Former Weekend Fun

We've had some really fun weekends this month but I've been too busy to post all these pictures, so here they are:
A couple of weeks ago, we went to carve pumpkins with our friends at the park. It was freezing! We had the hot chocolate flowing and we had a fire on the grill for marshmallow roasting.
Here are (H) and his best buddy looking for the perfect marshmallow sticks:

Apparently these girls are very impressed with pumpkin guts:

*A* drew the face and we carved it:


One of our movie nights in front of the fire, best spent with popcorn, hot chocolate, jammies, and sleeping bags:


And finally the ever-so-patient (H) who cheers and waits while *A* plays soccer every week:

Pumpkin Patch

Today the kids' school went to a nearby pumpkin patch. I volunteered to drive and we had a blast! The winding drive down the mountain was amazing since the Fall colors are in full-effect right now. The biggest hit of the day was the corn box...like a sand box but filled with corn.


We also explored the corn maze, farm animals, playground, and of course the pumpkin patch.

It was a really fun time and tonight after baths, the kids were sitting at the dinner table by themselves and I heard (H) say to *A*, "Member when we went to the pumpkin patch? Dat was awesome."

Nashvegas, Family Style!

Today we took a day-trip to Nashville. We wanted to have a little mini-vacation since this week is "Reading Week" for ^J^ and we kind of have a break. I still have work and the kids still have school, but he does not have classes so we took the kids out of school and played today. We went to the West side of Nashville and found fancy shops and the Whole Foods and Trader Joes. Then we explored the Parthenon and the kids rolled down the hills in the park. After that we decided to venture out to the country a bit to eat at the Loveless Cafe. Yumminess. The kids loved it too, especially the homemade biscuits and peach preserves. They were pretty tuckered out after that so we headed back home with a quick stop to Target on the way back. It was a really fun day and there was so much we wanted to do but didn't get to, but we tried to focus on doing things we'd never done before this time. Next time we want to do the Purity Dairy tour (free ice cream!), and during the holidays we plan to take the kids to see the Grand Ol' Opry Hotel when it's decorated. It's really nice living this close to a very cool city, too bad I can't seem to remember my camera for fun family events like this...

Not So Tiny Dancer

This week we were able to observe *A*'s dance class for the 1st time this year. She took dance when she was 2.5 before we moved, and last year we had to wait until she was 4 to enter the program here in Sewanee. I am so happy to have her in dance again, it's structured but not competitive, and she really enjoys it. I can see how she could continue in dance if she so desires, her form is really good and she picks things up quickly. This class is really good about mixing technique with silly free-dance time. Here are some shots of both:


And for some reason, at the end of class, all the girls ran and attacked their teacher. That's *A* at the bottom with her legs wrapped around her. Silliness.

Fall Hike

On Sunday we finally had some sunshine so we took advantage of it and hurried home after church to change clothes for a hike. We went to Abbo's Alley, an easy nature/hiking trail on campus, to check out the Fall colors. The leaves are just now starting to change and it seems there is more and more color everyday. I was anxious to try my new camera outside and use all the fun features. The kids had fun picking berries, running down the paths, showing Grandpa John around, and *A* took some pictures of her own. I love that she's a budding photographer; all of her pictures are lined up and centered nicely, she even has a special stance when she takes a shot. Too cute!

Buyer's Remorse? Naaahh!

Well, the new news is that I took the plunge and bought a new camera. Our old camera is not yet fixed and we should know something soon but most likely we will have to pay to get it fixed since I kinda broke it by letting sand get in the lens. Oops.

Anyway, I've wanted a "real" camera for a while and I just couldn't see paying for another point and shoot when what I've wanted all along was a Digital SLR. Soooo, I've been doing lots of research and I finally decided that after ^J^'s weekend o'bartending, I could use some of that money to get the camera I've been wanting all these years! Yahoo! So Happy birthday, anniversary, & Christmas to me for a while!After about an hour of buyers remorse (the car ride home) I started playing with it and quickly realized what I can do with this amazing camera, and I figure I can try and make some of the money back very soon at craft shows and such. BTW, family, you'll be getting pictures for all foreseeable Holidays. :)

I had it this weekend so I was able to get some great shots of the soccer game, Fall leaves, and my Dad's visit. This week we have Parent Watch Day at *A*'s dance class and Halloween is coming soon so I *needed* a camera! I know the blog will be better off now too, so onto the photos!
Some super-silly and super-cute kids helping me test out the camera:


We love Grandpa John!

Go girl!

She played better than ever this week, maybe it's the granparent influence...we're looking forward to Nana and Gramps' visit this weekend to watch her play. :)
That's all for now, more tomorrow of our early Fall colors hike.

Yeah, yeah, yeah...

I know, I'm a bad blogger lately. No pictures, no funny insights, what's the deal? I promise I'll have fun stuff soon...Right now I've been a single mommy all-weekend because ^J^ has been helping out with Sewanee's Homecoming festivities (good money but gone all weekend!) and we're visiting with my Dad who flew in for the weekend so I'm off to wake people up from naps and get outside on what looks like our one sunny day until next weekend...good thing I have a lot of soups planned for dinner this week. It looks like Fall is in full-swing!