Welcome Fall!

During the first few weeks of October we have welcomed fall with open arms by spending a lot of time outside enjoying the beautiful weather that found us at the beginning of the month.  We took the kids to the local pumpkin patch to check out all the fun activities going on.  It was a beautiful Fall day to check out Rader Farms.  This was our first visit to the farm and we had a ton of fun.  The kids loved everything they had for them to play on.  Derek and Addy went on the giant jumping pillow, which was a very popular attraction.  Carter enjoyed the grain bins full of corn that the kids could play in and the barrel train rides. 

We also headed to Wisconsin Dells for an extended weekend of family fun over the Columbus Day Weekend.  We had taken Addy there a few years ago and wanted to head back this year since she and Carter both love the water.  For those of you who don't know, the Dells is the self proclaimed indoor water park capital of the world.  There are ton of indoor water park resorts in the area and there all also many outdoor water parks that draw tons of visitors during the summer weekend, which is why we elect to visit in the less busy chillier months.  We stayed at the Wilderness Resort again this year which has four indoor water parks for their guests.   This year we lucked out on the weather and it was gorgeous.  I'm talking t-shirt and shorts type weather.  We were able to spend more time outside and took full advantage by going on a horse and carriage ride through a canyon and a boat ride through the upper Dells.  The scenery on both tours was beautiful and the weather made it that much more enjoyable.

The first night we arrived at the Dells we ate dinner at a restaurant that has model trains deliver your food to your table.  Addy and Carter really enjoyed watching the trains zip around the dining area.

Scenes from our boat tour

We certainly got our share of pool and water park time in as well.  Addy loved going down the water slides with us while Carter stayed poolside with Grandma Freihaut.  It's amazing how many more things Addy is willing to attempt and how confident she is in the water.  She is growing up so fast.  Sometimes I would like to push the pause button to slow her down just a bit:)  Carter also loved the water and by the end of our trip he was conquering the tamer slides in the kiddie areas. 

Each morning the staff at the Wilderness Hotel has rubber ducky races in the lazy river of one of the water parks.  Basically the kids choose a duck and their name gets written on the bottom.  Then the ducks are thrown in the water at one point of the river and float to another designated point.  Each morning their are four races with a total of 10 winners who win a coveted Duck whistle and the winner of the last race wins a t-shirt.  Well, our participation in the Kenducky Derby races all three mornings of our stay just confirmed the fact that when it comes to winning contests that involve luck, the Freihauts are simply unlucky.  We did however obtain a collection of Halloween themed rubber duckies to add to our growing holiday decor.  We also had a great time cheering for our ducks and congratulating the kid next to us who had also won the previous morning (I'm not at all bitter:). 

We headed home on Monday (Columbus Day), but stopped at the Dells outlet mall before making the trek back to central Illinois.  We had a great time in the Dells and will return for more family fun in future years.  It is great place to take the kids and we always enjoy our time there.  This year it was a fabulous official beginning to our Fall Season and a great way to take advantage of the last glimpse of summer like weather. 

**My camera broke on the Thursday before we headed to the Dells.  My lens got stuck on the camera and couldn't be removed from the camera body.  After spending a great deal of the morning on the phone with Canon tech support, it was determined that I would have to send it in to be repaired.  I was (and still am) very disappointed that I wouldn't be able to take pictures at the Dells or of all the beautiful fall leaves.  Thankfully I did receive it back this week in time for Halloween, but just after a big rain that took down the beautiful fall leaves.