October at a glance...

It has been a busy month… Lucky for us the weather has allowed us to spend lots of outdoor fun before the cold sets in.  Lately some of our favorite places to go are grassy fields to run and have some fun imaginative exploration.  Around here October starts out with balloons in the sky and while we did not make it to the Balloon Fiesta this year, we had a lot of fun counting the balloons in the sky and seeing some nearby landings.  J’s school is close to the Fiesta so we had some exciting morning drives taking him there and so far his most highlighted day at school was “the day that a hot air balloon landed in the parking lot”!  He will tell you all about it if you ask him.  Unfortunately I didn’t pull the camera out to take any new pictures of the balloons this year, but I still have the post card I sent you all last year (just so you know the offer still stands to host if you ever want to plan a trip to come see the Fiesta for yourself!). 

 

Another highlight was my birthday and we had a nice get together with friends and neighbors.  I think we had about 10 little kids running around our house that evening… I am not so thrilled to be 32, but we had fun celebrating! 

Yet another wonderful highlight was the weekend spent with Great Grandma Poach and Aunt Nancy.  We hardly ever have out of state visitors so we were all excited to have these guests of honor!  It just so happened to be my mom’s birthday the day that they arrived, so I made arrangements to unwind from our long days at a local Tea Room.  We put our lady-like manners on, sipped on tea and enjoyed the 3 course meal of dainty little savory and sweet treats.   

 Happy Birthday, beautiful Mom!

 We enjoyed your lovely company Grandma and Aunt, come again soon- please!

 

Their visit couldn’t be complete without a trip to the botanical gardens.  Beautiful fall colors were all around us. 

I think the boys kept them busy, what do you think?

 They boys enjoyed getting to know them, they are still talking about our fun weekend.

October wouldn’t be complete without a few trips to the pumpkin patch. 

The hay stack scramble to take a picture... Not too successful! 

 Goat feeding was the best part...

 

On the home front, the adventures are getting bigger for the little guy as his horizons are now a couple of feet higher... He has learned to pull himself up.  He is quite proud of that accomplishment!

I think he had a plan... He managed to tip this box upside and climb, climb, climb.

 He accomplished his goal and then looked around to see who saw him do it.

 a few minutes later it he managed to do this... 

 On a more serious note, the sad news of the passing of Mike's Grandpa has hit us all near and dear this past week.  He was such a kind and generous grandfather/great grandfather to our family, his memories will live on. We love you Pa Pa Freddy!