Fall Visit with Laurie and Mark

We were very pleased to have Laurie and Mark come over this weekend for a visit. They are thoughtful guests who notice and appreciate whatever little things are done for them (making it extra fun to entertain them!). And-- busy as they are-- we appreciate the time and effort they take to come all the way to Eau Claire to see us now and then. The kids enjoy their company (Mikey in his quiet, subtle way; Emma more emphatically as she clings to, kisses, and pens love notes to her beloved Aunt Lulu).

Laurie and Mark arrived in mid-afternoon, before the kids were done with school. We had dinner at our house Friday night, and Mark watched his tree stand safety video while we waited for Jon to finally come home. Jon got home late, but the next morning him and Mark set out bright and early for bow hunting.

They didn't see much action in the woods, but had a beautiful clear day outdoors, at any rate. Laurie and I had a leisurely morning drinking coffee and chit-chatting. After lunch we set out with the kids for a "seasonal" experience. First we took her to what I thought was a fall festival, but left that quickly when we realized it was a lame money pit featuring hay rides around the parking lot and lots of attempts to sell us Mary Kay, Tupperware, and other products. Kids were "free", but first you had to walk them past big inflated kid's games that cost $5 to play.

So! We decided to try something else. Beating a hasty retreat, we headed west of Eau Claire to Pleasant Valley Tree Farm in Elk Mound. This is very near the property we hope to buy someday, and it's beautiful, wooded farm land with lots of scenic overlooks. The tree farm itself is typically where we take the kids for Christmas trees in December; you pick out and saw down your own tree, then ride with it in the back of a sled to the main building. They shake it out on a machine (the kids always like watching that part), bundle it, and you pay for it.

But they also do a big fall celebration at the tree farm. They construct hay mound forts, complete with tunnels, through the hay bales, creating look-outs and attached slides; they have a "spooky woods", where you walk along a winding trail peopled with all kinds of funny and ghoulish scarecrows (wearing Halloween masks); they have a corn maze and scenic overlook; a petting zoo (unfortunately, closed when we were there); kids can pan for gold (painted) rocks or pedal pint-size tractors around a track; there's a huge gift shop (mostly featuring Christmas decor) and of course, a tractor-pulled hay ride (but this one pulls you past cows in the pasture and scenic wooded hills, rather than rows of parked cars).

Another fun feature of the tree farm is they have a giant catapult that blasts pumpkins an amazing distance into a nearby field. A bell will ring every 15 minutes or so, and a few minutes later, "whoosh!". The pumpkin travels so far you lose track of it after awhile.

We participated in different activities with the kids, then let them run wild in the play areas while we browsed the gift shop. Each of us bought something-- Laurie bought a small braided rug for their house, and I was drawn to a couple of unnecessary but completely compelling Christmas items.

In the late afternoon, as it started, cooling down, Laurie and gave the kids a 15-minute warning that we were about to leave, then sat on a bench with some hot apple cider.

Before going home we stopped at a store to look at Halloween costumes for Michael (Emma already has a couple of nice ones to choose from that were leant to her by her Aunt Ann). As Laurie noted on her blog, the choices for boys (and girls) were really limited. We decided to postpone the search for another day, when we could spend more time.

We had dinner at a restaurant and then went home to wait for the guys. They came home well after dark, tired but uninjured at least (good thing they watched their tree stand safety videos!).

So, all in all, an excellent visit! Thanks for coming, Laurie and Mark!

PS: The next day I went to four more stores, with the kids, looking for costumes. We finally settled on a "Death" costume (black hooded gown with face covering), which we paid $24 for, but it really felt like we were settling. Next year I'll have to start the costume searching a little earlier, and maybe look around on eBay a little bit. There's got to be better than that out there!