life lately! OCTOBER outtakes with the GRANDS!
Friday, November 6, 2026
Welcome back to Our Grand Lives!
If life were a movie, October would certainly have its share of memorable scenes!
From the planned adventures to the unexpected moments,
every month seems to bring a few surprises—
and sometimes those are even the moments we remember most.
That’s what makes our October outtakes so much fun to share!
Some may be those picture-perfect highlights,
but other, more seemingly ordinary moments are also part of the story.
Join us Grands as we look back on a month filled with little moments,
happy memories, and a few scenes that made life lately worth watching!
From autumn happenings to special celebrations to everyday adventures,
October gave us plenty to share!
Now, let’s take a closer look at what we Grands have been up to!
October!
Definitely, one of the most beautiful months in Minnesota!
We had lots of outtakes from the past month to celebrate!
As October began, Little P and I enjoyed a walk to admire our neighborhood decorations
and we also got out my collection of Halloween books!
This switch-over always causes much excitement!
We spent October enjoying these stories, over and over again!
Early in the month, I enjoyed a visit from a very good friend
who I went through the elementary education program with at college.
Then she moved to Arizona.
We were so excited to reconnect in person!
You know that friend - you don’t see each other very often,
but you pick up right where you left off every time you see each other...
My husband says “How do you find so much to talk about?”
We enjoyed our Little D’s first kindergarten experience,
her school’s Fun Run Fundraiser!
Then we celebrated with our Little P as her first soccer season finished up!
My older sister celebrated her 70th birthday in October.
(I always say she is the MUCH older sister!)
I helped my nieces pull together a birthday party for her.
She loves wine, so we included a fun wine tasting activity as part of the festivities!
Who can guess the $70 bottle of wine?
We chose a variety of bottles (and kinds) of wine
that went from under $7.00 a bottle all the way up to $70.00 a bottle!
See how we did that with all the 7’s?
In the photo above, we’re missing the one bottle of wine that my niece was bringing
as part of our photo op!
If you can believe it, NO ONE guessed the $70.00 bottle of wine correctly!
In fact, the majority of the guests placed the under $7.00 as the $70.00 bottle!!
Either we are very uneducated wine tasters or there really isn’t much difference!
Happy Birthday to my sister!
When in Minnesota,
a sacred rule seems to be that
you must visit a pumpkin patch on a beautiful fall day!
We had a wonderful time with our Daughter A, SIL C and the Littles!
It was a beautiful day in every way!
Then - the highlight of the month - our Little P turned 3!
I was so lucky to take care of Little P on her actual birthday!
At the end of a play-filled day,
her parents, sister, aunt and uncle and we Grands all celebrated with her!
Little P’s choice of dinner?
McDonald’s Chicken Nugget Happy Meals 😛 and chocolate cake!
How perfect is that?
The next evening we attended Little D’s school carnival where she got to show us around HER school (As a former teacher, I was probably more nosy then I needed to be!)
Then Saturday arrived and it was time to celebrate Little P’s big family party!
Seven grandparents! Aunts, uncles, cousins galore!
What a lucky little 3-year-old our Little P is!
It was a Mary Poppins party!
The kids all sprinkled Little P with a spoonful of sugar
from confetti poppers I had made for this special occasion!
Soooo easy and so fun!
I want to be 3 again!
There were more fall get-togethers and walks with friends.
💜 💜 💜
And then - Halloween fun!
The Not So Scary Nature Trail,
our family’s 7th Annual Boo Bash
and, of course, trick or treating!
One more thing...
In the midst of all the Halloween fun,
we did GET BOOZED once again!
This is our great nephew being entrusted to run the bottle up to our front door!
The adults in our extended family love this fun tradition!
If interested, you can find out more about this favorite grown-up treat here!
Thanks, October,
for all the memorable outtakes you gave us!
October began as September ended for me,
spending time with our Littles in Wisconsin!
Within a few days I was on the road home, where I only had time to grab some fresh underwear and needed groceries. Then Hubby and I headed to the lake for the night so we could tuck our convertible away for the winter. While we were there, we enjoyed a glorious sunset at a nearby wildlife reserve, with a few sandhill cranes making a special appearance as they stopped by for the evening!
Then it was back home so I could attend
my leadership meeting for our weekly bible study one afternoon
and then the actual study the following morning.
We’re studying John - Believe I Am by Megan Fate Marshman this fall.
This study, which takes us through the Gospel of John,
focuses on the seven “I Am” statements made by Jesus in this book of the bible.
Through the study, we come to learn what Jesus wants us to know most about
His character and love for us.
It’s part of the Beautiful Word bible study series.
I’m grateful for the opportunity this study gives me
to share and learn with my WOW friends!
WOW = Women of the Word!
Later that week, Hubby and I had tickets to go to the Fall Artisan Home Show here in the Twin Cities. Such a thoughtful gift from our youngest daughter’s boyfriend!
The homes were gorgeous as were the lots… to see many of them we had to shuttle to the properties! My husband, a retired architect and avid gardener, was inspired, as was I! So many stunning touches everywhere! Here are a few photos from our favorite home on the tour, taken from the Artisan Home Tour website!
One can dream, can’t they?
The next day we were packing up and headed back to the lake.
(Have we mentioned before that we’ve spent the fall living out of a suitcase?)
Soon we were venturing further north…
To one of our favorite spots on earth!
The North Shore of Lake Superior!
You may recall that Hubby and I head to the North Shore every autumn
so we can hike and he can photograph.
In fact, I wrote two posts highlighting our trip last October.
This year did not disappoint!
Over the next several days, we stayed at two wonderful properties,
both right along the shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota..
First at Surfside in Tofte and then at Larsmont Cottages in Two Harbors.
In both places, we had the upper units of each of these buildings
since it was only my husband and I
and we planned to eat out during one meal each day.
The views from both units were spectacular
and we could walk right down to the shoreline!
We enjoyed some memorable meals along the way, too,
and indulged in some delicious homemade pie!
I guess we were too busy savoring our slices of
raspberry rhubarb and blueberry crumb to take any photos!
Trust me! The pie was delicious!
This was our favorite meal, though!
We’d spent all day hiking and then ended up at New Scenic Cafe for a late dinner.
Everything about it was charming!
We were some of the last to leave at 8:15 on a Tuesday night!
A favorite appetizer with a cocktail
and then a bowl of soup with fresh bread and butter!
It doesn’t get much better than this!
And, of course, I’ve saved the best part of our trip til last…
We took in the gorgeous fall colors as we hiked and explored each day!
Highway 61 follows the North Shore of Lake Superior
from Duluth to Grand Portage, Minnesota on the Canadian border.
It is 154 miles long of beauty!
Along the route, there are 8 state parks, many accessible from the highway or nearby
with at least 17 waterfalls that enter Lake Superior.
We even found this hidden waterfall that we’d only read about!
It felt magical!
NOTE: I shared a lot of photos of the North Shore in last year’s posts linked above, so, for the most part I tried to find other sights to highlight here. All these photos were taken with my iphone.
One day, we even experienced the lake’s powerful side when the weather turned.
Huge waves crashed against the rocky shoreline,
creating a spectacular sight!
Now we definitely want to go back
to witness the gales of November some day!
Each experience offered its own kind of beauty, and time and again,
I found myself in awe of God's creation and the incredible beauty all around us!
No doubt… We’ll be back next year!
At the end of the week, we left the North Shore and headed back to the lake!
Our extended family was going to join us as we had work to do!
There were leaves to be raked and boats and docks to be brought in for the season!
Everything looks so forlorn this time of year!
However, one little one was feeling excited!!
Our great niece was anticipating quite the visit from a certain fairy!
After a productive weekend at the lake,
Hubby and I drove home and were there for just two days…
then I was back to Madison and he joined me for the following weekend,
as we were taking care of our Littles while their mom and dad attended a wedding!
We danced, we bounced, we read, we baked!
And, yes!
These Vikings Grands tolerated our little Packer fans!
It’s a good thing they are so cute!
Go Vikes!
The last week of October found us back home
and, guess what?
We stayed put!!!
I had a chance to catch up with dear friends after bible study one day
and, then, before we knew it,
Halloween night arrived and we FaceTimed with our Littles.
Then we got the cutest photos
of our two favorite trick-or treaters!
If you know, you know…
Paw Patrol in the flesh!
Skye, Chase, Marshall and Mayor Humdinger!
We hope everyone had a wonderful October
filled with your own reels of highlights and outtakes along the way!
*
Okay…
October was filled with quite a LOT of outtakes
and this post was longer than usual (which is saying a lot from us)!
Phew!
If you are still reading and/or scrolling, thanks for hanging in there!
We hope you’ll stop back next week
when we’ll have a new post or two for you!
And, of course, we’re always coming up with something to share
If you’d like to learn more - or see what else has been happening there,
please stop by either site - or both!
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Thanks so much for being here!
We always look forward to reading your thoughts and ideas
so please consider leaving a comment at the end of today’s post.
As we look back on October,
we’re reminded that not every memorable moment makes the highlight reel.
Sometimes, it’s the little things
- the everyday happenings, quiet joys, and seemingly ordinary moments -
that end up capturing our hearts and becoming the memories we treasure most.
That’s what our October outtakes are all about!
They may not have all been the biggest happenings of the month,
but each one adds a little something special to our story.
And, remember…
💗 We are delighted to join the following link up parties and blog hops! 💗
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It sounds like you both had such wonderful October events and lots of wonderful family memories made.