Fall Weekend Adventures

It wasn't quite the weekend I was imagining, but sometimes as a parent, we must put our fun on hold to deal with disciplining our children. That's exactly what happened. We were suppose to head up to Ledges State Park for our beautiful fall hike and check out Frey's Pumpkin Patch in Madrid, IA. However, issues with the minis' behavior changed our plans. We took away our Family Fun day trip and gave them a list of goals they must accomplish before we go (I'm remaining hopeful for next weekend).

Saturday the boys took a trip to Living History Farms to go to their Corn Harvest. I've been down and out with a nasty virus, so Elizabeth and I stayed home and took four hour naps. Best nap of my life!

 I highly recommend making a visit to Living History Farms, especially if you have grade school age kids. Keep an eye on Groupon for occasional discounted deals. My biggest recommendation is to go on one of their "special" days (examples: AppleFest, Corn Harvest Day, 1800 Baseball Game Day). Not only are these events included in your regular admission prices, but they have even more activities and demonstrations going on. All demonstrations are very hands on for the kids and the employees are always eager to answer any questions. We've gone with toddlers and have had a great time.

 Saturday night family dinner at Fuddrucker's. Just a typical dinner: mom not eating, kid picking her nose,boys goofing off.

I had requested a dinner that didn't involve tons of kids running around a restaurant (my nerves were shot). We ended up at Fuddrucker's, so I treated myself (and the hubs and minis) to Scratch cupcakes afterwards. I was thrilled when the person working the counter informed me that it was National Vodka Day (how did I not know this??!!? My Saturday may have gone a little differently if I had known this....). Of course, I had to try their Redbull Vodka Cupcake--woah buddy! Delicious!

Sunday we lounged around, made barnyard waffles (we have a farm animals waffle maker. The kids enjoy playing with their waffles just as much as they do eating them), and went hiking at Jester Park.

 Our first stop at Jester Park was the bison/playscape area. I took the time to read these plaques at every post and was really struck by the facts on these.

 It has been awhile since we've been to Jester Park's Playscape. The last time we went, we were not at all impressed by it and found the pond/wading pool's slippery rocks dangerous for little ones. It was much to chilly for a dip in the wading pool so we didn't have to worry about that. Instead, we were in awe of how gorgeous the playscape looked as it had overgrown. It was also very clean and well kept. Of course, our favorite thing about Jester Park are the hiking trails, but if you're out that way hiking, definitely stop by the Playscape to check the bison and elk and let the kiddies play.

 We hiked our two favorite trails: Hickory Ridge and Fox Run.

 The minis started in on collecting fall leaves. They just had to have these thorns from the tree.

 Guess who got to carry all of their fall goodies??? Including the thorns....

My fingers are crossed for good behavior this week because we've got quite the weekend planned: family pictures, another pumpkin patch, and our family favorite--hiking at Ledges State Park!