Category Archives: My Family

Maplewood Leaf Days

1st full day up in Minnesota we went to the Maplewood Leaf Day’s(I may have planned the trip around it)!

My mom liked to make apple cider so I don’t find the apple cider press as interesting as other people…

Ha

It is only fun for the first few batches 😉

They made these bird feeders with shortening so my twins could do it(peanut allergy)! This is our second time at this event and the people are always so nice! I love that with just our two families we bring a crowd. There were so many fun activities to do. It was pretty cold but everyone was a good sport about it.

Some of mine wait too long and end up with hurting hands before they say anything though.

So many great learning opportunities! Home Depot donated these kits! These rag dolls were cute and a great lesson about what toys used to look like.

Brave man… Again, brave man. My oldest loved to watch him cut these wooden figures out.
Next we drove around the park while everyone warmed up. I did manage to talk them into a short hike or two. And I of course tried for a family pic 😉 The leaves were beautiful! Truly my happy place. My youngest boy told them to say “girl power.” He got beautiful smiles. Nick and I took the boys back that night to a different part of the park. Do you go north to see colorful leaves?

I would like to spend a whole fall up there.

3 free stops on the way to Minnesota

Two of these stops were great!

And one was not so great but most of that was timing I think.

The bonus was all of them were free and great ways for kids to get some energy out!

The first stop was in Independence, KS at the Riverside Park and Ralph Mitchell Zoo.

They don’t have any big animals but we saw monkeys, birds, raccoons, donkeys, and more!

And the best part was it is free!

It was a great way for the kids to walk around.

And since there were animals to look at none of mine complained about the walk 😉

They also had a fun play area with statues and a castle! The boys liked the castle!

Second stop that was great and free was the Dorothy Pecaut Nature Center in Sioux City, IA. The kids loved a little camera in a cave that was an animal on the exhibit!

We stumbled upon this fun play place!

The kids loved this playground!

I liked the short walking path that would give everyone a chance to stretch their legs.

We stopped overnight which is not something we typically do so we got to stop more on the way up.

The next day we stopped at McCrory Gardens in Brookings, SD.

It looks like a beautiful botanical gardens and arboretum but there was a wedding going on so we missed a lot of it.

Still a nice place to walk around though.

No clue what Little Bit is doing here…

But those two always make me laugh.

Do you have some cheap or free must stop places while traveling?

Daily Photo Challenge

While I had the D850 we rented, I decided to do a daily photo challenge.

This picture started it.

I loved it and wanted more like it.

So this was DAY 1

DAY 2

I am in love with how crisp and clear the d850 is.

It caught my daughters joy of the story she was telling perfectly.

DAY 3

I am sharing the rest from my facebook page to make it easier on myself, since I used the cameras wifi to download them straight to my phone!

It was one of my favorite parts of the camera!

It made sharing pics while traveling so easy!

DAY 4

We stopped halfway up to Minnesota at a hotel so we got to see more things on the way up!

I will share more pics from this awesome nature center and Nature Playpark later.

DAY 5

Finally in Minnesota and we went to a fun event the next day!

Maplewoods Leaf Days are so much fun to attend, even when it is really cold!

DAY 6

This is my favorite of the challenge.

We took my oldest, littlest, and one of my nephews with us into town and they were cracking me up.

Little Bit loved the audience and kept trying to be silly so they would laugh at her.

Again the d850 with my 50mm 1.2 lens caught the moment with beautiful clarity.

I hated sending the camera back…

DAY 7

We left the boys with Nick’s parents and took the girls up to Voyageurs National Park for a few days.

The boys were so excited to get to stay with their grandparents and cousins and I got to see some beautiful scenery.

Nick and I went to Voyageurs 6yrs ago but I loved seeing it again!

DAY 8

We got to see snow while up in Northern MN!

I was so excited!

DAY 9

Watching their littlest cousin play Angry Birds 😉

I took way too many pics and can’t wait to share some more on here!

My oldest requested that I make a photo book so I had better get editing!