We are off to a busy fall. Drew started preschool at Wargo Nature Center at the end of September. He chose his own outfit for the first day. He thought a shirt and tie would be the perfect ensemble. He sure was excited. It took him about a week to get used to the schedule. We learned that he really does like a schedule. It seems to work well with his mathmatical mind.
Ryan, Christy and Kevin came to visit us the first Friday of October. Drew had fun dancing with Kevin. It's hard to believe both of these boys are growing so fast!
We celebrated Nala's 14th birthday with some cake and ice cream. Drew had fun lighting and blowing out Nala's candles.
Drew and I went to the Wildlife Center in Colombus for Oktoberfest. Drew wasn't too interested in the over 100 wolves, but he sure did enjoy painting the pumpkin. Not only that, the pumpkins that Grandpa and Grandpa brought, got a full cleaning along with a terrific decorative alignment. All courtesy of Drew.
A big part of the fall has been the designing and building of Drew's loft for his bedroom. He helped his dad shop for the wood, put up the frame, and set up the entire bed.
When it was finished he put all of his stuffed animals and favorite books on the shelf.
We took many different trips to Apple Orchards, and Pumpkin Farms. Anoka County Farm was a cute little place, with one giant pumpkin. Andrew and Drew had fun playing together at the farm.
In the middle of October we took a week long trip back to grandpa and grandma's house. We broke up the trip by stopping at the Veteran's Memorial outside of Sauk City.
Toria and Drew spent a lot of time together playing while we were visiting. One of their favorite activities was giving the fuzzy wuzzy caterpillars baths in the 5 gallon bucket.
While we were back home we attended my friend Angie's annual Halloween party in Belleville. Drew got to Dress up as Jake-From Jake and The Neverland Pirates, and play a little BB. He was terrified of all the life sized scary statues that were displayed (Freddie Krueger, Jason, etc.)
Grandpa and Grandma babysat while I had a night out with Gayle, Kristen, Jack, and Deb. We did some Wine tasting at Wollersheim's and followed it up with dinner at the Dorf Haus in Roxbury.
Grandpa had the idea of making a deer stand in the tree in the field, but changed his mind when he realized he would have to take it down. So, instead he and Drew worked on a wood working art project. What does this look like to you?
My former High School English teacher, Mrs. Frye, and myself attend Buffalo Bill at the American Players Theatre in Spring Green.
The rest of the time Drew has been writing his own books, and taking selfies for the illustrations of his books. This picture was for his book about Ted (the red bear) and Silkie.
We bought one VERY large pumpking at Anoka Farm when we went with Amber and Andrew. John carved it, and Drew took the credit. It didn't take long for it to rot.
We've been doing some read alouds from our Usborne Books. This is John and Drew reading "A squirrel's Tale" to a group of kids at Wargo Nature Center for their Fall Festival.
We spent the afternoon at Pinehaven with Becky and Viktoria. They had all sorts of stuff to do! They had pumpkin launching, a pirate ship, a big bouncy pad to jump on, petting farm, and wagon rides. It was well worth the 8 dollars.
Once Drew had all of his pumpkins he made his own little fort at the front of the house. He used other decor besides pumpkins.
Drew loves to take photos of Nala. Here is one that turned out pretty good.
This year we went trick or treating with the Espinosas in Lino Lakes, and
we finally all were able to wear our costumes together (Jake, Captain Hook and Izzie).
Today we are getting blasted with our very first WINTER STORM!!!
It's a cloudy 68 degrees here in Palm Desert on Christmas Eve! 
I decided to give Drew's rental bike a whirl. Even though it was a little small, it sure was comfortable with the high handle bars. We traded off between the scooter and the bike and wound up putting on over 4 miles skirting around the resort.
Yesterday we did a couple of short hikes around Joshua Tree National Park. We put on a total of 3 miles. We are gradually working our way upward for a big hike!
Today we are laying low, enjoying the view from our balcony, doing a little more biking, and mostly just enjoying the pool.
