Halloween Weekend

Halloween weekend was a blast for us!! On Saturday morning, we began tailgating for the Wofford College homecoming game against The Citadel. Since I got degrees from both institutions, I figured I couldn't lose the game!! I am so very glad that Wofford won - after all, that is where my first loyalties lie. We enjoyed a fun day with Becca, Remsen, JR, Adam, Kent, Sara Beth, and many other college friends and their children. The weather was perfect too!!

On Saturday night, Ava Grace went trick-or-treating with her cousins Rebecca, Brittany, and Drew (Brittany's boyfriend) and her Meme. We started out at Publix where Rebecca and Ava Grace played a few games and received some candy. Tim and I were able to go to dinner with his sister Deb and Evan (Tim's sister and her husband) without children since Meme graciously offered to hang out with them and take them trick-or-treating. We had a great dinner and apparently the kiddos had a really fun time too!!

Sunday brought about more trick-or-treating! Ava Grace and I went over to the Rogers' house and neighborhood for the fun. Ava Grace always loves playing with Matthew and Sarah and this time was no different. She was really funny to watch as this was really her first Halloween experience. She run up to each house(literally ran out of her shoes) with the bigger kids and said trick-or-treat each time (along with thank you!). Ava Grace had a blast and it was so funny to watch her!! I think the adults laughed at her as much as I did!! The kiddos ate some yummy snacks at the Rogers' house and they played for a few minutes before we headed home. Our little girl was worn out!! After a and reading 2 stories, she was sound asleep. What a great weekend we had with our family and friends!!!

Last pick of the season

My college roommate, Becca, brought her son, JR, up the mountain to pick apples last Saturday. We had so much fun!! JR and Ava Grace helped us by picking out all kinds of apples. They loved feeding the goats, looking at the llama (thank goodness he didn't spit on us), and riding on the cow train. The cow train was pretty fun I must say. They took old metal barrels, cut out a hole, painted them black and white, and attached a tractor to the front - hence the name, Cow Train. They took us on a ride through the orchards and corn fields. It was really neat!! After our adventure at the apple farm, we grabbed a bite of lunch at Chick-fil-a where Ava Grace and JR munched on their some of their favorite foods and played in the playground (toy room as Ava Grace calls it). It was a short visit, but is always such special time when we get to see them.

We love Fall!!

We love the Fall season in our household!! Of course with Fall, comes lots of football, hay rides, Halloween, Thanksgiving, lots of playing outside, throwing leaves in the air, and playing at the park. Fall seems to be one of our busiest times of year (as if we aren't busy any other time) and is definitely my favorite season!! We have been playing outside a lot since the weather in the mountains has been unseasonably warm. We have also enjoyed Uncle Doug's football games and cheering on the Clemson Tigers (among other teams on Saturdays).

We made it a family affair last Saturday by going to the Clemson game against Maryland. We were very lucky to have dear friends who gave their parking pass to us and we were right outside of the West end zone LITERALLY!! It was awesome!! Ava Grace enjoyed playing in the grass, watching Tiger Walk, playing with her cousin Carson, and cheering on the Tigers during the game. By the end of the 1st quarter, she was able to use her arms to chant C-L-E-M-S-O (with the round about)- N!! It was too cute!! When the crowd yelled and cheered, Ava Grace said "woo hoo". The university retired CJ Spiller's jersey which included a very touching halftime show. For those of you who don't know, the Tiger band always spells out "Tigers" in cursive on the field before the game. So, during the halftime presentation, they spelled out "Spiller" and CJ dotted the "i". Super cool!! The Tigers came away victorious which always brings a smile to our face!!

On Sunday, Ava Grace and I went to Kendall's 3rd birthday party at High Flight Gymnastics. Needless to say, Ava Grace had a fabulous time!! She loves to tumble and being able to run and jump into a foam pit helped make her day!! We had a great time catching up with our friends Willie and Christine (the parents). Ava Grace was not ready to go, but of course it was time. We entertained her next by going to Fall Festival at our church. As you can tell from the pictures, it was another good time for our little girl. Cece came up and was able to go with us too. Ava Grace enjoyed face painting, jumping in the bounce house, fishing for Jesus, sliding down the inflatable slide, hayrides, listening to the bluegrass band, making a hat, and wandering around the pumpkin patch. We ended up spending 2 hours there, but had a blast!!

I am sure there will be more Fall activities to tell about. Stayed tuned to our next adventures!!

Fall Fun

I am very fortunate to be on the year round calendar with school, so I get a 3 week break in September. It is a wonderful time of year to be away from school for a little bit. We definitely took advantage of the beautiful weather in the mountains and in Greenville. Before one of Uncle Doug's football games, Ava Grace, Cece, and I went to Falls Park at the Reedy River in Greenville. We just walked around, watched the ducks, and played in the ampitheater area. The water was too cold to get into even though the temperatures were warm outside. That is ok because the last time we were there, Ava Grace and I slipped on the rocks and nearly landed in the water with our clothes on. Here are a few snapshots from Falls Park:
We also visited the pumkin patch at our church. They delivered over 5,000 pumpkins to be sold this year to benefit our summer youth mission trips. It is amazing how many they sell every year - 5,000 is a lot of pumpkins!! Ava Grace really had a great time picking out a pumpkin this year. She walked around to every area and picked up one and said "I want this one". At the end, we ended up choosing a pumpkin for our table outside and a little pumpkin just for her. Ava Grace placed that one in the kitchen so she could look at it when she eats at the table. We have talked about carving a pumpkin for Halloween, so she is really looking forward to that in a couple of weeks.

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Apple Pickin' Time

It is that time of year again and since we live among a ton of apple orchards, apple picking has become one of our yearly traditions. Cece was at our house this year for the fun. The weather couldn't have been more perfect and fortunately, we went early enough in the morning, that there weren't too many people in the orchards. Ava Grace had a great time riding in the wagon and picking the apples off of the trees. We have a really good crop this year, so many of the apples are huge!! They were pretty difficult to pull off of the tree, but using two hands and all of her strength, Ava Grace managed to get a few. One of the other perks of picking apples at Justus Farms is having a chance to sample (which we have done a lot) their apple cider and apple cider slushies!! YUMMY!! Seriously, what is better than homemade apple cider!!

Beach Girl

I guess the title is not totally true because we didn't really take our "last" trip to the beach for the year, but it was our "last" trip to the actual beach. Ava Grace and I went to visit Cece in September so that we were able to go to the beach one last time for the season (and hang out with her of course). Our trip was really short, but was fun as usual. Here are a few pictures of our beach girl:

Trip to Philly

We had a great trip to Philadelphia!! The weather was perfect - sunny, 75 degrees during the day, and 55 degrees at night (without any humidity). Upon arrival on Friday night, it was only fitting that we experience the true Philly Cheesesteak. I must say...it is all that it is cracked up to be. My preference was the shredded meat with Cheese Whiz on top. Yummy!! I devoured the whole thing!!

We were able to go to a Temple University football game on Saturday. They play at Lincoln Financial Field (where the Eagles play), so it was definitely a treat. What a HUGE stadium!! The Owls won which was really exciting since that put them at 3-0 on the season!! It was a great day filled with fun (which is always the case when sports are involved for

us).

On Sunday, we drove to New Jersey to visit some friends (Tim, Megan, and their boys - Justin, Gavin, and Ryan). Ava Grace had a ball playing with the boys and we enjoyed watching football while eating some yummy homemade vegetable soup and sandwiches for lunch.

The Philadelphia Zoo was also an adventure for us. This is America's First Zoo and a very large one at that. They had animals there I had never heard of before. We spent almost 3 hours there before it was time for an afternoon nap. Our mode of transportation to the zoo was the subway and the trolley. Needless to say, Ava Grace was all eyes when it came to the movement and looking at all of the people boarding each stop.

While in Philadelphia, we also walked to Penn's Landing to

see the Delaware River and the boats. Since the weather is

getting cooler, there wasn't much action, but it was beautiful to look at. We walked most everywhere in the city - the park, to lunch, to supper, to Temple University, to City Hall, etc. It was quite the adventure!!!