Theo's been on a Mario spree recently. Mario Maker 2, Bowsers Fury, Mario Odyssey. He's also been getting a bit riled up by the challenging moments.  It was crunch time for me to get these costumes done before Halloween. Meanwhile I once again ended up in the northwest exurbs. This time I purchased a used Iron Sleek backyard rink setup. The kids are going to have the best winter ever.  Somehow I managed to haul all the hardware and 19 long 2x12s. The kids Christmas present had made it home safely.

The kids had off from school and we hadn't been anywhere in awhile so to the cottage it was. The colors along the way were peaking.    First we picked up a new bike for Meadow in River Falls. Well, new to us. You know we don't buy many things brand new. Theo was super excited to see G.G. and Grandpa at the cottage. We always pass this store in Catawba and I've always been curious what it looks like inside. I finally looked it up on Google Maps earlier this week and saw they have bulk candy. Since the kids did really well at their Parent Teacher Conferences, they deserved a treat. They did indeed have candy. Grab bags, random holiday candy, and lots more.

Scott and I both had off the Friday before our Anniversary. We thought we'd take advantage of the day while the kids are in school. But first I had to get all the kids winter clothes out.  I did make us a big breakfast first.      But somehow we ate separately. We're not very good at doing anniversaries. We had plans to go thrifting together then go out for lunch. Thrifting took longer than we thought and we had to pick up the kids from school. The kids would be joining us for our anniversary dinner after all.  We had dinner at Q. Cumbers before heading over to the Galleria in Edina. Somehow we didn't take any pictures of any of this. Q. Cucumbers is a buffet with a huge salad bar. The kids loved it. We finally got to see Scott's photos in person at the new Yeti store. 

We had one last week of summer so Meadow and I went swimming one last time this year. It was unseasonably warm for early October in Minneapolis.    Good morning sleepy bear. It's Open Streets day on Lyndale!    Meadow had been asking for Swedish pancakes so that is what I made today. Hmmm... I wonder if she remembers when we had Swedish pancakes up on the Gunflint Trail  at Loon Lake Lodge . Man, do we have to go back there. I think that's what gave her the idea.  These were awfully delicious. Where can folks get the recipe? I think I just used the first result in Google.  We didn't realize until today that Meadow's bike is much too small for her. Sorry kiddo. Looks like we'll be on the hunt for a new one for her. We biked on our wonderful front yard bike lanes and then over to Lyndale.    We ended up parking our bikes since the street was so crowded. They really should split it so bikes are on one side and pedestrians on the other. This might be the last Open Stree