Page Farm...A Fall Must!

Since we discovered Page Farm outside Brier Creek, it is our go-to pumpkin patch these days. I love how it feels more like a farm and less like a commercialized pumpkin patch. So I was a little disappointed when we arrived this year to a huge crowd and some more bells and whistles than usual...was our little secret patch not so secret anymore?

The girls still loved the tunnel slide...

 and the corn maze. Collins was the leader of course. :)

But this year, they added a little island in the middle where you climbed to victory after successfully weaving your way through the maze. That was a neat addition because it gave you a great view of the whole farm.

 Then a REALLY slow hayride to the pumpkin patch...

 where we picked out some pretty cute ones.

 But we decided to ditch the return ride on the hayride, we could walk back much faster. But it was a warm day in October so we did have lots of tired, thirsty girls by the time we got back to the car.

Our morning at Page Farm was a little less charming than usual...next time we need to choose our day more carefully and make sure we go when it's cooler. But the girls still had a great time, and we got to stock up on pumpkins.

Next item on the agenda for the day? Stopping on the way home to look for a new car! Woo hoo!

Random Fun Things

So far this Fall has been dominated by busy school weeks and football Saturdays. But there has been a little extra time for some other fun activities like...

birthday parties...

eating Friday dinners out (silliness included)...

visiting our favorite pumpkin patch, Highland Methodist, on the way home from school...

gymnastics carpool...

Fall baking including this delicious apple slab pie that Baba and I made together...

and riding the downtown bus after a fun morning visiting with Poppy and Nana.

  

The Fall is always so busy, but without a doubt is the most fun time of the year!

Collins' First Field Trip...to the Pumpkin Patch!

Is there anything cuter than a field trip to a pumpkin patch? Especially when it's your first-ever kindergarten field trip? I think not!

I jumped on the chance to chaperone this field trip, and Mom and Baba were so nice to come help me out with Addie so I could go.

All five kindergarten classes were going to Ganyard Farms, and the most exciting part about this trip? They got to go on a school bus! This was Collins' first time riding a school bus, and I'm pretty sure that was her favorite part of the morning. I decided to follow the bus from school which turned out to be a mistake because they got lost! We were over 30 minutes late because the buses somehow did not know where they were going!

But we finally made it and were one of MANY schools to visit the pumpkin patch that morning. In other words, it was chaos on that farm!

We had a cute group to chaperone...it was Collins, Katie, Joanna, and Ellie. They ran all over that place and had so much fun together giggling and talking and playing in the corn pit...

going on a hayride...

picking out a pumpkin to take home with them...

weaving their way through the corn maze...

and riding a tractor.

They all brought bag lunches to eat and then posed for a class photo before hitting the buses. She has a cute class, and I'm glad I got to know them and their Moms better. Collins is really making some nice, new friends. It was a good first field trip!

Hurricane Matthew Hits

Well it was certainly a day we'll remember! Hurricane Matthew barreled into North Carolina which was not what the weather forecast predicted. But what started out as a steady rain quickly turned into a torrential downpour, high winds, flooded roads, and a pretty scary situation. 

Good thing we were all busy tailgating for the State vs. Notre Dame game...

Yes, for the biggest game of State's season, a hurricane hit. It was a nasty muddy mess...and also kind of exciting for awhile. A true tailgating first.

Of course, a little weather would not deter my husband from staying up 16 hours and smoking a pig. Collins declared the tailgate "terrible" after we lost a tent to the wind and a pair of shoes to the mud. But what really pushed her over the edge was when she turned her back and Addie stole some of her banana pudding. :)

Once the tent flew away, we realized we had had enough and headed home. We got warm and cozy...and then the power went out. So then we got creative and made "homes" from baby brother's new car seat box and a tablecloth. 

And then did what any group of girls would do when hunkered down riding out a storm...played hair salon. :)

Brian got stranded at Carter Finley when the Tahoe wouldn't start so Donna thankfully rescued him. We were happy to have him home, especially when he made us a delicious BBQ spaghetti with his leftover pig. We "pigged" out over candlelight and told "scary" Halloween stories. It was a pretty great time. 

And then about seven hours after it went off, the power came back on. Whew! We got really lucky with this storm. The next day we assessed the damage in Raleigh, and it was pretty bad. There were huge trees down all over the place and tons of people still did not have power. So glad Matthew was on his way out of NC!

Fun in Davidson

We were so excited to spend a day in Davidson recently and hang out with the Slossons and take in a 'Cats game. The day started with a tailgate party...and ended with a slumber party. I'd say that makes for a pretty good day.

Here are Libby and Collins as festive tailgaters...

Here's Addie participating in "Tailgate on the Turf"- Brian's brainchild to have a special donor tent in the end zone to watch the game up close and personal. It was so cool! I am not going to mention the final score of the game, but will say it was a heartbreaker. Brian puts so much work into the Davidson Gridiron Club, and I hate he had to see them lose like that.

Of course, a three-hour football game cannot hold a 2 and a 5-year-old's attention so we had to find other things to do like swinging...

and making a big mess with ice cream.

Our girls had such a good time playing together that day...

They were bad witches who cast spells on the parents watching the exciting Carolina game...

then wild girls who didn't want to go to bed.

Good thing Jen and I let the Dads take over so we could go out for fine dining! Eating at Kindred under the lights on a cool Fall night was pretty spectacular.

Nobody slept good that night, so thank goodness Brian and Jack inadvertently went and got three dozen doughnuts the next morning so we could coast into the day on a sugar high. We had a great time hanging out with the Slossons!

I had the idea to stop in Asheboro on the way home to show the girls the zoo because Collins didn't remember going years ago and Addie had never been.

We were all pretty fascinated by the polar bears...

and the snuggling gorillas...

and the impressive elephants.

But more than anything, we were all just really tired and hot. Perhaps not the best day to spend four hours walking all over North America and Africa looking at animals. At one point, I looked over at Addie and saw that she was sleeping and bleeding (ran and fell and scraped her knees) at the same time. I knew it was time to wrap things up!

Collins was most excited about seeing the giraffes, but they did not come out to play. Note to self...maybe next time schedule a zoo visit when we are well rested and it's cooler!