(not) seeing red

we did it again - we all wore the same color! i didn't even notice until someone pointed it out to us at the library. oh well. great minds and all. love.

movie in the park - inside out

if you have been reading for long, you know that we love the movies in the park put on by the public library each month in the summer. a church and a few local businesses provide inflatables, hot dogs, pop corn, cotton candy, crafts, games, prizes and balloon animals - all for free! it is a wonderful way to enjoy a summer evening. tonight's movie is inside out.

with lunch and camp and dinner at the park, i got most of the day off today! that was pretty special too.

the craft was so cute and simple - painted plate with character templates to color, cut out and glue on.

maddux got his fill of hot dogs and then some.

me and the love bug.

movie time! i must admit that reclining on a blanket with any number of kids laying/leaning on me is not comfortable at all, but the experience is heavenly. love.

park time

the littles and i were able to spend a lovely afternoon at the park today. the boys were delighted to know that they still remembered how to do some of their favorite things. we love park season! love.

golf day

daddy and papa headed out early for golf while the rest of us enjoyed a relaxed morning playing with daddy and uncle derek's childhood toys and some easter crafts nana picked up for them. 

the kids were really excited to be going to the mall. papa and nana's mall has american girls, lego and disney stores. and nana was feeling generous. :)

once daddy and papa got home we went over to a local school playground to play. while very windy, it was warm enough for a little fun.

but the wind finally won and we headed back to papa and nana's house for the day. love.

preschool hike

the weather has been crazy gorgeous this week - 75 and sunny almost every day - very rare here. one of our friends organized a group picnic lunch and hike in a local state park. we had never been before and i have been wanting to go this fall. it was fantastic! the boys said that it was their favorite park and we had to come back with the rest of our family. i agreed!

maddux and manning were the only boys on our hike, but they didn't mind one bit. 

my little hikers and me (i don't know why i am doing this weird squat in the picture)

maddux thought it was so cool to sit on a log.

i just love these gorgeous fall days! it was wonderful to take a break outside with friends. love.

voting

when i vote, the boys get stickers and then play in the leaves at the park next door. such a gorgeous afternoon!

(on a side note, my neighborhood has a separate tab in the voters' registry. odd, right?)

and i blew off starting dinner so that the big kids could enjoy the day too. i love how they keep near each other even when they have the room to spread out. love.

free around town

i am always dragging everyone around to free activities. the kids love them. matt? not too much. but he loves me and goes along.

the first stop today? building lego kayaks at toys r us to take home. 

next we went over to "arts in the park" put on by the school system. it was super cold, but there was still a good turn out. we made it just in time to look around and listen to a little singing.

we went home for dinner before driving out to a new-to-us park for "family fall fest" and it was still pretty cold. the activities were a little difficult with gloves.

owl puppets

colored mini pumpkins

we went for a preschool appropriate 1/4 mile "hike" while listening to a story about "phillipe" the frog.

 i thought that these horses made from pant legs were pretty cute!

now for a hayride...

we even passed a large deer! we were all pretty shocked to see it so close to the very noisy tractor. 

thanks for loving us, daddy! love.

slowing down outside

the boys were super excited to feed the ducks at the park.

we went for a walk to check out some of the halloween decorations that they couldn't see to their satisfaction from the car.

and then an exploring walk around the house after dinner.