Old Baker Farm

One of our favorite Fall activities is the annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch. In years past, we have always visited "The Great Pumpkin Patch" in Hayden, but last year, after our family trip, a friend and I took the kids to "Old Baker Farm" in Harpersville, and I immediately decided that would be the 'patch' of choice from now on! It has such an authentic feel compared to the inflatable bounce houses and store bought pumpkins at The Great Pumpkin Patch. Old Baker Farm has a corn maze, mule driven hay rides through the woods and they ACTUALLY grow pumpkins in their patch. You get to pick them right off of the vine! This year we went with our neighbor's The Meacham's, and we also brought Alli and Nikki along with us. We started the day with breakfast at Cracker Barrel, and then we headed to the Farm. Unfortunately we lost Bobby, Cathy and Hannah early on, but we enjoyed the day doing all they had to offer at the farm. We had a really great day!

October Beach Trip

Ok, I'll be honest. When the Donaldson's invited us to come to the beach in October, I was thrilled to have the chance to get out of town, but I wasn't expecting a true beach experience this late in the year. WRONG. If there had not been a calendar, I would have sworn it was late May, early June. The weather was PERFECT. It was sunny and warm and breezy. Even the ocean was warm enough to swim in! The pool was a little too cold for the adults, but the kids didn't seem to mind. We had SO. MUCH. FUN. It was so relaxing, and our families mesh so well. I was SO thankful to have one last trip to the coast before Garrett arrives... babies and the beach just don't mix well! We're still trying to decide if we are going to invite him to come along on our beach trips his first couple of years of life. :)

Curtis took Hayden down to the beach at sunset one day and had a totally impromptu photo shoot... he got some cute shots!

And a belly shot: 32 weeks!

October already?

It is definitely October, but I am posting this update from the coast of Alabama, and it feels like June out here. We are having a great mini-vacation, but everyone is inside watching football, so I am seizing the opportunity to update the blog.

We haven't been up to too much lately. Last weekend Curtis' sister got married, and we were thrilled to get to see Curtis' brother Josh who just returned from Afghanistan. Later that day, we met up with Elizabeth Ann from eakphotography for a family photo session. So far we just have a few sneak peeks from our session, but we know she got some great shots that day and we can't wait to see the rest!

Curtis was sick in the bed all week with a terrible virus, but he bounced back just in time for our trip to the beach with the Donaldsons (we are here now... I will blog about the trip after it is over!) I have been so busy with work at Neverland's Cove, I have literally been working until the wee hours of the morning to stay caught up. It is definitely overwhelming, but it is very satisfying running a successful business from home. God has blessed me so much! I recently bought a second embroidery machine, and it is fun to see my little business growing! I will be closing for maternity leave at the end of November, so I forsee a pretty busy 6 weeks preparing for the close, as well as the arrival of the newest member of our family! Now 32 weeks along and things are progressing wonderfully! We don't 'technically' have the house ready for Garrett yet, seeing that we are still kind of in tandem between 2 houses, so we are just taking it a day at a time and I am not stressing as much with the preparation as I did with our first. We have everything we need and I know everything will fall into place just the way it should.

Hayden is loving school, and we were SO proud when he came home with this 2 weeks ago:

And I am going to finish this post with a "Fall Survey" my friend Jamie tagged me to do!

1. do you like starbucks? and are you a fan of their seasonal coffees?
Pumpkin Spice Lattes make me happier than a beverage should make a person.

2. how do you decorate and prepare for fall?
We don't do much inside, but outside we usually do some haystacks with pumpkins and mums. "Harvest" is the word that comes to mind... I like to do something that can last until Thanksgiving (not just -straight- Halloween decorations! I think those can get kind of tacky anyways...)

3. will you participate in your college's homecoming activites?
Homecoming usually means football, and I hate football, so NO. Sorry Blazers, I'm not a very good Alumni.

4. what is your fav fall clothing item or accessory?
I am definitely a sweater/jeans/boots kind of gal, but this year I will wear anything that will fit on my body. I have 8 weeks or less left in the pregnancy, so if I grow out of what I already have, it looks like my favorite accessory will be garbage bags, because I am not spending any more money on maternity clothes! :)

5. what was your fav halloween costume as a kid?
A hippie. I think I dressed as a hippie 2 or 3 years straight, because my dad had an awesome pair of bell bottom jeans that he had covered in patches back in the 70's. I seized any opportunity I could to wear them out of the house.

6. do you like halloween/horror movies? do you have a fav?
I'm gonna say no, but secretly yes! I always make Curtis watch scary movies with me, even though I know I will hide my head under the covers and force him to let me sleep with the lights on for weeks.

7. what is your fav fall activity?
Definitely love the yearly trip to the Pumpkin Patch, and trick-or-treating!!

8. what is your favorite fall recipe?

Pumpkin PIE! Yum, I think I want some right now.