Pumpkins

The annual pumpkin carving took place on Friday when the girls had the day off from school. Jeremy was in charge again, and this year again, he hardly had to help Aud! She took charge of her own, and it turned out well. Kate helped at first and then requested her dad take over. 😁

Audrey's pumpkin is her hand holding Sadie's paw, and Kate's is a cat face.

Happy Halloween!

Friends

One perk of working where my girls go to school is getting random pictures sent to me that capture moments of my girls' days. Both girls have made some new friends at school this year, and it is so fun to see these smiles!

Old People

As Audrey has grown, what she says is more and more thoughtful and less childish. Last week she slipped back to her younger self briefly and said, "Mom, I need to give your cell phone number to one of my friends. Her mom is texting birthday invitations and doesn't have your number. I don't get it, though. Why can't they just send out paper invitations like old people do?" I had to text her aunt Coke later and inform her she is now in the "old people" category for life. 

Apple Orchard

After our fun experience with pumpkins, we also decided to visit an apple orchard the following weekend. The weather was gorgeous again, and thankfully, our little black bugs were disappearing. 

The girls had so much fun searching for the perfect apples, getting guidance from their dad on apple picking, and then playing on some of the equipment at the orchard. These warm fall days are fleeting, and it felt good to take advantage of one with some outdoor time.

By far, the best reason for visiting this local orchard is the donuts. We are huge fans of their homemade cherry and apple cider donuts.  We really enjoyed those the next few days!

We love these little ladies and the way they look at these activities through older eyes.

Pumpkin Patch

Our fall weekends so far have been sprinkled with beautiful, warm weather and one of us not feeling 100%. I declared last weekend a weekend we would all be healthy! We decided to visit the pumpkin patch, and the girls were certain they wanted to ride a horse. It was off to Bart's Farm, then!

We spent a lovely afternoon sweating while we picked out pumpkins! The girls enjoyed their horse rides, and we also squeezed in a hay ride. Picking out pumpkins was thoughtful process for the girls, and I found myself getting kind of choked up as I thought of how recently it seems we were taking Aud to her 1st pumpkin patch 9 years ago. Times goes too fast...

Carving will commence in a week, but for now, these lovely pumpkins are decorating our house. Also, in case you were wondering, Kate ended the night with a temp around 100. 😁

Zen Studio

While up in Elkader for Jack's soccer game, we had to do a little shopping, of course. In one store, the girls were asked to try out this area where magical, zen-like things could happen to your body and mind. The girls sat in special chairs, eyes covered with special masks, bodies covered in mats to clear the toxins from their bodies, and arms hugging stuffed animals. They sat that way for 10 minutes, relaxing, only to tell me at the end they felt nothing! I do wonder if Audrey's blurry picture is because of all the toxins leaving her body.😁

Stroller

We are so glad we have hung onto the stroller for as long as we have! Someone has been putting it to good use...