess what 2 things Josiah is working on today

My child is Al Bundy...

I know this is a phase, but PLEASE stop child!!! While watching TV....

and taking pictures. HELP ME!!! :)

two!

Josiah is just racin' by to tell you he's turnin' 2!!

Starting the morning off right: gettin' on the cycle and goin' for a ride with Grandpa. I think they're off to get some birthday donuts. :)

Happy Birthday El Destructo!! We love ya!