Happy Halloween!

Friday was a beautiful afternoon for us to carve our pumpkin. Matthew really wanted to scoop it all out this year. And Will kept tasting it. Ick. We went with a non-traditional, bumpy, pimply looking pumpkin this year. I think he turned out pretty well. He's Thick Jr.

Today is looking to be a great day. We started with a wonderful morning at church, and after naps we're headed to our church's Festival 31 followed by trick-or-treating with some friends. Happy Halloween, y'all!

Pumpkin Posin'

Yep, more pumpkins. Last week we met Joy, Ava & Henry at our favorite neighborhood pumpkin patch that we've been going to for years now. I looked through my old pictures and I had thought we went when they were little babies, but apparently we started going just before they turned 2.

That's Tyler there on the left. How sweet are they? And how much they've grown, my goodness. Joy & I were both remembering that awesome headband that Ava is wearing.

So these are some of my favorites that we took.

This last one is just awesome. That need to strike a fabulous pose comes from you, right Joy?

It was a great time. We picked out two pumpkins to take home, and one of those we will carve tomorrow! We capped off our morning with lunch at Phil's. Because really...it's right up the street, how could we not?

Josh & Matt

So what about the rest of our time in Dallas? After we arrived on Monday afternoon, we got to see Josh play in a soccer game. He and his little buddies were so cute running around on the field. What was most awesome was Josh had a sweat band on his arm that he would touch (quite frequently) that he claimed gave him superpowers. It must have worked because he was running fast all over that field.

Seriously, how cute is he in his soccer uniform? That soccer mom his hot, too. :)

We got to watch Josh's soccer practice the next day (yes, after our morning at the Fair). I wondered if after observing all this soccer playing if maybe Matt would be interested. Not really. He preferred playing with his brother on the playground and sitting on the sidelines cheering on Josh.

Wednesday morning Alison let Josh play hooky from school, and we took all the boys to the Dallas Arboretum. What a beautiful place! I had never been there before, and I was just blown away. They had an amazing array of fall plants and pumpkins. And I feel like Josh & Matt touched every single pumpkin. And there were lots of them. Those two are so cute when they're together...I mean, best buddies. It's so fun to watch them.

So cute! Will looks SO short. Probably because he is!

Matthew has this thing now where he likes to make silly faces and have me photograph him so he can see it. This is one of his creations. I feel like my camera is full of them.

Here's Will saying, "Cheeeeee!!!"

Me & my kids...

Here the boys said they were sleeping on the pumpkins. I wonder if it's maybe because they woke up at 5 a.m. that morning all excited to play with one another?

Then we found these water spraying frogs that were quite entertaining. Lots of running around. Matt even asked me if he could take off his clothes so he could run through the water. Uh, no.

After a little snack we had to get on the road. We had a wonderfully fun time in Dallas once again! Thank you so much Browns! As if it weren't enough already, I've got more pumpkin patch pictures to post. Next time!

State Fair

We have a little tradition of driving up to Dallas every October to stay with our good friends, The Browns, and enjoy the Texas State Fair along with Joy and her kids. It's so much fun, and I look forward to it every year. This was our third year to take the kids. We added little Henry to our group this year, so I can only imagine the mayhem and money spent here in a couple years when everyone will be wanting to ride, play and eat. Will was less than thrilled to be spending the majority of his fair visit in the stroller, and he voiced his opinion on the matter every now and then. He did taste freedom at times though much to the stress of his mother.

The kids fed the animals in the petting zoo, and that was one place where I let Will roam free. The place was packed and he of course refused to let me hold him or hold his hand while he walked. Thankfully, it was a fairly quick spin through there.

After the animals we stopped for lunch, and both my kids enjoyed some corny dog. So delicious.

By then the rides had opened, and the kids were dying to get on one of them. They stood staring through the gate while they waited for the ride to finish so they could get on.

They started with the motorcycles.

Then moved on to the race cars.

And the bumper cars. Ava was a tad under the height requirement to ride by herself so Joy got to get in there and bump around with the kids!

The kids played some of the games this year too, which was a first. Most popular was the hit a balloon with a dart game. We happened upon a very animated fair employee that did a good job getting the kids excited and applauding their throws. We came home with a big, blue stuffed elephant & a sword for Matthew and a little stuffed red puppy for Will.

Will got to participate in the duck game. He kept grabbing more though. And shoving his arm as far as it would go into the water.

The babies confined to their strollers. I wasn't sure how Will would do going in and out of a stroller all day, but he did really well.

For his fair treat Matt selected a caramel apple. Also at our table being consumed were fried oreos and a fried snickers. All tasty treats!

We gathered our tickets for one last ride...Ava chose the race cars again, and Josh & Matt really wanted to do the huge, tall, wavy slide. I got to ride down with him and it was awesome!! Bumpy and super fast. He loved it. He also loved reading all the rules written on the steps as we climbed up.

Will had thrown a fit that he couldn't go on the slide with us and was chained to the stroller. By the time we got back down he was nearly asleep. He slept until we got to the car and then took a big nap once we got back to Alison's house. Josh & Matt took big naps that afternoon too. It was a gorgeous day, and we had a big time. Every year they can do more and more. Seeing the joy on their faces I swear is like Christmas morning. They love it. Matt's saying his favorite was the race car ride. More on our Dallas visit soon!

ACL Fest

Steven & I went to the Austin City Limits Music Festival on Fri. & Sat. It's probably the coolest thing I do once a year. Although, while I'm there I feel really old, totally un-hip, and like I'm not trying hard enough to look cool. I go for the music, but the people watching is so entertaining. I see all those young people and wonder if I was that petty and obnoxious...probably so. It makes me cringe now...all those pimply teenage boys with their arms wrapped tightly around their little girlfriends sweating profusely while trying to rock out to the music. Oh man. My own two precious little boys won't possibly turn into that, will they??

Friday we saw The Black Keys, Vampire Weekend and The Strokes. Awesome! We got really close at the Vampire Weekend stage. So close I could smell the shampoo in the girl's hair in front of me. We were packed like sardines, and I couldn't see a thing but the set had me dancing in my one square foot of space.

Saturday we quite literally ran into Nicole as we were crossing the park to another stage. Out of how many thousands of people there and we run into each other? So fun. That day we saw Silversun Pickups, Monsters of Folk, a wee bit of Gogol Bordello, Matt & Kim, and Muse.

My favorite of the day was Matt & Kim. They were obviously so excited to be there and the two of them had more energy than probably 100 people put together. That girl killed the drums, too. I was impressed. I danced the whole time, it was great. Steven was even wiggling a bit! :)

Meanwhile, Pam was watching our boys. What an amazing Aunt she is! She was so excited to get to take care of them. She took them to Chick-fil-A one day and on a walk to the park the next. I know they loved playing with her, and I didn't worry one second about them. What a treat that is! I can't thank her enough. This morning Matthew looked at me and said, "We're going to Dallas tomorrow! Momma, Aunt Pam is going to miss us." How true. Your nephews love you, Aunt Pam! And yes, tomorrow we head up to Dallas to stay with Josh Brown and go to the Fair. Excited doesn't even do it justice. Can't wait!

Last Weekend

This past Saturday was a full one. We began the day with Aiden's birthday party. Aiden goes to a different preschool this year, so Matt was thrilled to be reunited with him that morning. Steven was able to join us, and I think he enjoyed getting to see how wild our children are when in a room full of bounce houses. He agreed with me that chasing after Will in that place was exhausting. That kid can't ever get enough.

I went through this obstacle course with Matt more than a few times.

We came home and prepared ourselves for the TX-OU game. I had all manner of chip/dips, chili, corn dogs and cupcakes ready for us to consume while viewing the game. So the food was great, but the game we'd rather forget.

The company was great though. And it was a gorgeous day. We got to see the Hamptons, and that is always a treat. John, being true to the state fair theme, brought fried twinkies.

Such a sweet picture...

Nice one, Nooklyn. Nicole, by the way, had a birthday on Monday and we have had a stellar time celebrating with her.

And this picture is just awesome. You can see Steven & Tim in the background awaiting Zach to throw the football. I like Tyler digging for a winner. Then there's Matt & Ava who are somehow squeezed into the swing and convinced John to push them. All I see is legs. They thought it was hilarious.

So the game wasn't worth remembering, but the day was still great. We had a wonderful weekend. Hope you did too!