As I wrote about here, my blog has taken a pause due to my first trimester of pregnancy. Something had to go, so this did. When I wasn't doing something necessary, I just wanted/needed to rest. We still continued on with a fun fall of activities, however, and I wanted to capture the memories we made. I found that it was better (most days) to stay busy and distracted, so I tried not canceling anything we had on our calendar. Here is what we've been up to the past two months. Fall is my favorite season, and we have had some sweet moments amidst the hard moments, as well. And, just a note of warning, this post is FULL of pictures! If you can believe it, I tried only picking a few of my favorites from each event. But there's still a lot. I can't help myself. Enjoy!
This fall, we went to Disney on Ice! The most amazing birthday present from our beloved family friend, Tony. Sophia was sick, so my parents offered to stay back with her so I could take the big kids. We ate at an amazing city diner, Little Goat, and all the kids were in awe at the show. I don't know who loved it more, them or me.
We took a field trip with our best homeschool buddies to Brookfield Zoo. Loved it. Sophia is at a precious age for the zoo, waving and calling hello to each animal she saw. Adorable.
Probably my most favorite family activity of every year is the apple orchard. I love everything about it, the cider, the donuts, the apples, the trees, the play area, the store, and, of course, watching my children enjoy life in the beautiful outdoors.
This is our annual, see-how-big-you-are picture! As you can see, the sun was bright.
We went to Michigan and loved going to Grand Rapid's Art Prize festival with some of our most favorite people. We also went to my see my brother's team play baseball at Cornerstone University. Proud big sister watching him thrive in his role as a coach there. AND Micah loved every minute and couldn't take his eyes off the game.
We took a quick trip to Minnesota to attend a reunion with the group of people I traveled abroad with in college to the British Isles. I have stayed in touch with four of the girls through the years, attending each other's weddings, seeing each other's babies, even returning to London together, and other spontaneous visits. So fun to see our kids play together and to get a day to catch up with these precious friends!
We enjoyed Veteran Acres in it autumn beauty.
My niece, Savannah, came over for their first sleepover together, and they loved it all.
A bunch of our family met up at the pumpkin farm! We enjoyed taking a hayride out to pick our own pumpkins!
We tagged along with Zach on a work trip to St. Louis, and the kids and I had a blast at the zoo and the amazing children's museum there. We had a visit with their Auntie Manda, and Zach and I took them to the Arch on our way out of town. We planned to ride it to the top, but it was closed due to the government shutdown! Who knew?! Ironically, the government opened again the next day when we were already back in Illinois, but we still had fun running around the bottom of the arch, enjoying its structure and history!
One of my favorite things EVER is little girls in jeggings and boots. Is there anything cuter??
We got together with the Lyons Family to make lunches for PADS, the homeless ministry our county and church participate in during the winter months. The kids were so invested in helping with the process, and I am thrilled we get the opportunity to do this monthly together.
We took a field trip to Tom's Farm to enjoy it's fall festivities! It was soooo cold that day, but we bundled up and ended up having a fun time!
My mom came over and we got out Ella's porcelain teaset for her first-ever tea party. So sweet.
Lydia and Luke and Jen came over for our little homeschool Halloween party! The kids dressed in costumes, played Bozo buckets, decorated brownie haunted houses, and painted pumpkins. So fun!
We had our last Bread and Wine cooking club. Seriously a highlight of my year. I loved each time we got together and laughed and talked and cooked in each of our kitchens. So so so fun. Love these women. So thankful.
Halloween!! We hosted our 7th annual family Halloween party. Each year, my family and all the cousins have gathered for taco soup, cornbread, cider, and trick-or-treating with all the kids. This year was so fun. I absolutely love my home filled with people and laughter and happy chaos. AND, this year, we trick-or-treated in the rain. Just another way to create memories, right?
We took another field trip to the Shedd Aquarium downtown, and we had a great day exploring all the creatures there!!!
The Lyonses came over for our monthly science project, and this time, we made models of the layers of Earth's atmosphere! So cool!
Well, that's what we've been up to the past couple of months! Glad to be blogging again, and feeling thankful for this stay-at-home-mommy season of my life.
