October Randoms

The girls and I got to talking the other day about shows they used to love when they were little.  I happened to mention that Kayla LOVED Noddy, and my mom said she had seen it on television recently.  We came home and I looked it up.  Sure enough, there was one that we could watch.  It has changed much over the last decade, and I miss the catchy little tune that would play as Noddy was driving around in his car.  I'm sure I didn't think it was so catchy after watching it so many times back in the day. The girls all watched it for a bit, but we all agreed it wasn't that great anymore. :(

We joined Marc and his company for a Corporate 5K in Atlanta.  That was super fun.

The girls made some towel animals one afternoon.

We usually do a fall festival for Halloween night, but this year the girls were invited to trick-or-treat with friends. They had so much fun...

and got a ridiculous amount of candy. 

Hillcrest Orchards

We rushed from our last soccer game up to Ellijay for the girls to clog at Hillcrest Orchards.

We all got in for free (saved us $60) and they even gave us a bushel of apples to take home with us as well as some other yummy goodies.  This is definitely a performance we want to continue to do. 

It turns out my sister was at the orchard at the same time - totally unplanned.  When she saw Powertaps on stage she noticed Kayla up there clogging.  How funny!

Soccer Wrap-Up

And just like that, soccer season is over.  This was Kayla's last year playing with Upward.  I know she will probably help coach next year, but it is crazy to think that she is now done with 11 soccer season with Upward.

Brooke has really enjoyed playing with her friend Ava Kate.  Sometimes you would see them chatting on the field, but they played hard.

Killing time at the field.

Kayla's last soccer practice.

We woke up to light rain on the morning of the last soccer game. We managed to get a really great parking spot, so I watched Brooke's game from here.  It was actually a pretty great view!

Team Galaxy (3rd/4th)

 Team Brazil (5th-8th)

Wedding Time!

Marc and I attended the wedding of a friend's daughter.  She had also babysat our girls a few times, and our girls just loved Miss Shelbi.  It was a beautiful afternoon in Georgia.

Fun on Mondi

Kayla decided it would be fun to climb up on the brick ledge and walk her way around to the garage.

 

I have no idea why she decided to climb out the pantry window...

This is the closest the deer have ever come to the house. 

We had a bonfire to burn all of the leftover scrap lumber from building the house.  That was a chore, but I'm sure glad we just tackled it all at one time.

I thought I'd post a few pictures of the main living areas while they are cleaned up. 

 

 

We (mostly Marc) just planted a bunch of our front landscaping around the house. We have some roses on order to to around the porch, and at least a dozen trees to be planted in the backyard. Phew!

There is always something to do, but we sure are loving our quiet little piece of land!

Fall Activities

St. Augustine

We left Cape Canaveral and headed up the coast to St. Augustine, Florida's oldest permanent settlement.  This is not to be confused with Pensacola, Florida's oldest settlement (says the girl from Pensacola). 

We arrived just before sunset, so we parked at the hotel and let the kids run across the street to the beach.  It has been a while since they have been in the Atlantic Ocean.  We are Gulf lovers at heart.

 

After checking in and getting settled, Marc took the girls to the pool.  A color changing pool is always an added bonus for nighttime swimming. 

The next morning we spent some more time at the beach before having to shower and check out. It was an absolutely gorgeous morning. 

After checking out we headed into historic St. Augustine - another educational day for our family. We met this friendly squirrel who apparently knows which restaurant to hang out in front of.  The workers came out to give it some nuts, and it ate out of their hands. 

And being the not so smart parents, we let our girls hand feed the squirrel too. I did cringe a little each time, if that counts for anything. 

Oh my, was it hot outside. We were hopping from shady spot to shady spot as we toured downtown.

We made our way over to the fort, and walked around the grounds for as long as we could stand the heat. Although we didn't pay to go inside, we did manage to get the girls their stamp for their National Parks book.

After walking around in the heat, we headed over to a tour we had booked.  We took the girls to a chocolate factory where we were able to watch chocolate candy being made.  We had several samples to try, and Brooke was just loving this adventure.  I don't know another kid that likes dark (and super dark) chocolate as much as she does. 

We headed out after the chocolate factory tour to start making our way back to Georgia.  We didn't have any more vacation plans, but we wanted to get a head start on our journey home.  It was a wonderful, and much needed get-away after our season of building a house and moving.