Fall Happenings

It's hard to believe that the month of October is pretty much gone. Maybe it's from all my years working retail, but for me, after Halloween is over, it's Christmastime. I can remember working at the mall the week of Halloween and the back rooms of the stores I worked out were unboxing Christmas trees and all the trimmings to transform the store into a Christmas wonderland. For the record, I'm not one of those people who completely ignores the holiday in between, but I do tend to get panicky if I haven't started my Christmas shopping and preparations by the first few weeks in November.
My favorite time of year (Oct-Dec) goes by so fast and all I want to do is just savor the days. Here is a little peak at what we've been up to this fall!


Right before Cameron started school, we took a family vacation to Orlando. We had a great time, but BOY was it so hot- someday when we go back, we will pick a month other than August!

Jon and I are lucky to be able to go out on regular date nights, but it's also such a treat to be able to go on "family" dates. It may be just going to the pizza joint down the road, but the kids think it's so fun to come on "dates" with us. 

"Street art" by Cameron

I'm not sure what it is, but 99% of the time I pull out my camera to take a picture of my kids, they look directly AWAY from the camera the second I tell them to smile. Drives. me. batty. 

Our annual trek to the Kansas State Fair!

My bestie from college just got married and I was honored to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. It was such a beautiful wedding and amazing day!

Cameron has been absolutely loving school this year. A few weeks ago, he was star-of-the-week and among special privileges, he got to take his class pet, "mousie" home for the weekend. Behind him, you can see a snippet of a project we did- installing a flagstone path on the side of our house. I don't have a great picture of it now, but will share one soon! 

                     
We love spending our Saturday mornings with Grandma. Here Cameron was trying to get her to ride scooters with him!

                     
One of the reasons I love the holidays so much is that there are so many fun crafts to be made. In lieu of a fall wreath this year, Cameron and I made a little paper garland for the front door!

Yesterday we (along with about 25 people from our family) went to the pumpkin patch! Afterward, we hosted them all at our house for a chili feed, s'mores, and lots of fall treats. 

This picture needs a bit of work, but I love it. 

Kylie. And all her blonde hair. 

Also, she is so, so tall. Per our growth chart, she is already 3 inches taller than Cameron was on his 3rd birthday, and she doesn't turn 3 until January! 

I love my little family so much. 

Thanks for reading- I hope everyone is enjoying the fall season!

A weekend getaway.

Hello, there! It has been quite awhile!

Well friends, nearly two whole months have passed since I've sat down and typed a few words on the dusty ol' blog. Rather than rewinding and playing catch up, I'll just start by sharing a little weekend-vacation we just got back from.  Before I do that though, I will mention that I finished a big project on my list a few weeks ago- Cameron's twin bed- and it. is. awesome. I will be blogging about that in the coming days because it's way too good not to share (and show off!). 

So anyway, our vacation- we escaped to the beautiful, quiet, small town of Nebraska City. My Grandpa, Aunt and Uncle live there, so we took over their house for a few days and really had a great time. Internet was spotty- so I was completely unplugged from my fifth appendage (aka my iPad) and all my social network addictions. I needed that! 

While there, we drove up to Omaha to visit the Zoo. I've been there several times and of course, it did not disappoint! 

We spent Saturday in Nebraska City, and they had a lot of events going on for Arbor Day that weekend. Arbor Day was actually founded in Nebraska City, so it's no surprise that the city is covered in giant, beautiful trees. It's also home to the Arbor Day Farm, which is a totally rad nature/adventure park. 

There were so many fun things for the kids to do and play with! My one and only complaint was that I wished we had had more time (we were pushing through quickly to get to a parade) to do more of the nature walks and adventure ride. We also got a free tree (seedling) to take home with us. Jon and I are quite geeky about trees (we planted 11 trees at our old house and we've planted 12 at our current) and the outdoors so needless to say we enjoyed the Farm very much! I can't wait to go back.

We were able to catch the parade just in time. The parade had such a small-town "vibe" and the kids really loved it (and came home with a bag full of candy and little toys!). 

We also went to the Arbor Lodge State Park, of which I have many many memories from my teenage years.

We all had the best time- a little vacation is just what our family needed! 

Snippets

Almost a month ago, Jon and I were able to sneak in a little vacation, just ourselves, to Las Vegas. It was a much needed relaxing trip for both of us! We both enjoy Las Vegas because we're able to pack in a lot of activity in 3 days. 

We stayed at the Aria this time, and while it was nice, I personally loved The Encore much more. We had such a great time, but it's so nice to come home to our kids. 

Cameron has been a major sweetheart lately. We had a rough couple of weeks dealing with disobedience at the end of summer- and that wasn't fun for anyone. It makes all the difference when he's loving and kind to his sister. They even ask me to take their picture when they are being sweet and affectionate towards each other. 

I am fighting a major, major urge to put up the Christmas tree. Last year, I had it up a few days before Thanksgiving- and I will likely wait at least until then this year too. Partly, because its still pretty warm here- tomorrow is supposed to be almost 80 degrees!

And on that note, I will be royally ticked if we don't get any snow this year. We didn't get any last year, at all. In all my years of living in Kansas, I can't remember a winter where we didn't get any snow. Cameron was pretty sad to get snow boots and not be able to use them. This year, all Im asking for is one, giant snowstorm that brings several feet of snow. 

We are just a couple of weeks away from having our basement completely, totally finished (for real this time!). Last weekend, we had someone come build shelves (something I am completely and totally capable of doing myself, but I digress) in all of the closets and this weekend, we have someone coming to stain all the shelves, the bar top, and all of the trim. The carpet has been ordered and is ready when the stain and finish are done. We already have a movie line-up going for movie nights in the basement! 

I cannot wait for this space- my own little craft closet/office. Plenty of shelves, and a little desk for my sewing machine and laptop. My craft supplies have been taking over the linen closets for far too long! 

Back from vacation!

Hey everyone! We are back from a great vacation in Hilton Head Island! And, um... I'm back from a blogging vacation I never intended to take. It has been a great summer and it was awesome to end it on the beaches on South Carolina. I'm already ready to reserve the same condo for next year- it was that wonderful.

So, our condo- it was HUGE. Four large bedrooms, four bathrooms, a giant kitchen, dining and living area. I didn't really take any pictures of the condo but here's the fabulous ocean view that we saw right from every room in the condo. We had considered other places (that weren't beach front properties) but I'm so glad we splurged for this one, because when the kids were napping we lounged on our balcony and enjoyed the sound of the waves. We stayed in the Palmetto Dunes Oceanfront Resort area of Hilton Head, in the Wyndham Court Condos.

 View of part of the property from our balcony

 The beaches, while not crystal clear or turquoise waters, were beautiful. We found all sorts of little critters washed up during the low tides.

Brother/sister picture FAIL. I could compose an entire album of these photos. 

Cameron had his first horse ride at the Stables in Sea pines. He loved it even though he wasn't thrilled to pose for a picture! 

Cousins picture at sunrise.

The sunrise- it was so pretty.

 Jon and I went parasailing- a first for both of us! 

                            
                         
                            

We had such a great time relaxing and catching up with Jon's sister and husband, and their 2 girls. It's nice to go on vacation with family- the kids had so much fun getting to know their cousins that they rarely see! We were also able to go for walks and bike rides after the kids went to bed almost every evening, since we all stayed in the same condo.
Hilton Head Island is SUCH a great place for families- but not so much that you couldn't enjoy a relaxing vacation with just a spouse. I could definitely own a bit of real estate there and spend every summer at the beach with my family. Maybe someday!