The Rest of October

The rest of the month, in photos!

I took Eli to the zoo one Friday.  We almost had the place to ourselves, and I loved this time alone with him.  

 We fed the giraffes, which is SO cool!!!

And we could not resist a selfie.  :)

The day was ended with a ride on the carousel.  He looks so BIG!  We used to come to the zoo all the time when he was a baby and toddler- I have so many pictures of little tiny Eli on this same carousel.

Even though most of October was HOT here in Texas, the temperature did not stop the leaves from falling (or the boys from raking!).

More soccer games...

The boys (Eli and Eric, Phil and Timothy and Charlie, and my dad) did their bi-annual camping trip in October and had a great time.  I don't have many pictures, but just a couple...

Swimming!  It was in the 90s for a good chunk of October.  Fortunately, it cooled off for them on the second day.  (And I don't know why this picture won't scoot over- the inconsistency annoys me!  :) )

They loved the nature center (petting a snake).

And they hiked a lot!  (They don't look too happy about it, though!  :) )

Eli lost his first tooth!!  I was so bummed that it happened at school and not when he was with me!  He has been messing with it for MONTHS, so it shocked me that he got in the car that afternoon having lost it!  I love the gap-toothed smiles of kids at this age.

Awana Club at church had its annual fall festival.  Eli was a police man.

A fire truck came so the kids could take a look inside and meet the fire fighters.  I was busy with one of the game booths, so I didn't get to see him get into the fire engine.  I'm super glad a friend snapped this picture for me!

And October ended with CRAZY amounts of rain!  But NOTHING keeps these three boys inside.  They dug up my dad's side yard to make a "lake," built a giant "mountain" of mud along our fence, and took turns swinging on the rope swing from the "mountain" into the "lake."  The amount of dirty laundry has been amazing, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.  I LOVE that these three have each other and that they can always, always find something to keep themselves entertained together outside.  (And I'm thankful for a dad kind enough to allow his grandsons to destroy his property!)

Eli's school had Rodeo Day last week.  In Poetry, Texas, they do Rodeo Day up right!  :)

Eli and a few of his classmates.

Super sunny shot of Eli and his stick horse.

They set up lots of little games for the kids to play- they all had a blast.

Sack races!

On Halloween, we carved a pumpkin (of course).

When he was little he would NOT touch the pumpkin "guts."  Now he quite enjoys it!  :)

We went to a local church's trunk-or-treat and then trick-or-treating around the neighborhood together.  (Charlie Brown, a police man, and a lumberjack.)

He brings the LAW.

November is up next!  I LOVE this time of year!  

September and part of October

I say this every month, I think, but I just can't believe how fast time has flown this year.  It's already mid-October!  SLOW DOWN, time!!!

Some pictures from the past few weeks...

Eli has been playing soccer again this fall, and he loves it!  Two of his church friends are on his team (Ethan and CJ).

Crazy hair night at Awana!

He won for craziest hair in Sparks.  He came home and said, "Mommy!  I was the crazy hair-est!"  :)

I love peeking into his room and seeing things like this (coloring on the floor):

A random shot of Hank, who feels that he has just as much of a right to the comfortable furniture and pillows as we do!

Another room-scene that I love...  Eli coloring at his desk, which was MY desk that my dad built for me as a girl.

We went to the Texas State Fair and took CJ along with us.

Entering the insanity of the Midway:

We rode the ferris wheel- the largest ferris wheel in North America.  

I love this picture, even though it's blurry- they're so happy.

Big Tex, Medium CJ, and Little Eli.  :)

Their soccer team picture- complete with a silly hand-under-the-chin pose for the front row.  :)

PLENTY of this going on all the time:

My mom and sister Kelly and I got to go on a short trip to Maine last week to visit my grandparents.  It was just perfect!  Here are Kelly and me halfway up a hike we took:

The three of us before a really fun dinner out.

 We spent a day at the beach, too.  I love the beach, no matter the weather!

Kelly and I walked 3 miles down to this pier, and 3 miles back (duh).

We were so blessed to be able to see this GORGEOUS sunset one night- it was insane!

We spent a day at the Fryeburg Fair, which was a blast!  Lots of animals...

An excessive amount of eating...

And just an all-around fun and memorable day with these people I love so much!  I'm SO thankful for our time together!

And now, despite the temperature STILL being in the mid-90s, we continue on with our fall!  Have a great day!

End of July and August

And here we are at the tail end of August, amazingly!  Following are a few pictures to wrap up our summer, which was a really good one!

Last day of Sidekicks soccer camp, which he looooooooved:

Heather and the kids came for a visit at the end of July.  It was great to spend lots of time all together!  As always, it's hard to say goodbye.

Plenty of time spent right here:

This picture makes me laugh because it makes Eli look even tinier than he is (he's standing in a hole).

We ended July with a trip to Splash Kingdom with Elizabeth and CJ.  Eli shocked me with his bravery, riding even the tallest, scariest slides!

These two are great friends.

 We took Eli to his first Rodeo.  He loved it!

Eli came with me to work one day a week this summer.  He came up with interesting ways to amuse himself, including making superhero capes for his animals.  :)

We ended the summer on a really great note.  We spent the weekend in Wimberly, Texas (south of Austin) with the Heinzes and my parents.  We ate at the Salt Lick- best BBQ in Texas!

A horrible picture of the three kiddos by the fire pit, with the meat master himself.

They're all three looking in different directions.  :)

I looooooove this sweet kid!

We spent all day Saturday at the Blue Hole, a really neat swimming place on the river in Wimberly.  

Today was the first day of school!  Here's our 2nd grader!  

He's holding up two fingers for 2nd grade.  He was SUPER excited about going back to school.  When I woke him up this morning he said, "My heart is beating so fast!"  He found his friends right away, and we all walked into the first day assembly together.  I gave him a hug goodbye and left him sitting there with his class, looking so big and so small at the same time.  I'm sure all moms can relate to that feeling of simultaneous joy and ache that comes with seeing your child do something independently and bravely...  I'm so thankful to get to be his mom!

We had a fantastic summer, and we're looking forward to what the fall has in store for us.