A Particularly Photogenic Fall Day

Halloween - 2 Weeks Late...

Visiting the Minnesotan Kin

Okay, these pictures are a month old (what can I say?), but last month Linnea finally made it up to the Twin Cities to visit her northern kin.  Above she is pictured with Great-Gramma Daniels, her birthday partner.  On February 27th next year, Linnea will turn 1 and Great-Gramma will turn 90.
Above here, Linnea is banging on the table with second-cousin-once-removed (is that what you call Ryan's cousin's baby?) Autumn, 3 1/2 months her senior and completely ADORABLE.
And here she is waving (which she did - NONSTOP - all weekend) with second cousin Krista (Ryan's cousin).
All in all, it was a short but sweet weekend and we were all glad to reconnect with the Minnesotan branch of the family.  And no, it wasn't just because of the amazing Swedish pancakes.

Nana & Papa's Visit... and My First Fever

Last weekend Nana & Papa came for a visit and for the first few days, everything was great.  Linnea re-bonded with them quite nicely (above), we took a beautiful fall walk along the Fox River (below; nothing particularly exciting was happening - Linnea's kind of become a chronic clapper?)...
... we went out for lunch (note the "big girl" highchair - she's so mature)...
... Linnea showed them all her crawling/exploring abilities...
And then - she got sick :(.  Her first throat infection and fever of 103.  After a few rough days (and nights), though, she was back to her old self.  Of course, by then, Nana and Papa had gone home.  But Linnea was grateful they were there when she needed them (picture below provided as illustration) and looks forward to a fun time together again at Thanksgiving!

Fall Fun with Future Friends

Sunday Linnea had her first opportunity to hang out with what we hope will be several future friends - Bennett (2 months, center) and Elissa (3 months, right). Mommy & Daddy got the chance to reconnect not-so-new friends (their parents & older siblings)... all in the wonderful context of Edwards Apple Orchard.
Above is the Scholtens clan - Anna & Carina with Bill & Denise (the birthday girl; she got cider donuts instead of cake).
And here are Bennett's folks - Renate & Drew (photos courtesy of them - except this one, obviously).
Linnea had a fabulous day and hopes that it was the first of many fun outings with pretty much the only people she knows on earth who are younger than her :).

Last Day of "Summer"

Saturday was what we've figured was probably the last summer-like day of the year - sunny and low 80s.  So we seized the day with Aunt Aimee and had a picnic along  the river, took a nice walk into town and, of course, got Graham's ice cream.

Afternoon on Her Own

Linnea is getting to be such a big girl these days that when Mommy had a meeting at North Park on Friday (preparation for teaching a course there online next semester), Linnea went along & hung out with Mommy's friend & former colleague Sue (who is a grandmother and, therefore, had lots of fun toys).She & Sue made the rounds on campus to meet some of Mommy's other former colleagues, and she even came home with some North Park souvenirs to boot.

Thanks for a fun afternoon, Gramma Sue!