Fall Fun with the Ridnour Fam

Fall and family just go together, don't they? And fun. It goes with everything. :)

 We enjoyed a visit from my family over the weekend and it was great fun. Michael traveled to Bloomington, Indiana, to speak on an alumni panel for Kelly School of Business, so my parents had plans to come up to MN to help me out (always a welcome gift!) Ryan wanted to make a fall visit too and his schedule allowed for it last weekend, so he joined my parents. 

Then, Mitch looked into flights to Minnesota and found one on the cheap for Saturday through Tuesday, so he booked it. Before we knew it, we had a nice little fall Rid-union going on! 

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking, but in addition to our visitors getting to see Katelyn's preschool, we also played in the leaves, watched the ISU football game at Buffalo Wild Wings, played games, snuggled with the littles, went to a pumpkin patch, carved a giant pumpkin, and went to Mall of America for rides. Whew. 

Kendall spent much of the weekend saying "Papa." And even since, she's been walking around the house saying it - I think she's wondering where he is :)

These girls love these guys. And vice versa. Makes my heart swell!

On Sunday, Gramma, Papa, and Ryan had to go back home - you know, that whole work thing for a couple of them. But Uncle Mitch stayed for a couple more days and we had lots of fun with him. First up, a pumpkin patch visit!

Here's a little flashback for you...

October 2012 (2 month-old Kendall bundled up in the carrier)

October 2013 - what a difference a year makes! (Mitch's favorite coat :)

Kendall and Katelyn both loved the corn pool.

Then, off to pick our pumpkins!

We gave Katelyn two guidelines for her pumpkin: it should be round and it should be orange. Wouldn't you know she'd find a white one on the outskirts of the patch to claim as her own! ;)

On Monday, with Uncle Mitch as the project manager, we carved the large pumpkin. Katelyn designed the face and she and Kendall both did a great job sorting the seeds from the "guts." At one point, Kendall was walking around with a handful of pumpkin innards and plopped it on the seat of Katelyn's Power Wheels. Katelyn shouted, "Oh no, Kendall put her gut in my Jeep!!" Made us laugh!

Kendall carrying around the "gut" ;-)

Monday ended with some photos of our jack-o-lantern, bedtime stories with Uncle Mitch, and a bowl of roasted pumpkin seeds. 

Tuesday afternoon, we had plans to drop Mitchell off at the airport and make it back to Plymouth for dance class. Welp, about 15 minutes into the drive to Bloomington, we realized it wasn't likely we'd make it back in time for dance based on rush hour traffic (there were 5 raindrops that fell and that pretty much slowed traffic to a crawl!) But what better way to make up for missed dance class than a couple hours at Nickelodeon Universe at Mall of America?! Perfect end to a great weekend. 

Mitch and Kate rode the carousel, Kendall and I joined them for the train ride, and then we all rode the ferris wheel. Ballerina outfit and all...

A fun-filled weekend with wonderful people and fond memories galore. This is what life is all about.

14 Months Old

Our sweet little Kendall is 14 months old this week! Words to describe her at this age are: playful, curious, excitable, lovable, and busy!

I think Kendall's verbal development is on the verge of an explosion. But for now she still sticks to the basics like "dada," "mama," and "papa" but has recently added "hot" and "dahh" (for dog). She knows that a nod of the head means yes and shake means no. And she's been signing regularly for "more," "please," and "eat." When she gets really excited about something, she speaks in tongues! She erupts with all kinds of vocal tones, "words," and pitches for several seconds straight - it's pretty fun to watch and hear :)

Things Kendall cannot get enough of are babies (real, dolls, or pictures), airplanes, and dogs and cats (real or pictures). The sight of each of these results in her speaking in tongues, so you can imagine how much speaking she did at Babies R Us and the pet store the other day! We checked out a book about cats from the library the other day and she will page through it until she finds her favorite page - one where the cat is eating from a dish - and she'll squeal with excitement while signing "eat" over and over again. 

She can sit and play with her dolls independently for long stretches of time. She feeds them, rocks them, pushes them in the stroller, and covers them with blankets for naps. Sometimes I peek in on her in the playroom and she's just standing there rocking a baby looking out the window. Hmm, seems oddly familiar to me... She's got the biggest heart for babies -- and she's just a baby herself :)

Kendie (our top nickname for her) has become quite attached to some of her favorite items. She has to bring three things in her crib with her for naps and nighttime: her baby doll and two stuffed animals (a bunny and a monkey). Katelyn was never attached to a "lovey" except for her paci if that counts, so it's new to me that Kendall sleeps with comfort items. She's a great sleeper and is usually down for the night by 7 or 7:30 and sleeps until 6 when she wakes up to eat and then goes back to bed until about 7:30 am. 

She's still just the sweetest little thing - she loves to run full speed and just wrap her arms around legs for a standing hug. She also blows kisses and gives hugs and high fives generously. Lately, she's been pushing boundaries to see if they're still in place day after day. Her favorite is to stand on the toddler chairs in the playroom and look at me with an "I'm doing something I shouldn't and it makes me feel adventurous" grin!  

Her most daring feat (so far!) happened a couple weeks ago. We had just arrived home from Target and Katelyn ran to the backyard to play. I brought Kendall and an armful of grocery bags into the house via the door that goes from the garage to the house. I quickly ran back out to grab the final bag from the trunk and upon arriving back at the door (we're talking 10 seconds max), realize it's been LOCKED. All other doors are also LOCKED. My baby is LOCKED in. And we are LOCKED out. Nooo! Noooooooo! By the grace of God, my cell phone was in the car (not in my diaper bag like it usually is, which was locked in the house... with the baby.) I called Michael in a panic while I planted myself in front of an open window and summoned Kendall to me through the screen. That open window was also a blessing. After Coach Michael gave some clearcut instructions to this panicked, unable to think straight mama, the adrenaline pumping through my veins allowed me to tear through the screen, hoist the window up with Superman-strength, and shake and shimmy my big bottom through it to finally reach Kendall. Not a pretty sight, I'm certain, but the reunion sure was. My mind was racing and I had visions of her doing all the "off limits" things to hear heart's content: climbing stairs (and falling), splashing in the toilets, eating an entire bag of candy corn, ingesting cleaning products, and lighting matches - ha! Thankfully, the whole ordeal was only about 4 minutes, but it was a L-O-N-G 4 minutes.

She made up for all of it with this...

And she has since signed a contract agreeing to give me more snuggles in lieu of any more lockouts. :)

Kendall, you are such a ray of sunshine! Thank you for sharing all the smiles, laughs, and love  - oh, the love! - with us. You're a beautiful blessing - pure and simple.

Not Your Average Pizza Night

A couple weeks ago, we enjoyed a family pizza night with our friends Matt and Shelly and their boys Dane, Erik, and Tripp. But this one was different. It wasn't Papa Murphy's take-and-bake or Chuck E. Cheese mayhem. It was a pizza night held at a most unique, best-kept-secret of a place called Two Pony Gardens. It's just on the western side of Plymouth, but the scene felt like a far-away secret garden of sorts where simplicity and nourishment (for the belly and soul) reign. 

We ordered our pizza right when we got there, which proved to be wise decision as the wait times were pushing two hours by the time we left for the night! As we waited for our pizzas to be cooked in the wood-fire oven we made our way through the beautiful dahlia garden, visited the ponies and gave them a good brushing, and watched the pizzas being made (which are all topped with yummies from their gardens including heirloom tomatoes, cilantro, and mushrooms).

Matt had his camera and was on it with the snapshots -- thanks, Matt! The beautiful garden gave us quite the backdrop for some candids. 

The kids especially loved perusing racing through the garden :)

Our pizza was ready right as hunger began to strike, so we got situated on our oversized picnic blankets and dove into these savory pies...

Everyone is asked to pack out what they pack in - meaning bring everything home with you that you bring - there's not a single garbage can on site. We also brought our own appetizers, wine, plates, napkins, and cutlery - they don't have any of that available. Again, they keep it super simple which makes the experience at Two Pony Gardens unique and memorable.

We had a fun, one-of-a-kind, outdoor pizza party with dear friends and look forward to doing it again next year. Thanks to lovely Shelly for the fabulous idea!

Two Pony Gardens now has nine new fans!

Apple Jack Orchards

Last Friday, Michael took the afternoon off and we took a trip to Apple Jack Orchards. Fun times! (Promise, it was. But this picture has the girls looking rather somber!)

Katelyn and Kendall had fun climbing the hay stacks, sliding down slides, feeding goats, visiting pigs and chickens, checking out the pumpkins, and sharing a caramel apple!

We ventured down to the river and saw a few fish jump and also spotted two frogs. Quite the adventure at the orchard!

Kendall loved the freedom to check everything out on her own! She thought the hay was pretty interesting stuff :)

How tall this fall? Well, it looks like we've got a two-footer and a three-footer! We love these little pumpkins...

It was a great kickoff to the fall season that's now underway!

Kairos

Time stood still for a moment yesterday. And it was a beautiful thing. A kairos thing. And I marked it. I looked up at the blue sky above me and thanked God for that moment. Because as chaotic, harried, and utterly draining as some days may be along this parenting journey, there are always moments like this sprinkled into every day. They serve as a cleansing of my mind and heart. These moments bring overwhelming gratitude that washes over me so powerfully it almost takes my breath away, reminding me of just how beautiful this journey we're on really is...

May we all have eyes to see - really stop and see - the kairos moments each day brings.

Preschool, Cyclone Fans, and Quirky Quotes

Meet our brand new preschooler... 

Do you think she was excited for day one? "Wooo-hooo!"

I think I did the same dance on my last day of school :) Needless to say, Kate is loving preschool! She has been looking forward to it all summer and when the first day finally arrived last week, she was thrilled. A quick hug and kiss upon entering her classroom and she was off having fun! No tears from either one of us. When I picked her up on the first day, she said "I love preschool more than mac and cheese!" It's safe to say she's a fan.

Here she is on day two. Each student was asked to decorate their red bucket, which is used in lieu of a backpack to bring home art projects, parent memos, and other odds and ends.

Last weekend was the big Iowa/Iowa State football game. Looks like I'll be doing the dishes all year in our house divided ;) While we'd like to forget about the outcome of said match-up (everyone but Michael wants to forget anyway), we always want to remember how cute these little Cyclones looked...

(Katelyn, Cooper, Carter, Kendall, and Drew)

Last week at church, Katelyn's class drew pictures of something God created. She drew Kendall. 

Melt. My. Heart. Seriously...

And with as much fun as this duo has together, it's no surprise Kendall was on her mind. They are such good pals.

Here are some of Katelyn's funny quotes from the past couple months...

To Kendall after I had just painted Kate's toenails: "Be careful, Kendall. My toenails are very juicy."

"Do we live in Plymesota?" Giving Plymouth, Minnesota a valiant effort.

"Why do some adults say 'smile' and some adults say 'say cheese'?" Great question! Ha!

Kate: "Knock, knock"

Me: "Who's there?"

Kate: "Salad."

Me: "Salad who?"

Kate: "Lettuce in, we're freezing."

Salad/lettuce, pretty much the same thing ;)

Watching Katelyn perform in our basement, I asked her for a hug between songs. She said: "I'll give you a hug this time, but Mom, dancers don't usually hug the watchers."

Talking about something (I don't remember what) and I said, "I'll show you one the next time I see one." Kate responds, "Okay. And another thing I want you to show me sometime is a real dinosaur."

"At preschool, I hope we get to play in the missiles room." Say what? I inquired further and she kept saying the same thing: missiles room. Then it occurred to me - the muscle room. Basically an indoor jungle-gym room where the kids can run, slide, throw balls, and exercise their muscles. Boy, I'm sure glad there isn't a missiles room at preschool.

Until next time - thanks for reading!