October 1

We had a fun family outing today and visited two new places in town. First we had lunch at Smashburger, a fun new burger place. They were pretty busy, but they did a good job getting people in and out. We got a table right away and our food came quickly. My only complaint was they had the a/c turned way up, and it was freezing. When we walked outside into the 50 degree afternoon, it felt warmer!

After lunch at Smashburger, we headed next door to Cherry Berry, a new self-serve frozen yogurt place. It was yummy and a fun place to hang out. I am sure we will be back there again!
There are all kinds of new things popping up around town. We just found at that a Hy-Vee will be going into the empty buildings in the block behind our house. This is good news for our neighborhood, as those buildings have been sitting empty for a long time. Plus, it's good news for us...a grocery store only a block away! Perfect for all the times when I forget something on my list and don't realize it until I am already fixing dinner.

It also sounds like an outlet mall is going to be going in next to Scheels, which is just down the road from our house. Plus, our regular mall is being remodeled this fall.

And the Panera that we regularly visit is getting a drive thru! Taking two kids into Panera just to get a bagel is usually not worth the trip. But taking two kids through the drive thru to get a bagel is totally worth it!