{halloween 2015}

What a fun Halloween!  We went for another theme this year, and all the kids wanted to be superheroes.  Originally the plan was to do Alice in Wonderland, but I couldn't quite convince everyone to go along.  Ryan actually dressed up as the Mad Hatter, and it was awesome!  Kate was Catwoman, Emma was the Black Widow Avenger, Henry was Incredible Hulk, Jack was Batman, and Caroline was Wonder Woman, although she thought she was Batgirl. :)

We were invited over to the McAfee's house for Halloween night along with several other families,and the kids were thrilled.  We all brought soups and rolls, and it was all delicious!  Then we all headed out to go trick-or-treating, and separated into groups of big kid sand little kids.  It was a beautiful night, really the perfect temperature for being outside--a little chilly, but not too cold. 

The neighborhood was a very wealthy one, and the majority of the houses gave out full-sized candy bars.  Their bags and pails were just not big enough to hold all of their loot!  When we got back to the house, they quickly dumped it all out, and started counting and then trading.  You couldn't even see the floor for all of the candy!!!  

The moms talked, the dads watched football, and the kids ate candy and played.  Everyone was happy! Another fun Halloween for the record books! 

{october happenings}

Oh, how I love October!  It comes in a very close second to December, but it's very, very close.  I adore everything about it, and being here in New York has been like a fresh breath of air after being in Texas for the last couple of years. We were here last fall too, but Caroline was in the hospital almost all of September, and some of October, and after that we had to be inside a lot. So...this is really our first fall here, and we're soaking it all up!

I've already shared the fun fall activities we've done, but here are all the extra pictures I've taken over the month--our October happenings!!

Fall leaves!!

My pretty girls...

It's just the two of us, and we have so much fun together!

Henry got to hold this cute baby, and he LOVED every minute of it.

Hanging out at the McAffees' house!  One of our favorite places!

Sunday morning snapshot...

I LOVE this grin!

Our cute little town has this gratitude tree up at our tiny four corners, and everyone gets to write what they're grateful for and leaves them on the tree.  It's even lit up at night!

My cutey-cute girl!

The totally cracked me up!  Henry was channeling Humpty Dumpty on this one!

I stumbled upon this scene, and just had to sneak a picture.

Miss Caroline at our weekly story time!

Rick takes each one of the kids to breakfast all by themselves in the weeks after school starts, and they absolutely love it.  It's hard finding a place with gluten-free breakfasts, especially since she hates eggs, so they decided to get cupcakes! Lucky girl!

Rick has traveled to 13 countries so far this year:  Austria, Hungary, Germany, Turkey, Spain, England, Switzerland, Mexico, Uruguay, China, France, Panama, Brazil, and he still has Russia and South Africa to go.  His passport is so full he needs new pages!

Little Miss Independence right here! She insists on brushing her own hair. And pretty much doing everything herself.

I love our weekly Sunday snapshots. The kids...not so much :)

We had some chilly mornings this month, and one morning when we woke up, Caroline said the ground was "frosted".  We had to take a picture to document it!

Now, on to November!

{pumpkinville}

Going to the pumpkin patch is definitely one of our favorite family fall traditions. (Say that 10 times fast!) When we lived in Michigan, we had our favorites, and we went there year after year.  Texas was hard move for us when it came to fall activities, but we managed to find one that would suffice.  Needless to say, I was thrilled when we moved to upstate New York, because I knew we would be back in pumpkin patch territory! I have not been disappointed--none of us have!

This year we traveled about an hour and a half to a cute little town called Ellicottville. The drive was so scenic, it was lovely! There's usually a lot going on there, all year round. This particular pumpkin patch is nestled right in the mountains, with the most stunning scenery--as soon as we drove up we couldn't wait to park and start looking around!

In addition to pumpkins, they had a bunch of other fun activities, and the kids were so excited about each one of them. We went on a hayride, ate (devoured) the yummies donuts ever, toured the spook house (more than once), conquered the corn maze, and the kids went on the cow train, rode the pedal cars, jumped on a huge bounce pillow, and then did it all again.  It was spectacularly fun, and we've definitely found our new favorite pumpkin patch!

{a perfect weekend in the adirondacks}

It was a hard summer.  We didn't think it was going to be, in fact, with our house being built, we expected it to be a really exciting summer.  However, that all changed when we had to stop building the house, and it took a toll on all of us.

Rick and I decided that we needed a little getaway, one where we could escape the every day craziness and routine, and just focus on our family.  Since the moment we moved here, visiting the Adirondacks was high on our list of things we wanted to do, and it was a natural choice for our trip. I found the cutest resort with adorable cottages on a lake, deep in the Adirondacks, almost to the Vermont border.  It was perfect. We decided on Columbus Day weekend, so we could have an extra day or two, and hopefully enjoy the stunning upstate NY fall a little more.

It took us almost six hours to get there, but it was literally the most beautiful, breathtaking drive I have ever taken. Ever.  We hit the peak of the leaves changing exactly right, and the whole entire way was smothered with the most vibrant colors I could have imagined.  We were heading up into the mountains, and it was just valley after valley of trees and lakes.  About 30 minutes before we got there, we came across a bear that had been run over, and was lying in the middle of the road.  There were cars there, directing traffic away from it, but it really worried the kids, especially Henry.  He asked if we could please turn around and go home, and when we asked him why, he just said "bears". We calmed him down, and assured him that we would be totally safe inside our cottage.

We arrived a little later in the evening, and quickly got all of our things inside the cottage. It was perfection.  Rustic, adorable, and cozy---we couldn't have asked for anything more. The whole back of the main floor was covered in windows from floor to ceiling, two stories high.  Our cottage was right on the lake, so when you looked at the windows, you saw the most beautiful water, surrounded by those same gorgeous trees. I can't even explain it--it was like we were in a movie.  I couldn't believe it, and I was looking right at it! The four littles got to sleep up in a loft, and they were so excited they could hardly stand it.

We went right to sleep, because we were all so tired, but the next morning everyone was up bright and early.  After a breakfast of hot chocolate and pumpkin bread, we were out on the lake, kayaking and canoeing. That's pretty much where you could find us for the next three days. Kate turned out to be the kayaking queen, and went out by herself every single time. There was a stretch when she was out there for three hours! She LOVED it.  I would usually have Caroline and either Jack or Emma with me in my kayak, and Rick took Ryan, Henry, and either Jack or Emma in the canoe.  We traveled all over that lake, and took several excursions to do some exploring on them.  We named them all after the kids, and they loved having their "own" island.

I don't know how we lucked out, but the weather totally and completely cooperated with us. The first day was a little chilly, but the sun was out. The next couple of days were perfection--high 50's and low 60's, with bright sun and blue, blue skies.  The kids shed their hoodies after a little while, and we were basking in the sunshine and glorious surroundings.  In addition to being on the lake, we played games, read books, went exploring, put together puzzles, and went for some adventures.  We had no internet, very little cell service, and no tv or movies.  There were no distractions other than our surroundings and each other, and we haven't had a trip like that in a very long time.  I think that was the best part--just being able to actually enjoy being together with nothing else getting in the way.  I actually read two whole books!  I can't even remember the last time I was able to do that in such a short time period, with everything that we always have going on. It was our little piece of heaven on earth.

All in all, it was the best weekend we've had in a very long time, and we are all looking forward to coming back for a whole week next summer.