Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Fall Has Arrived!

We are SO glad the summer heat & humidity finally seem to be over.  Now we're trying to spend every spare second outside enjoying this cool weather! We had twelve whole trees at our last house in Mechanicsville, and we thought that was a lot of raking, but we hadn't seen nothin yet. Our new house has about five million trees, and all six of us have a part-time weekend job of leaf removal for the next few weekends. At least it's a fun job, and it involves burning stuff. Yes, we discovered the joys of a burn-barrel and we now have one proudly sitting in our front yard like every redneck family should.

We're taking it easy this week, trying to get well from colds. Charis has a couple of fun field trips coming up, including the Richmond Symphony Orchestra and a trip to Jamestown to tour an archeological dig & museum!
Bethy's new happy place: the turtle sand box.
Raking like a big man.

They've never seen so many leaves!



This outfit is so Hannie

Monkey girl!

We had the children do all the raking...

Tired, Bethy?

"Mom, can we please stop raking?"

Doing fine, children. Keep up the good work.

We'll just stand here and supervise and drink warm beverages. ;)

We can't forget about this ol' boy every now and then.

Sally sent this pic of Sus and John. I couldn't resist!

Sipping hot chocolate with Daddy while Mommy shopped for groceries. 75% of the ceramic mugs survived.

AARRRGH!

We had to be outside on Friday!

Cracker Barrel dinner after some serious yard work.

His cheeks smelled like biscuits all evening... I could have smooched them forever!

Dinner dates :)



Our play room is FREEZING on these chilly mornings!

She wasn't tired at all this particular day. She didn't need to go down for a nap. This is what I found when I checked on them in the playroom!

Monday, October 3, 2016

State Park & Bethy's Birthday

Last week we had a field trip to York River State Park with a big group for a guided hike to learn about the ecosystem and have a picnic lunch on the river. Then this past weekend we got to celebrate Bethany's FOURTH birthday!
Old Bogey is getting slower and showing his age. There's never been a sweeter pup with kids.

The outfit, the expression, everything.
We read Sadako last week and folded paper cranes while learning a little about Japanese culture.

Ranger John was a great guide to have with a group full of kids!

We saw two non-venomous snakes & two turtles. The snakes were very still & let the kids walk right up to them because they were about to shed their skin.

Hannie looking so old!

Hiking





Lunch with friends on the York River

Baby turtle!

Bubs got to ride in the backpack and I was extremely strong and fit - oops - I mean tired and sweaty.

Listening to the rangers

Birthday Fairy all dressed up in her outfit from Aunt Sarah & Uncle Steve

Hailey came to surprise Bethany and the girls were SO excited to see her again.





Figgy snatching some yummy-loves

Snugglin' with Pop!

Baby John isn't a baby anymore! He's toddling all over the place, and he and Than looked like twins in their little shirts.

Sweet friends



Bethy decided to change into her swimsuit for some odd 3-year-old reason :)


Yummy!

Our darlin' curly girl... we love you, your smile, your curiosity & mischief, your style, and your affectionate snuggly personality! You bless us every day!

Cinderella & Prince Charming

We were so glad the Ackers could come too!

Waiting ever-so-patiently for some mac and cheese

It wouldn't be complete without a Pop story

Tickle time

Beautiful Bethany!