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!!