Pumpkin Picking X2 (and more)

Our play group decided to go pumpkin picking this past Friday at the Hanover Vegetable Farm. Since we had already gone as a family to get pumpkins (11 of them), I didn't let Juliann bring home any more. But she had a lot of fun with the other kids in our play group riding the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch, petting farm animals, and playing in the sandbox full of corn!

Jules and Kendri on the hay ride-they HAD to ride by themselves!

in the pumpkin patch

Jules and Kellan feeding the goats

covering herself in corn

the kids LOVED the corn

Saturday, despite the rain, we headed down to the UVa-Ga. Tech game. Our friends Stephanie and Brad joined us and the ladies decided upon reaching Charlottesville that we weren't going to sit in the rain. We dropped the boys off and headed to Buffalo Wild Wings to get lunch and watch part of the game. It was a very good decision on our part because it POURED for most of the game. We left at half time to do a little shopping and picked up our soaking wet husbands a short time later. Although UVa didn't win, I had a great time in C'ville.

Sunday we were invited to a Halloween party and Juliann had a great time! She was the youngest there but you'd have never known it by the way she was acting! She tried so hard to keep up with the big kids and I just can't wait until next year when she can actually participate in the games. :)

getting ready for the ghost doughnut eating
Jules after her doughnut

I hope everyone has a great Halloween weekend!

3-0!

David is now officially 30! I threw him a surprise party the weekend before his actual birthday and it went off perfectly-well...almost! The day of the party we were running around like crazy people. Not because of the party itself, but because of all of the projects we started. Earlier in the week we had begun converting the guest bedroom into Juliann's big girl room (she'll move into it around Christmas). We started painting and decided to add crown molding like we had done to her nursery. Since David's brother and his fiancee were coming for the weekend the room had to be done! So the the morning of the party we were putting the guest bedroom back together, picking up the house for Peter and Anne, and then we decided to rearrange the bonus room-told you we were crazy!

To make a long story short, David went to Short Pump to try and pick up our new kitchen chairs from Pottery Barn and by the time he got home it was already 6 and I had guests arriving at 6:30!!! One of his co-workers arrived early for the party just as David was getting out of the car. He looked at me and said, "I guess I need to go shower!" :) David was pretty shocked that I had been able to pull off a party without him knowing and other than the botched surprise, the party went great and David was really happy to have so many friends and family to share in his celebration.

Busy Weekend

Last weekend was a crazy one! We had our annual neighborhood yard sale on Saturday morning so we had to get up super early to set-up. Despite the overcast weather and threat of rain, we had a decent turn out and were able to sell our kitchen table. We didn't quite get what we wanted for it but I was glad it was gone. By noon we had cleaned up and were on our way down to Charlottesville for the UVa-Indiana game. It was the first game of the season for us and we were looking forward to tailgating with David's aunt, uncle and cousin. We also ran into our friends Kristen, Josh, and their son Jackson. It was a great first game for us and Jules looked adorable in her little cheerleading uniform. We ended up leaving after the 3rd quarter because UVa was up 44-0 and I wanted to have Little John's for dinner since it was my birthday. :)

Jules, David and Patrick

Jules in her uniform


Jackson, me, Jules, and Kristen

On Sunday we went pumpkin picking with our friends Merrilee and John and their daughter Kendri at the Ashland Berry Farm. It was INSANE! It was like we were at the state fair instead of going to get a pumpkin. I swear all of Hanover County and probably most of Richmond was there. Poor John had to wait in line for ever for us to get on the hayride but it was well worth the wait. The pumpkin patch was unbelievable and I was amazed at how most of the pumpkins were still attached to the vines! The place we went last year had pumpkins just placed in the patch so this was way more fun this year. We got some beautiful pumpkins and Juliann and Kendri had a blast running through the pumpkin patch. Jules also seemed to enjoy playing in the dirt and among the vines more than picking actual pumpkins. There was a ton of other stuff to do at the Berry Farm (animals, moon bounce) but because it was so close to lunch time we opted to head home. David did the all you can carry for $20 and we brought home 11 pumpkins, including 6 little ones for the kids to decorate at playgroup.

Family pic in the pumpkin patch

Jules and KendriDavid with all of our pumpkins!

Hope everyone is having a nice Fall and enjoying their teams football season. :)

Fall

I LOVE the weather outside: sunny and cool but not cold. We've had a bunch of days the past few weeks in the mid 70's and it's absolutely beautiful here. We are enjoying every minute we are able to be outside. Juliann's new favorite word is playground. We must hear it 10 times a day and she's positive anytime we go anywhere that we're going to the playground. It's hard to take a walk around the neighborhood now that she doesn't ask/demand to visit the playground.

Juliann bundled up for a morning walk-it was 52 degrees outside!

We went to the state fair the weekend it opened and had a wonderful time-there is really nothing like a funnel cake at a fair! The new venue is amazing and huge! Juliann enjoyed seeing all the animals, dancing to the music, and was really interested in all of the rides. We were mean parents and told her she was too little because the lines were ridiculous. Maybe next year!

Juliann and Mommy at the state fair

Jules holding a goat at the fair

We've spent some of our time working in and around the yard and have finally landscaped the backyard around the patio and porch. It looks great! David also finished putting in new railings on our front porch (with lots of help from Uncle Bill). Another thing checked off the to-do list! :) We also made it up to Lexington last weekend for a VMI football game and again, the weather was perfect! We're hoping for a repeat this coming weekend. We have our neighborhood annual yard sale in the morning. David will be selling our "junk" while I walk around and buy "new" stuff for Juliann. Then we're heading to Charlottesville for some tailgating and our first home game of the season. We're hoping UVa will actually win a home game this year.

Jules and Mommy tailgating at the VMI game

The new picture above is a sneak peak at Juliann's Halloween costume. We debated between a chicken (or it might have been a duck-who knows) and the bee. After sending the pictures to various family members the final vote was in favor of the bee-my favorite! She looks so cute and is growing up so quickly! I can't believe in 4 months I'm going to have a 2 year old! It's amazing how quickly she has grown up and how fast her vocabulary has expanded. She's like a little parrot-we have to be very careful what we say in front of her now. Her new favorites are singing the ABC's, counting to 10 and singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. She's also using 3 word sentences. For example, this morning I asked her what she wanted to eat (although we almost always give her yogurt) and she looked at me and said, "I want yogurt." She amazes me every day!

Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the fall weather!