Hockey Season is coming....

Just hanging out...on top of the hockey net, of course.  Thanks to Uncle Dan and Aunt Ann for  our second hockey net so we can have a "full ice" game.

A friendly, yet competitive game of street hockey in the driveway.

Although it is barely fall in many areas, its hockey season in Minnesota.  We haven't started practices or games yet, but that will be coming by the end of the month.

Aiden will be a Mite 2 (this is the age when Luke and Liam started hockey) hockey player and he is excited to be playing with one of our neighbors across the street and a couple other friends he knows from school.  His team is the Badgers (as in Wisconsin Badgers).

Luke and Liam had hockey tryouts to determine team placement this year and they will both be SuperMite 2 players.   Their team is the Blackhawks and they are very excited to be playing with several friends from school.  After this year, hockey gets a bit more competitive and crazy for Luke and Liam.  It all seems a bit crazy already, but I hear it gets crazier as they get older.

Finn is just excited to start skating.  We tried on some skates this weekend and got his sharpened and ready to go since everyone else is getting their hockey stuff ready to go.  Finn is counting down the days until Daddy starts putting up the backyard ice rink.   

Riebe Run and Basketball

Finn at the Finish line of the inaugural Riebe Run

Greg's motto on the back: "Live in the Moment and Never Give up"

Aiden ran the entire mile and was pretty tired.

Finn is lining up for his 50 yard dash.  The little boy on Finn's right (in black with gray pants and shoes) is Greg's son, August Riebe.

Thought this picture of Finn waving is cute!

Aiden had his very first basketball game over the weekend!!  Aiden is on the left side of picture in navy blue.

And here are his brothers and their buddy, Adam, at the game.  Pretty enthralled...

John with Aiden and Finn at the race

We had a fun fall weekend and thankfully the weather cooperated for the first inaugural Riebe run.  As many of you remember, John lost a dear friend to a genetic heart issue in January 2015.  Greg passed away suddenly while playing in a pond hockey tournament and left behind a wife and two very young children.  His widow, Kate, organized the 5K run to raise money to benefit the Minneapolis Heart Institute and those with the same genetic disease that took Greg's life.  Aiden, Finn, and John participated in the 50 yard dash, 1 mile run, and the 5K run.  Although Luke, Liam, and I were registered to participate, the boys had hockey tryouts on the morning of the race at the same time so we had to skip it.  They had a great time and it was fun to honor Greg by doing something he loved so much...to RUN!

Aiden participated in his first ever basketball game this weekend and did very well.  He had a great coach and assistant coach and it was quite successful.  John is head coaching (although I filled in for the first two weeks so it much have been the coaching!).  The assistant coach, Shelly, is a good friend of ours and the mom to one of Finn's close buddies, Max.  Aiden scored several points and his team won so they were all pretty excited!  The team name (as decided upon by the 1st grade boys) is the "Dominating Vikings."

Smores and the Pumpkin Patch

Fun night of S'mores with the girls 

S'mores with the girls

Riding the airplane at the pumpkin patch

Corn pit

Picking out pumpkins

Corn pit with luke and Charlie

Climbing the bales of hay with 8 boys!

Corn Maze

Finn enjoying some tasty pizza rolls that Grandma Carrithers sent home last weekend after the trip to Iowa

We have been blessed with some great neighbors in our new house.  You never know what your neighbors or neighborhood will be like when you purchase a new home, but we have lived in some neighborhoods in Minnesota that will be hard to top if we ever move again.  Within 5 minutes of getting home from school, we usually have a group of boys outside waiting to play.  Its good for the big boys because they have lots of energy to burn after school.

We have become friends with a very sweet family next door that has 3 girls (5th, 2nd, and preschool age) plus a little boy who just turned a year old.  The girls love playing with the boys and the boys find the girls to be quite entertaining.  We have introduced them to nerf war games, capture the flag, and cops and robbers.  Finn and the youngest little girl, Kathleen, are really a good match.  They are both non stop and quite opinionated so its fun to watch them work things out!

We had a day off school so we made an extra trip to the pumpkin patch and farm to play.  The boys love doing this so its always a fun day.  Despite a lot of wind, the weather was so nice and warm for this time of year.  We picked some pumpkins, shot gourds into the field, played in the corn pit, jumped in the big pumpkin, and explored the corn maze.  It was a full day of fun.

Fun Run 2016 and the Hawkeyes

Fun Run participants and their littlest spectators

Aiden and a couple friends getting ready to do the potato sack race

Finn running with his friend, Max

Finn ran more laps than half the big kids!

Liam also ran a lot of laps

Jack jumping over Finn

Luke 

More 3rd grade buddies

Heading to the Iowa game with Grandpa

Grandma Carrithers and Aunt Charlene with boys

Outside the stadium

At the game with Grandpa, Dad, and boys

Luke's serious football pose

Luke, Liam, and Aiden had their annual Fun Run at school on Friday to raise funds for the school to make purchases, improvements, etc...They changed up the Fun Run a bit this year and rather than running laps the entire time, each country competed in a series of "Olympic" events.  They did a 50 yard dash, obstacle course, ball throw, potato sack races, long jump, lap running, and a dance party.  This was Aiden's first year to participate and he was quite excited.  Thank you once again to many of our family members who sponsored the boys in their Fun Run.  This is a big fundraiser for their school that really benefits the boys and their education in so many ways.

After the Fun Run on Friday, the big boys (Luke, Liam, and Aiden) left with John to head to Iowa.  It was a quick trip as they arrived around 10:00 pm on Friday and left Sunday morning, but they got to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Carrithers, Tom and Charlene, and of course they attended a football game.  Iowa played Northwestern and although the Hawks lost the game, the boys enjoyed their first Iowa football game with John and his dad.  It was a quick weekend, but definitely one to remember for a long time!   Finn and I held down the fort at home and even managed to coach Aiden's 1st grade basketball team at their first practice.