Jessica set off on a road trip early Friday afternoon and I worked from home while watching Benjamin. She drove to Round Lake, IL to visit The Rogers and attend a concert from a classic band from her youth - NKOTB (aka New Kids on the Block). She had an absolute blast and likened the experience to The Beatles playing at Shea Stadium due to the fact that at certain points in the show it was difficult to hear the music over all the women (notice I didn't say girls) screaming at the top of their lungs for those "heartthrob" boys. The rest of her weekend was spent catching up, lounging around, and overall relaxation. Then on Sunday Jessica got to fulfill part of her obligation of being the maid of honor in Erin's wedding by shopping for bridesmaid dresses.

With Mommy away - I had the awesome opportunity to spend the weekend with Benjamin - just the two guys. I had a lineup sure to fit any child's dream. We woke up early on Saturday morning and made our ever famous farmers market run. Among our top finds were: eggplant, swiss chard, heirloom apples, Japanese Kale. On the downside there were no Brussels Sprouts - they were out before we got there :( From the market we went to coffee with some runner friends and Benjamin's friend Abby.

That afternoon we made our way to Historical Hysterical Halloween being held at The History Center of Olmsted County. Most of the activities took place outside so thankfully it was a gorgeous autumn day. Benjamin got to dress up in his T-Rex costume that Jessica slaved over for the past two weeks. The array of activities consisted of making pumpkin bead necklaces, colored sand art, musical instruments, a spooky schoolhouse, a tractor ride, a train raid, roasting marshmallows. We were there for about 2 hours and left no stone unturned. We spent that night watching old school Scooby Doo and the Muppet Show - two of my (our) favorite classics!

As you may know the weather here in MN turned bitter cold here on Saturday night and wind started howling! That was followed up by a nice dose of rain and yes SNOW on Sunday! I decided rather than sit inside and watch it all come down that we would have our own road trip to Kellogg, MN, home of Lark Toys. They have an exquisitely ornate merry go round with hand carved animals. We rode that



ate pumpkin ice cream (thankfully it contained no egg) , and played with their vast amount of toys all afternoon. Benjamin's favorites were the toy horse along with a puppet stage, and a hand carved wooden circus.




Of course on the way home we just "had" to stop at Pepin Heights apple store to sample their various apple varieties and world class apple cider.

Mommy came home about 5:30 and we spent the rest of the night together as one big happy family.