life lately! the colors of OCTOBER with the GRANDS!
- Our Grand Lives
- 11 hours ago
- 8 min read
Thursday, October 30, 2025
Welcome to this monthly recap of…
October simply has a way
of coloring our days in the most delightful ways!
From the fiery maples to the golden sunsets, every shade of this past month
seems to urge us on to soak in the beauty that surrounded us!
Of course, the colors of October aren’t just found in nature’s canvas -
They’re embedded in the cozy moments, the laughter shared and the memories gathered!
This month’s Life Lately looks back
at many of the colorful moments October brought us!
I love the month of October
but, sadly, it has not treated me well this year!
The month began with me needing a crown on a back tooth! No fun! The next day I woke up with laryngitis which turned into a horrible head cold, which then turned into a sinus infection and then, to cap it all off, it spread to pink eye!
Seriously???
I have been battling this for the entire month!
Please tell me this is not my new normal
as I move into these later decades of life!!
However I was SO thankful to be retired and not worried about teaching or preparing for a substitute each day like I once did!! I was able to spend many days these past weeks resting and cleaning out old photos which was a very fun distraction!
Thankfully, I had plenty of good days to enjoy this beautiful month!
The Not-So-Scary Nature Trail at a local park.
The most exciting part of my month was that our granddaughter, Little P, turned two!
We enjoyed a Bluey-themed party with family at her house.
The theme: Bluey, Bluey, Little P Turns Two-ey!
All on a beautiful fall day!
Though I miss our “baby”,
it is so exciting to see Little P’s personality develop and bloom!
As you might know, Little D, Little P’s 4-year-old sister, loves plays and make-believe fun! We are lucky to have a nonprofit professional theatre nearby, dedicated to children and youth, close by. We attend wonderful plays for a decent cost (and usually only an hour long performance) on a regular basis.
This month I took Little D to see Charlotte’s Web!
I always believe in preparing kids for what they will see, so we read the book beforehand. It was our first time with a chapter book and Little D did great. Since I know the book so well I did edit it and took out many of the slower passages. This was the first nonmusical play we've attended and I was a little worried it wouldn’t hold her attention. As the lights came up at the end of the show, I turned to her and she said “Grammy, this was the best play. I want to go again tomorrow!”
I needn't have worried! As the lights came up at the end of the show, I turned to her and she said “Grammy, this was the best play. I want to go again tomorrow!” 💕
Fun Fact!
Little D is taking a preschool class at this same theater on Saturday mornings
and her Auntie M teaches there as well!
Then, to wrap up the month,
our family celebrated our 6th Annual Boo Bash!
Not much has changed over the years!
Honestly though, the familiarity of it is part of its appeal.
We admired costumes,
the kids trick or treated.
We played our favorite game, Eek! Boo! Snatch!
Boy, this group is competitive!
We did our annual guessing jars,
ate lunch….
and played, talked and laughed!
Interesting Fact!
In the past, we’ve had some colder Boo Bashs,
but the weather has always been perfect and it has never rained!
Despite not feeling the best, so grateful for these October days
that painted our days in so many colors of fun!
October was filled with so many colorful moments in my life…
From a weekend spent with dear friends, to an autumn getaway with my hubby
to cherished time with special Littles and extended family!
October held it all!
The month began with a fun long weekend at our lake place in northwestern Wisconsin! I had invited a group of longtime friends to enjoy the fall season together!
We’ve been friends for 35+ years!
Look at those perms... circa 1992!
Our adventure began when we met up on a windy Thursday afternoon
in beautiful Taylor’s Falls, north of Minneapolis.
Our time in nature was followed by a few hours spent at a nearby winery!
The next day, we hiked, explored and had a picnic lunch
near the St. Louis river!
The colors were glorious at Jay Cooke State Park!
Early on Saturday morning, we went to Crex Meadows,
a restored wetland near our lake home,
to watch the sandhill cranes at sunrise!
October finds this area of Wisconsin as a key staging and resting point for the birds on their journey south for the winter. We watched several hundred cranes take off to begin a new day and as we listened to their trills we wondered what they were saying as they bid adieu to one another!
And, of course, we cooked and baked and sipped and ate!
We did some creative writing and crafting!
We played games and shopped and hot tubbed
AND
we talked and laughed and reminisced and laughed some more!
My friends left by noon on Sunday
and my husband arrived a few hours later!
We spent the afternoon doing laundry and cleaning up
and prepping for the week ahead
BECAUSE…
The next morning we took off for an autumn getaway to
The North Shore of Lake Superior!
We spent three nights and four days exploring
the towns and state parks along the Lake Superior shoreline.
Did you know that there are nine state parks along Highway 61
on Minnesota's North Shore of Lake Superior?
And, there are numerous hiking trails and waterfalls among them, too!
Here’s a few glimpses into the beauty of the North Shore!
It’s one of our favorite places on earth
and, most especially, during the fall season!
We love the North Shore so much,
that we plan to devote a future post to our trip!
Stay tuned!!!
We headed home later that week,
because our oldest, Daughter J, and our granddaughters,
Little L and Little P,
came to stay and play,
spending a long weekend with us while their daddy was elk hunting out west.
We enjoyed lots of ghostly fun and monster moments throughout the weekend,
as we squeezed in a bit of Halloween magic together!
It's always hard to say good-bye to these cuties,
but our hearts were full when the car pulled out of the driveway!
❤️ ❤️ ❤️
We were home for a few days before Hubby and I headed back north…
It was fall clean up weekend at the lake!
I kept the Littles entertained,
while everyone else
brought in the dock and got the pontoon ready for the winter ahead!
We enjoyed monster pasta and mummy pizzas for a crowd
and one more gorgeous sunset at the wetlands
with thousands of sandhill cranes arriving for the night!
We were able to capture a minute of this nightly ritual…
This video highlights these arrivals, which continued for the 45 minutes we were there!
(If you watch, be sure to notice all the cranes already on the ground, and listen to their sound!)
It was fascinating and beautiful!
(It's estimated that 20,000-24,000 cranes pass through this area each fall!)
Finally, we headed home to stay!
We unpacked our suitcases and put them away!
Fun Fact!
We planted that maple tree when our Daughter J (now 32)
turned one year old!
We loved our October adventures but nothing feels like...
Home, Sweet Home!
While October was filled with lots of memorable moments from our personal lives,
it was also a busy month for
Our Grand Lives!
We had 4 new posts this month,
celebrating the autumn season, friendships and Halloween!
Check them out if you’re still on the hunt for seasonal/holiday fun!
sharing ideas you won’t always find anywhere else!
Recent posts, including clingy glue ghosts, pumpkin suncatchers,
graham cracker pumpkins & spooky veggies & dip!
Finally, just in case you find yourself with extra bags of candy
once the trick or treaters have come and gone,
we’re resharing two posts from last year that might come in handy!
It’s always great to have you stop by and take the time
to visit our world!
THANK YOU!
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Tomorrow is Halloween and for those who celebrate,
we wish you all a safe and happy holiday!
The colors of October may fade, but the memories we’ve made will keep their glow! Each day was a brushstroke of moments we'll remember — painted by the season itself.
The colors of October linger in our hearts…
warm, bright, and full of love!
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