Driving Thru Fords!

We had a busy Sunday last weekend!  We started our morning at church where Alex helped with the children's service for the worship segment.  Will, Katie & Becki stayed home (we had attended church as a family Saturday night) and worked outside, preparing the deck/house for cold weather.  Once Matt got home with Alex & Maddie, we got ready to go to the Moline Halloween Parade.  This parade has always been a fun tradition for our family.  Lots of floats, friends and candy!  We got down to the parade and staked our claim at the beginning of the route.  We had some friends join us and we were looking forward to a fun parade.  The parade soon started...and then quickly ended.  We were disappointed to see the end of the parade after only 18 minutes!  We drove home almost in unbelief!  In the past, the parade had been 2x the size!

After getting home, we decided it was too nice of a day to stay home.  Even with the day more than half gone...and school tomorrow...we decided it would be fun to head towards Dixon, IL (1 1/2 hour drive) and visit White Pines State Park.

We knew ahead of time that there wouldn't be any time for hiking - which made us sad.  White Pines has some fun trails with creek crossings!  We were able to drive through the fjords along the road and take pictures as we walked around the main park area.  What a gorgeous day with beautiful trees!

Will started a dance session on the picnic table.  Soon Maddie & Kaitee followed suit!  They had all of us cracking up!

Alex was content with doing her cartwheels.

 We hopped back in the van and headed to see the other side of the park.  The kids loved driving through the creeks!

 We spotted this tree (Below) and knew that we had to get some pictures underneath it!  The color of the leaves were unbelievable! There is something about leaves that bring out the kid in every person!

 Will making a leaf angel...

 We had fun getting an updated version of the overhead "head shot" from Mother's Day

 Having recently watched Karate Kid (I, II & III), the kids loved standing on these posts and imitating Daniel(son).

 We ended our time by driving up to the Lodge area of the park.

 And then drove through the creeks one last time before heading back into Dixon for dinner.

 We were blessed with a beautiful day, amazing scenery and a breathtaking sunset to end our day! God loves to out-do Himself!!