Silent so long.

Yes, I was. In my defense, my wife was in London until Wednesday, we just finished up football and baseball - so, far less activities during the week - and I was pretty much intent on ... well ... being intent on the Badger football game this Saturday night.

And ... that ... didn't go so well. We happily enjoyed watching the first three quarters at our neighbors' house before coming home to put the kids to bed. The fourth quarter was a mess ... and so was I ... as the Badgers fought back to a tie ... only to have a Hail Mary pass answer the Spartans' prayers for a victory. Honestly? I didn't sleep. Seriously. It was 5am before my eyes shut ... and I was up by 7am for church. Needless to say, two hours sleep is no good.

Thankfully, the Packers also played this weekend. And though they didn't look great, any win in a dome in Minnesota for a team from Wisconsin is fine by me. It also raised my spirits a bit - that, and the chili I made. And Sunday night's bed never felt so good.

Anyway, that's all behind us. My daughter did have her swimming lessons last Thursday - which may be a shock to some in Minnesota, since most things shut down during our statewide educators' convention. Speaking of which - allowed us (as a family of four!) to go to an apple orchard on Friday morning.

Yes, it is past prime and ALL the apples are picked. We didn't go out into the orchard like normal to find our apples. Instead, we picked them from the bins in the red barn. The kids played 'king/queen of the hill' on a big pile of hay. Three nice pumpkins were selected for our front porch - the two kids and I each get one, while my wife plays 'helper' to our carving. The best part of the trip to the orchard is always the 'extra' goodies: apple donuts and apple fritter bread. Enjoyed the bread today - battered and fried up as french toast, with a little syrup. Yum ...