Halloween: Part 1

This year's costume these is M & M's!  It doesn't get much easier than cutting circles out of felt.  This was a Jimmy approved idea too, which is always nice.

 We went to Trunk or Treat at our old church on Sunday night.  It was fun seeing several families we hadn't seen in a while.  Both kids walked so nicely and put all their candy (except a dum dum) right in their bags.  I also like this event because there are so many cars.

 The Mario car was done by our friends, the Scheevels.  It was a whole family affair for them too.

 Parker waited very patiently to spin the wheel at one trunk.

 The last one we visited was one of our favorites.  Babe the Blue Ox and several Paul Bunyans.

 We got a lot of comments and compliments on our costumes as well.  We now have enough candy to last these kiddos for a while (we might get in to it a bit too!)

Vikings Opponent-Themed Dishes: Part 1

Before the season started it was determined we would make opponent themed foods for each of the Vikings games this year.  I can't remember who came up with the idea, but I ran with it.  Here is the break-down of the first 8 weeks of the season.

Week 1 vs. San Fransisco

Chili in sourdough bread bowls.  Boudin Bakery has been making fresh sourdough daily since 1849.

Result: Vikings 24 - 49ers 16

 Week 2 at Green Bay

Beer brats with onions and mustard.  Brats were first brought to the US from Germany in the 1950s and debuted at Milwaukee County Stadium.  They took off across the US, but remain especially popular in Wisconsin.

Result: Vikings 29 - Packers 29 (a freaking tie!)

 Week 3 vs Buffalo

Beef of weck.  A german immigrant created the kummelweck roll in Buffalo, NY, featuring a coating of sea salt and caraway.  The sandwich was invented sometime in the mid 19th century.
Result: Vikings 6 - Bills 27

Week 4 at Los Angeles

French Dip. Two LA restaurants claim to have invented this in the early 1900's, but Philippe's seems to have gained the most fame.

Result: Vikings 31 - Rams 38

Week 5 at Philidelphia

Philly Cheesesteak: Created by Pat Olivieri in the early 1930's.  We went with the cheez whiz preparation.

Result: Vikings 23 - Eagles 21

Week 6 vs Arizona

Chimichangas: Invented in 1922 when a Tuscon restaurant owner accidentally dropped a burrito in to a deep fryer.

Result: Vikings 27 - Cardinals 17

Week 7 at New York

Reuben Sandwich: The origin is up for debate, but Reuben's Deli claims it was created in 1914 in New York's upper east side.

Result: Vikings 31 - Jets 17

Week 8 vs New Orleans

Gumbo: Originated in Louisiana in the early 18th century.  There are many variants today. Here is the recipe I used.

 Result: Vikings 20 - Saints 30

8 more regular season games, 1 bye week, and an unknown post season run to go.

Pumpkin (pun-kan) Carving

Pun-kan is how Esme says pumpkin and it's the cutest.  We carved ours on Saturday night.  Parker lost interest about 4 seconds after taking this picture, so it was just Esme and myself. This was the first year we really tried it with her.  Here is Parker's first year.

 She was not very interested in checking things out at first, but she slowly warmed up.

 Se played with the guts for a good 20 minutes before letting me finish.

 M & M and moon and stars.  Probably a few more years before Esme really wants to get her hands dirty.

Pumpkin Patch 2018

We made our annual trip to Dehn's Pumpkins on Monday.  We were running short on available days that weren't going to be freezing, so it was now or never.  Light jackets seemed like enough, but the sun tucked down and we were a little chilly.  The corn pit offered some break from the wind.

Parker was eager to hop in the corn pit, so Esme and I went to the field for pumpkins.

Both kids had a blast playing.  Esme loved the slide, but needed a lot of help climbing up.

They have beefed up their inflatable game the last couple years, so that's where we headed next.  Going a week night was much less busy and gave Esme an opportunity to try out some activities without hindering others.  Parker had some pretty sweet moves on the slide that can be seen in the video below.

Thanks for another fun year Dehn's!

Nebraska vs. Minnesota 2018

You may recall that I went to the Nebraska-Minnesota Football game two years ago.  The same supplier at work offered up tickets again last minute.  My parents were in and it was Jimmy's weekend off.  We recruited my brother and nephew to watch the kids for the day and hit the road at 5:30am to make the 2:30 game in Lincoln.  We got to watch the sunrise over Iowa and made it to Clive, IA just in time for breakfast.

I've shared on here before how Clive has the closest Krispy Kreme and it would be silly not to stop as we were passing through.

It was a beautiful day with temps in the 50s.  Jimmy and I sported the famous Nebresota and Minnaska shirts.  We only got asked for a picture 6 times...

We got to sit in the same seats as last time, which have a great view near the middle of the field.

Nebraska started strong, going up 28-0, but Minnesota scored right at the end of the first half and two more times quickly in the 3rd quarter.  They got within 6, but the Huskers broke it open again, winning 53-28. Scott Frost finally got his first win!

The game got over at about 6:15 and we made our way back home.  We stopped for a quick dinner in Omaha at Runza, which seems to be the last reliable place for a twist cone that we go on a regular basis.

The exit sign was amazing as well!  We said "bye, bye, bye" to Nebraska and made it home about 1:30am.  It was such a long day, but so worth it. Go Big Red!