High Five for Friday x2!

We have been busy little beavers here at the Picker Palace, so since I missed last week's High Five, I'm making this week a double! 

1. Red Barn Learning Center - We met up with my good friend, Liz, and her family at the new Red Barn Learning Center between Stewartville and Hayfield.  It was a beautiful day to tour the little farm, take in the sights, and enjoy time with friends.  It is a cute little place if you ever find yourself in the area.  I saw on Facebook that they will be open through this weekend.
2. Cousin Time - MEA weekend brought all of the Picker grand kids together, including the two newest additions (Nora and Alaina) for the first time in a while.  The boys got right down to business playing, the dads enjoyed a Michigan football game (and a win), and the babies were cuddled and enjoyed:)  Luke, especially, simply cannot get enough time with his cousins.
3. Beckmann Family Meal - It is a tradition in my family that we go out to eat for each of our birthdays and that the birthday boy/girl gets to pick the location.  Well, this year I decided to request a home cooked meal from my mom instead of heading to a restaurant.  My mom had a week off work, so she spent the day with Papa and Nora at our place then made a wonderful meal.  My request was porcupine meatballs and baked potatoes, but my mom doesn't make a meal for our Beckmann clan without options.  She also made a roast in the crock pot with potatoes and carrots, turkey meatloaf, corn, and apple crisp for dessert.  It was fabulous!  Wonderful food and sweet company:) 
4. Swimming Lessons - Luke started swimming lessons at the RAC.  These are his first swimming lessons in a few years and the first ones he's done without Brent or myself in the water with him.  He's doing well, having fun, and even told me this week after lessons that he wishes they were another hour longer:)  Our hope was that he would get more comfortable in the water and get some basic swimming skills.  After just two lessons we're seeing progress!
5. Book Fair - Luke's school had their book fair, one of mine and Luke's favorite events!  Luke picked out a few books, Nora got a book, and we bought a couple from his teacher's wish list for their classroom.  I'm not sure what it is about the book fair, but I love it:) 
6. Spirit Run - The Spirit Run was my run-with-a-goal-in-mind run for the fall:)  I wanted to get back to running after Nora was born, so I picked a 5K from the Rochester Track Club calendar for October 27.  After training in September and October, I felt ready for the run.  Apparently my body had other ideas though.  I was able to run two and a quarter miles before getting so nauseous that I had to walk.  After crossing the finish line, the nausea won out:(  I have never been sick like this before while exercising, so I don't know what happened???  "Why is this on your High Five if it didn't go well?" you ask?  It was still an accomplishment.  My plan and hope was to run the entire 5K (3.1 miles), which didn't happen, but I still did the training and ran what I could the day of the run.  It was also a fun morning because Luke ran the kids' 1K with two of his friends and two of my friends and Brent also ran the 5K.  It was a nice morning to get out for a run, even if it didn't end as I'd hoped:) 
7. Council Bluffs - Last weekend we made a quick trip to Council Bluffs, IA to visit our friends from Baltimore who were in IA for a family wedding.  It was a short trip but well worth the chance to see our dear friends:)  Our kids did GREAT on the car ride down (4.5 hours in the car) and our first night as a family staying in a hotel went well too.  We enjoyed beautiful weather while in Iowa too.  The guys got to play some football Saturday and the kids played outside Sunday afternoon.  All in all a great weekend!
8. Halloween - We had a great first Halloween as a family of four.  After picking Luke up from school, we headed to Brent's office with the kids in costume.  His office is pretty serious about their candy, so Luke already had half a bag of candy to start out Halloween night:)  We invited grandparents over to see Luke and Nora, then Luke and Brent went out trick or treating the neighborhood.  It was beautiful weather for trick or treating and there were TONS of kids out in our neighborhood. 
9. Christmas Shopping - I like to start Christmas shopping early and to think about what gifts I'd like to get people early too.  This week Brent and I decided on our Christmas budget, so let the Christmas shopping begin! 
10. Thanksgiving - I decided to brave cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year.  We will have a small group at our house so I thought it would be easier to try out my Thanksgiving cooking skills:)  I'm excited at the idea of planning and cooking for the holiday, which I've never done before.  Wish me luck! 

So, do you believe me now?  We've been quite busy:)  I'd love to add pictures for each of the items above, but that would be redundant.  Check out our Shutterfly site for the MANY pictures from October:)