Fall Fun

During our October Cam Fam, the entire Campbell clan headed over to the Twin Cities Harvest Festival in Brooklyn Park. It's new within the last couple of years and boasts the largest corn maze in MN! Since it's in my hometown, we figured we ought to check it out.

It got a little hectic in the corn maze - Papa got a little nuts trying to find the exit - but once we made it out okay, we got to enjoy the rest of the festival.

The coolest thing, in my opinion, was the giant pit of corn kernels!

The girls jumped right in and got a big kick out of getting buried in the kernels. It was pretty awesome!

The girls also went down the giant slide with Daddy and fed some animals in the petting zoo.

Claire (above) wasn't sure what to think of these llamas and sheep all looking at her expectantly! Abby (below) loved feeding the baby goats.

We also took a hayride, played on a playground, tried (and failed) to climb a giant web thing, ran through a kid-sized hay bale maze and had a great time! Way to represent, BP.

In other October happenings, the girls got a big kick out of have a picnic in our sun room. We put a blanket on the floor and munched on appetizers (apple slices, grapes, carrots, celery, peanut butter, mini pigs in a blanket and hawaiian bread with spinach dip) while watching Surf's Up, the movie the girls picked from Red Box. They asked to have a "sun room picnic" pretty much every day since!

And finally, we are so excited for Halloween! Abby keeps asking me, "Do we get to go to Halloween now?" Claire wants to be Cinderella and Abby wants to be Little Mermaid. Today a package arrived from Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Wayne and inside was...

Thanks for our wonderful costumes, Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Wayne! We can't wait to wear them!!!

Birthdays, Festivals and Haircuts - oh my!

August isn't complete without a family birthday party to celebrate my, Jill and Mama's August birthdays! We all gathered at Mama and Papa's house on Mama's birthday for the big celebration.

The three birthday girls got to go out to a movie while the boys hung out with the girls (Above, Uncle Jason with all three girls on a hammock) and started grilling us a yummy dinner.

One of the biggest attractions at Papa and Grandma's house right now that the girls love to play with are their garden statues. Somehow, they end up all over the place by the time we leave. Above, the bunnies hop over to wish Grandma Maggie a happy birthday!

Abby gives the camera a big "cheese" face.

Jump forward to September, it was so busy, I only took like 6 pictures the entire month! They were mainly from the Wild Rice Festival we took the girls to in Roseville. It was pretty interesting, and at a place we'd never been before - the Harriet Alexander Nature Center. There was lots going on but the food part was unfortunately not very well organized and SUPER slow so after checking out the festival a bit, we left and took our hungry girls elsewhere for some food.

Like most children, the girls have this very fun ability to make up games wherever they are. Even at the festival, surrounded by fun activities and interested things, they decided to create their own game out of walking across the outdoor wooden benches and going "ta da!" (Claire, above, and Abby, below)

Jumping forward even more to October, and the big excitement this month was in the girls getting their very first haircuts!

Abby (left) got a trim but Claire (right) wanted something different so she got a bob haircut. The stylists also put a cute braid in each girls hair when they were done.

We took them to Kids Hair for their first cuts because we weren't sure how they'd do but they did great! Not a peep out of either one the entire time they got their hair cut. Good thing because we probably couldn't afford to go to the very entertaining but quite pricey Kids Hair on a regular basis.

These girls love their new haircuts! They've been walking around, looking in mirrors and going, "Aren't I beautiful?" (To which I respond, "yes, you're beautiful because you're so sweet/kind/funny/helpful/generous," etc. Just trying to counter those darn Disney Princess movies they love so much!) They've also been talking a lot more about being big girls, so I think they're feeling quite grown up.

Trip to Green Bay

The girls are I were thrilled to head to Green Bay to visit Amanda, Ben, Atticus and Sampson in August. Amanda had a jam-packed fun few days planned for us!

We got to check out the North East WI Zoo, where we inadvertently taunted this raccoon with our popcorn snack. Sorry guy!

We also got to feed a couple of cute giraffes (Claire above and below), which was pretty darn awesome.

We also inadvertently taunted this penguin - he kept trying to get the food we had from behind the glass!

We went out to eat at a yummy Vietnamese restaurant where Atticus wowed us with his use of chopsticks - pretty impressive!

We also checked out the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary, where Abby (above) loved running around exploring, especially the slide that slid you down into a cave.

Sampy got a kick out of this duck boat thing and Claire (below) went spelunking.

The fun didn't stop there! The Wildlife Sanctuary also has lots of outside area where you can feed ducks galore, which we happily did with bread Amanda had brought. Seriously, this place had lots of fun stuff to do!

During the nights, the kids all snuggled up together before bed and watched an episode or two of Dora, Diego, Fireman Sam or the like. If my girls were lucky, they'd even get a nice pat on the head from Sampy (Abby and Sampy below).

We visited over my birthday so Amanda and Ben very nicely got me a crazy delicious Nutter Butter ice cream cake from DQ. Peanut butter and ice cream? Crazy good!!!

We went to Sir Bounce-A-Lots that night for even more fun and excitement!

This place was crazy cool. There was a giant inflatable slide that the kids went down about a million and a half times... (Abby above and Sampy below)

...plus lots of bouncy houses. Below, Amanda and Sampy check one out!

We also had a deep-fried dinner there (seriously, other than the pizza, everything one the menu came battered and fried - even the veggies. Yikes!) complete with Icees (Abby below tries hers out and is instantly hooked).

On our last day there, the RK and Lambert clans met up with Grandpa Wayne and Grandma Sharon at Bay Beach Amusement Park for some rides. I took Atticus and Sampson on the Tilt-a-Whirl while Grandma and Grandpa took Claire and Abby on the merry go round and train ride.

It was a very fun end to our very fun few days in Green Bay! Thanks to Amanda, Ben, Atticus and Sampy for being such great hosts and for planning such a great time for us!

August Fun with Grandmas and Grandpas

Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Wayne came to visit in mid-August for some long overdue fun together.

They brought us these cute new Dora outfits, which we love. We also celebrated Grandma Sharon's birthday, went bowling, and of course, played lots of Settlers of Catan!

Claire and Grandpa Wayne, playing Settlers (above) and bowling (below).

Abby (below) checks out the blower on the bowling ball return.

Grandma Martha Stewart, oops, I mean Sharon made very cute piggy banks with the girls from old vinegar jugs. Pretty incredible!

We also got to check out Alex's summer time dance recital in August, which was quite fun to watch. As a bonus, we got to hang out with Grandma Gwen, Grandpa Rich and the whole May family!

Welcome Cousin Logan!

Claire and Abby have a new cousin!

Logan Wylie May was born on June 27th. The Mays can to visit when he was about 3 weeks old and the girls were so excited to see him. Big Sister Alex also seemed pretty proud of her new baby brother. Congrats May family!