Yeah yeah, I know its technically still fall but it was 20 degrees this morning, it's getting dark at 4:30, and they are already playing Christmas music at mother loving Macy's. I can deal with cold and dark, but the latter makes me want to pull my hair out. You see, I was born on Thanksgiving - it was on the 27th in 1980 - so call me a purist, but I believe that Christmas music should have to wait until after the country celebrates my birthday...or at least Thanksgiving.
Here are some of the highlights of our fall season:
1) Anniversary: Melissa and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary on October 14th! We had a great weekend complete with a new adventure and a visit to our favorite restaurant - Manny's Steakhouse. A somewhat loose anniversary tradition is to try to make it to the north shore of Lake Superior to spend some time away in the wilderness enjoying the outdoors, hiking, and just plain ol relaxing. This year we decided to stay a little closer to home and tried a new hiking spot in Afton State Park. It was a beautiful day with beautiful scenery along the bluffs of the St. Crouix river. We brought Emma along and she loved it! At least the parts she stayed awake for :)
2) Apple Orchard: One of our absolute favorite fall traditions is to go to an apple orchard and gather some yummy apples to make all sorts of delicious treats with - this year we made a vat of some killer apple sauce. It's a bit of a drive to our favorite orchard but the fresh kettle corn makes it worth every mile. This year we had company and we brought Megan and Kevin along.
3) Dad's Birthday: My dad turned 60 this October. So the weekend before Halloween we loaded up Emma and took off for my older brother Jon's house in Antioch, IL. We had great debates on whether we wanted to drive there or fly. Sans baby it's at least a 6 hour drive. With Emma we calculate an additional 30 minutes for every 2-3 hours of drive time. So, with baby, we would be looking at a solid 7-7 1/2 hour drive. Flights were cheap, so Emma got her first set of wings. She did pretty well on the plane and just like every where else, she made all sorts of friends in the airport and in the air. It was a great weekend. We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Burgart, Uncle Jon, Aunt Amy, and cousins Aubry and Annie. The only one missing was my younger brother Justin, whom I hope we get to see soon. It was a lot of fun, but as always, traveling with an infant is a lot of work and very tiring. We were pooped when we got home on Sunday. Here are some pictures of Emma's first flight and time with family. :)
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| Uncle Jon with Emma and his girls Annie (on lap) and Aubrey |
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| The cousins left to right - Annie, Aubrey, and Emma |
Lucky Grandparents
4) Fall season wouldn't be complete without a celebration of epic proportions for Melissa's birthday. Never will one day be big enough to contain the excitement and festivities and rarely can a weekend handle the load. The weekend event was capped off by the actual birthday day on Sunday the 13th. It was a perfect day. We went to a lovely breakfast, Melissa picked out her birthday boots (my gift to her was a pair of Frye riding boots), then we spent the remainder of the day in our jammies watching football in front of the fire.
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| That, my friends, is a pan of oreo brownies!! |
Earlier in the day Emma was generous enough to give her mommy some P.J.s and childrens books to read to her. Then, later in the day, she gave her the best gift a mommy could ever recieve - some snuggly, cuddly nap time - complete with little baby snores :)
Fall, what a great time of year! But, believe it or not, I am looking forward to the winter time and the new adventures that the new season brings. I supose I'm even looking forward to a little Christmas music, in due time ;)
With love from Minneapolis,
Jason, Melissa, and Emma
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