Punkin Cookies

As part of our Halloween fun, Andrew and I enjoyed reading The Spookiest Halloween Ever!  His favorite part of the book was the Halloween feast- he always pointed out the "punkin cookies". He kept asking me if we could make some. So we did!!

Just couldn't wait . . .

I thought about making the cookies from scratch and decorating them with icing, but

I decided to go the easy route. Ha!

 It worked out perfectly, though! He loved putting the pre-made cookies on the pan - he was so careful. I love the half-eaten one!!

I love his sweet little face - wonder and amazement at the baked cookies! He loved that the "punkins" were big- oh, so yummy!

Virginia Creeper Trail

I absolutely love fall! I love the cooler temperatures, the bright blue skies, and the gorgeous leaves! So, when our friends, Vic and Jenny, invited us to bike the Virginia Creeper Trail with them in mid-October, I could hardly contain my excitement!! 

Andrew, Jonathan, Cade, Lauren, Emma and Yates

Best friends - they led the way all day, and even saw deer crossing the trail!

Sweet girl with her daddy

Me and my little man (with his dum dum lollipop). Isn't the scenery "picture perfect"?! I loved all of the farmhouses and old barns! The colors of the leaves created the most beautiful backdrop!

Seeing these sweet friends so happy together just fills my heart with joy! Lauren and Emma met in their three year old preschool class; Jonathan and Cade were just babies. When they are together it is like they have never been apart (even if it has been weeks or months)!

What a cutie patootie! (no partiality at all)

Enjoying a snack with Daddy

These kids were amazing- especially Yates! He is only five, yet he managed to keep up with all of us all day!! Pretty much with ease, too!!

Isn't this another gorgeous view?! We saw lots of Christmas tree farms, and the colorful leaves

framed them perfectly!

We had originally planned for Joe to rent a bike with a pull behind cart, as we knew 19 miles would be a long way for Andrew to ride on the back of my bike. However, it was a peak weekend for leaves, and there were no more carts for rent (or bikes- Joe had to borrow our neighbor's new bike- thanks Rick).
 I was a little worried, but he did great- even sleeping for about 45 minutes!!

That does not look comfortable at all!

Sweet girls

All smiles, all day!

The only thing keeping those kids out of the river was the cool temperatures and the ice cold water!

I would love to go back in June so they could play in the water! I would also like to see the

 rhodendron in full bloom!

We had such a fun day! Family, friends, the most perfect fall day. . .  I felt so blessed!!

 We stopped for lunch after we had biked a little over half of the trail, at the neatest cafe (I should have taken a picture), and we ate the best chocolate cake with chocolate icing that I have ever had! It was three layers thick, and the slices were huge!! (should have gotten a pic of that, too!) Good thing we were biking- Ha!

We loved spending the day with these dear friends! Thank you so much for inviting us!! 

(I cannot believe I do not have one single picture of Vic or Jenny- shame on me!)

Indoor Water Park

More fun from the week Grayson spent with us in August!

These two cuties had sooooo much fun! True to their personalities, Andrew had more fun on the edge of the fountains, but Grayson was running right through the middle of them!

Could Grayson's smile be any bigger?!

We took buckets, of course, and they had fun filling and dumping them over and over!

They also had fun with the water torpedoes. They would throw them and run to find them in the water!

I had so much fun watching and taking pictures of these two! It was relaxing for me, as the water is shallow and they could just run, play, and be as loud as they wanted! There were only three other children in the pool so we almost had the pool to ourselves.

 I think they ran miles in this pool!

We played for an hour and then had a picnic lunch outside - it was too cold to sit at the lunch tables in the lobby! All of the people coming to the fitness center to exercise commented on how precious they looked!

We went back in and played for almost another hour. Needless to say, after a snack in the car they were sacked out for the ride home!

I know I say it ALL the time, but I just love these two boys! I hope they always enjoy being with one another!!

Andrew's Tricycle

I think these are just too cute for words!

I love his independence (most of the time- ha!). He would get frustrated, but he did not want me to help him at all!

This is my favorite of the two. He is getting better at pedaling and I love that he takes his feet off the pedals! Listen closely and you'll hear him say, "Watch this. Me go down hill." Soooo cute!

It is so fun to watch your children learn new things!

The Play Lodge

Back to the week that I kept Grayson (in August)! Will I ever just have current posts?

I wanted to do some fun things with the boys while Grayson was staying with us, so we headed over to the Play Lodge. It is brand new, and it is such a cute, fun place for little kids to play! On one side they have a town. There is a fire department (complete with a burning building), a hair salon, a doctor's office and a grocery store. Each one has dress up clothes and props for the kids to put their imaginations to work! It all looks so real!

I thought the boys would spend most of their time playing fireman, but boy was I wrong. They loved the grocery store, and that is where they spent most of their time.

Andrew loved the cash register.

Grayson loved collecting the food and carrying it around.

There was also a beautiful castle that took up most of the back wall. Lauren would have loved

this as a little girl!

The boys loved chasing each other through it, stopping to peek at me every now and then!

They also enjoyed the slide. Grayson kept carrying around a barn full of animals, and he loved throwing the barn down the slide. Too funny, but I had to make him stop because it was waaaay too loud!!

They also spent quite a bit of time climbing all over this dog. They took turns sitting on the dog (after some encouragement - ha!).

It didn't take long for them to discover it is even more fun to sit on the dog together. I love watching these two together- they are so cute when they are laughing!

Grayson loved this barn and all of the animals in it! He carried it around for a long time, stopping periodically to play with it. If he wanted to play somewhere, I had to hold it so no one else would take it!

They spent a lot of time on this slide- they most enjoyed climbing all over it . . .

And sliding down head first!

There were lots of different bouncy houses. We will have to go back with Lauren and Jonathan. They would really enjoy this part (although they would love playing with the little guys in all of the other areas too!).

Andrew was hesitant about climbing into this bouncy house, and would not do it by himself. With Grayson leading the way, he was much more willing to try it. They loved it and did it over and over again!

They also loved running and hiding in this one - and climbing in and out!

After a fun filled morning, we headed over to Chick-fil-a for some lunch. They both ate all of their chicken and most of their fries! They had really worked up an appetite! I think this picture is so cute! They were so sweet - just talking about all the fun they had! I just love these boys!!

Happy Monday!

Cute Little Auto Mechanics

A few weeks ago, Grayson's sitter was out of town, so Andrew and I got to enjoy some time with him. They absolutely love to play outside. One of their favorite things to do is "cruise" around in this jeep. Everyone in close proximity has to watch out!

I love how they talk to each other as they are riding around. Wouldn't you love to know what

 they are talking about?

I had forgotten to charge the battery, so it was moving way too slow for them! Grayson got off to check the engine . . .

Andrew was checking the gas . . .

After deciding there was enough gas, Andrew decided to help Grayson with the engine . . .

This is my favorite picture of all! They look like serious auto mechanics!!

They had to take a break from riding the jeep to let it charge, but they had just as much

 fun on the swings. There was lots of laughter!! They kept asking me to push them higher. Their favorite part was me pulling them back and letting them "drop". I had just as much fun as they did! They are such cuties!!

This is what happens when you ask two year old boys to "smile for the camera". Lots of silliness!!

This picture makes me laugh but warms my heart. Andrew loves his little New Testament Bible, and Grayson wanted one as well. They were "reading" before their nap. So precious!!

Sweet little boys!