Professional Traveler

Hello everyone! Can you believe it's been almost a month since I've blogged?  Life is so busy as a big sister!  I'll try to catch you up on all things Megan!  School has been going great.  I love my teachers and I'm meeting some new friends.  We went on a field trip to the apple orchard.  Daddy was the chaperone this year since Mommy got to go last year. 

It was much better apple picking conditions this year.  Last year they barely had any apples left but this year there were plenty to pick!  It was a beautiful day at the orchard!

I've been taking some time to cheer on my favorite college football teams.  This was the day Michigan played Minnesota.  I told everyone that I wanted Minnesota to win, but I really loved my Michigan cheerleader dress better than my Minnesota jersey shirt.  So Michigan wear won...well and Michigan ended up winning too!

Andrew supported the Gophers.  His Minnesota outfit is more spiffy than his Michigan stuff.  In fact, I'm not sure he even fits in my old Michigan sweatshirt. He's a lot bigger than I was as a baby!

 Mommy thought we were both looking particularly cute this day so she took our picture.  Piggy tails was the hairstyle of choice by me for several weeks.  Now I'm into having a little braid in my hair. It's hard to keep up with my beauty routine!

Our church had its annual fall party and we sure had fun!  Mommy won 2nd place in the chili contest with her pumpkin chili.  Daddy and I enjoyed a really long hayride.  It got pretty chilly!  When we got back from the hayride, Mommy and Andrew were really ready to go home.  I was not happy about this, but alas, this is life with a baby brother.  He kind of calls the shots at that time of night.

Even though the Vikings have been terrible this year, I still have the spirit!  Mommy, Daddy, and Uncle Steve went to the Vikings vs Panthers game.  Andrew and I stayed home with Grandma and Grandpa.  For the game goers, unfortunately the highlight of the game was the fact that they got free pop by signing the "designated driver" pledge.  That tells you how terrible the game was.  It was their "farewell to the Metrodome" game." After this season they are tearing down the Dome to build a new stadium and the Vikings will play at the TCF Bank Stadium where the Gophers play. 

The highlight of my month was a recent trip to Texas.  I've been asking to go to Texas for a long time as I miss my Nana and Papa!  Plus they have a really fun house with a pool so that is an added bonus.  This is me showing Nana and Papa what a good reader I am.  I just sat down and read this book to them.

Nana and me doing some puzzles. 

The lake that Nana and Papa live on is a little low this year due to a lack of rain.  We thought we'd give a boat ride a try.  Well we ended getting stuck a couple times but we still had fun!

Captain Megan!  I'm a professional!

Papa giving me some driving tips

At last it was pool time!  It was a little chilly for Texas standards so we had to warm up the pool a bit before we went for a dip!  Andrew had fun too in his little floaty as long as we kept the sun out of his eyes.  Andrew is not a big fan of sunny days.

I got lots of practice with my strokes.  It paid off because last week I passed my swimming lessons and get to move on to "eel" from "pike".  I'm super excited to be an eel. 

Sporting my goggles trying to get some face-in-the-water practice.  This is definitely my Achilles heel of swimming!

Mommy and Daddy snuck away for a night away at Messina Hof, a bed&breakfast and winery.  While they were away, Nana and I made these fun Owl cupcakes.  They were as delicious as they were cute!

On Friday night of our trip we went to this really fun place called Incredible Pizza.  They have a big buffet to eat from and then they have all kinds of arcade games, mini golf, go karts, laser tag, etc.
I need to work on my form a bit, but I really enjoyed getting to mini golf again. 

Daddy and I in the go kart races!

 

 This clown made me a fun balloon hat!

 

 The next morning we went to the Texas Renaissance Fair.  It was "Fairy Festival" weekend which made it perfect.  It was a little chilly so I had to wear my fairy wings over my jacket for most of our time there.  Some fairies greeted me right away.  I was a little freaked out by everything at first as it was a lot to take in.  After awhile I got used to all the costumed people and everything.  This fairy gave me a blue jewel.

 Mommy and I went on this fun swing ride.  When I pulled my rope Mommy went up and when she pulled her rope I went up.  It was really cool!

 Daddy and I got to ride an elephant.  I thought the elephant was really smart because he always followed the path.

 Elephant riding fun!

 It was a quick ride!

Next we waited in line for the camel rides.

 

The camel ride was a bit longer and the camel was just as smart as the elephant following the path.

What a cool ride!

Since Daddy took me on an elephant and camel, it was Mommy's turn to do something with me.  Once the ride started she decided that Daddy actually got the better job!  I thought all the spinning was great.  Mommy decided she's too old for spin rides!  See the video below.

The carousel there had real animals!  I rode a donkey but you could ride a pony or even a cow!

A natural!

After all that fun it was time for a little treat!  I got chocolate ice cream. Mommy and Daddy shared a yummy "Josephine" dessert (very similar to a Napoleon).  Papa had a brownie sundae.  Yum Yum Yum!  Andrew and Nana stayed back at Nana's house because Andrew needed to nap and Nana wasn't sure she was up to walking all over the festival.

In the afternoon it was finally warm enough to take jackets off and I got to show off my whole fairy outfit. Unfortunately by this point, I lost my flowers for my hair. 

We met up with the fairies again on our way out.  I was much more friendly with them at this point.  At lunch a "pirate" (not actually a pirate according to my parents but I thought he was), gave me a blue ring.  Then the fairies gave me a red feather and another little jewel.  I loved all my treasures.

Saying goodbye to the fairy friends.

This is the fairy that gave me the red feather. She had red feathers on her eyelashes!  It was so pretty!

On our last day in Texas we went to a nearby farm that had a corn maze and all kinds of fall activities to do.  This time Mommy stayed back with napping Andrew.  Corn mazes aren't good for her allergies and she enjoyed getting to read her book by the pool while Andrew napped. 

There were two corn mazes.  The first one was really easy but the second one was super hard.  Thanks to smart phones, we were able to find the corn maze map and found our way out of there.

A good action shot by Daddy!

Climbing...still one of my favorite things!

My tether ball skills need some work but I sure thought it was fun.

One last dip in the pool before we headed home.  This time I wanted to go in the hot tub with the jets on.  Don't worry, the hot tub wasn't actually "hot"...just warm! 

Oops this picture got out of order. I rode the cow train at the corn maze place.

Now we are back home and enjoying regular life too.  Daddy finally made me a leaf pile to jump in.  I've been looking forward to this all fall!

 

Fun fun fun

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What else is new?

• Mommy and Daddy had a conference with my teacher. I'm doing very well at preschool.  I always find what is "different" in the room and am a good friend to everyone.  My parents were especially proud when they heard that I'm very kind to a little boy in our class that has a hard time with school.  When he goes home and talks about kids at school that are nice, he mentions me and another child. 
• I got my flu shot this year.  Well I got the "Flumist" that just goes up your nose.  This seemed a lot better than a shot.  I saw the commercial on TV and thought it was a good idea.  Of course I covered up my nose when it was time to get it.  Mommy was pretty firm and said if I didn't take my hands down that they'd just give me the shot, so I obliged.  Mommy wishes she always had a shot to use as leverage.
• I've really been enjoying Sunday school.  Every week we get a little card to go on a ring.  It has the basic message of our lesson on it.  I like to quiz my parents on their Bible knowledge and give them lots of praise when they answer correctly. 
• I got the "letter bag" at school this week so within minutes of being home I was on the search for items that start with the letter E.  I need to bring in a maximum of 10 items that start with the letter E to school.  I am THRILLED!  I get to tell my class all about my items next Monday.