fall break

The kids had a couple days off from school for Fall Break and so we piled in the van and headed up north to the in-laws.

• about 375 miles.
• 7 people.
• 1 stop.
• 2.5 movies. {Cars -- the 2nd half, High School Musical 3, Princess Bride}
• 6.5 hours in the van.
• 60 hours in Warroad.
• 10 hours in the van.
• 1 movie. {Toy Story 2}
• 5 stops.
• still 7 people. {amazingly, we all survived the ride!}
• over 400 miles {a couple slightly off-course stops made for a different route on the way home}.

"There's no place like home!"

Here's a quick picture re-cap of our trip::

Silly Joe::

October birthday "kids": Kirbs, Annie {Kirby's older sister}, David {Kirb's younger sister's husband} & Steph {Kirb's older brother's wife} -- {all their birthdays are in 1 week and Kirb's & Steph's are even on the same day!}::

Cousins. All 13 of them: {top to bottom: Evan, Joe, Katie, Rebekah, Andrea, Jacob, Tommy, Jillian, Lydia, Anna, Katrina, Caleb & Bethany}::

The "Stoll kids": Kirb, Annie, Kristy & Tracey::

what a silly bunch::

We stopped at Trout to see my dad on the way home. He's been working there most of the summer and will be there another 2 weeks or so before coming home again for a while. He has laid every single cement block in this really big building. Every. Single. Block. That's a lot of work! He's doing stonework now. He was working on this chimney when we pulled up, then he'll work on the 4 or so fireplaces inside next, and I think a little stone on the front of the building too after that. This building is going to be the dining hall for Trout's new Timber Ridge camp. It's on the highest point in Crow Wing county and has a spectacular view {especially from the top of the chimney . . . or so says my dad. I haven't been up there myself. I try to stay closer to the ground.}
We got a tour of the building from it's main builder guy himself. It was a little muddy, but we made it without getting too dirty. The skinny, dusty guy in the denim is my dad, in case you were wondering.
It was a fun weekend! We ended it with a "hayride" at the Apple Orchard on Sunday night . . . there wasn't actually any hay, so I guess it was just a wagon ride. We got pulled in a cool tractor by a great guy named Chad who gave us a tour of the orchard and taught us lots of stuff about apples that I never knew before. It was a beautiful day and the orchard was PACKED, but we had reservations for a group tour {a group from church} and followed the wagon ride up with a bonfire complete with hot dogs and s'mores, all after the orchard was closed to the public so the crowds were gone. It was a fun night and the kids loved it. We got to pick and eat an apple and go out to the pumpkin patch too. The ride around the orchard was beautiful with some wonderful views of terrific fall colors. The highest point in Washington county is on the orchard's land and the view was spectacular from that point -- overlooking a small lake and beautiful fall-changing trees for as far as the eye could see. Chad said that in the winter you can even see the Minneapolis skyline from there. So, yup, we were at the highest point in 2 different counties 2 days in a row. How cool is that?