Fun Fall Weekend

Earlier in October, my parents came down for a long weekend visit over Fall Break! They had tons of fun entertaining Lily and Bear on Friday while Josh and I were at work! As a treat, we headed to North Georgia for a fun Saturday day trip.

Our first stop was Hillcrest Orchards for some apple picking and farm fun! This was such a fun place to visit and we will definitely come back again next year! There were lots of play areas for the kids, a wagon ride, apple picking, and lots of yummy (and bad for you) festival food!

Welcome to Hillcrest Orchards

Riding the trikes, with a little help from Granddaddy

Lily loved bouncing on the huge jumping pillow...Bear did not :(

On the wagon ride

We picked some delicious apples - the pickings were slim on the trees since it was late in the season. We were able to buy many more in the apple store!

After spending the morning at the orchard, we headed down the road to Burt's Pumpkin Patch. I've never been to Burt's but have always heard a lot about it. Since we were so close, we decided to stop and look around! The pumpkins were huge - and there were sooo many of them! We took a few pictures and had a snack and then continued down the mountain road!

Our last stop was Amicola Falls...everyone else seemed to have the same idea as us as it was so crowded! We drove to the top of the falls and could hardly find a place to park. It was a beautiful fall day and we spent some time playing outdoors and enjoying our surroundings!

This little boy is becoming "all boy" right before my very eyes! He loves to play in the dirt, throw rocks in the water, and find sticks to use as tools. I'm sure the day is fast approaching when I'm going to find frogs or bugs in his pockets from his outdoor adventures!

Such a fun way to spend a fall weekend!

Kindergarten Bible Presentation

Each year, our church presents the kindergarten students with their very own Bible. I just love the preschool and children's ministry in our church. They do such a good job showing our kids the importance of learning and knowing God's word. Last Sunday morning, Lily and her friends were brought into the sanctuary and presented with their Bibles.

Pretty Smiles!

Love that there are sooo many kindergarteners in our church and love getting to see the friendships Lily is developing with so many of them! I know this foundation will be so important as she gets further in her school years and faces temptations and obstacles in her faith!

Getting her Bible from are wonderful children's minister, Mrs. Lisa

Lily and Mallory checking out each others new Bibles

Roll Tide and Fall Festival

It is finally starting to feel a bit like fall in Georgia - football is on tv, my pumpkins and mums are on the front porch, and festivals are in full swing!

Last Saturday, Lily's school held their annual fall festival! We of course had to support our Crimson Tide since it was a big football Saturday!

The festival is a big fundraiser for the school and it always so much fun. Lily and Bear had their faces painted, played lots of games, and went on a hay ride. Each class decorates a pumpkin and puts together a basket which are then bid on during the festival. We didn't win a basket, but did get to bring home Lily's class pumpkin!

Bear wanted his face painted like a rabbit - he looked soo cute!

Cake Walk

Fishing for treats

Emma, Lily and Bear at the BINGO table

We left the festival and headed to a birthday party and home to watch football! What a great fall Saturday!

Fire Department Field Trip

Bear's class had their annual trip to the Cartersville Fire Department a few weeks ago. The field trip was the day we returned from SC and Granddaddy's funeral, so we were excited that we were able to make it back in time. Bear loves fire trucks and often times will say that he wants to be a fireman when he grows up - this trip is always a great time for him!

The firemen do a great job trying to get the kids comfortable with them, in the event they are ever involved in a fire. They dress up in full uniform and let the kids come up to see that they are really the same person, just with big protective clothes on. Bear loved getting to give the fireman high fives as hard as he could!

They got to climb through the truck and Bear even climbed up into the driver's seat! He was in heaven, pretending to drive the big red engine.

Each child got a fireman's hat and badge to wear - they even had pink hats for the girls!

Bear's precious 3 year old preschool class - it's impossible to get 10 kids to smile all at once for a picture. This is as good as it gets!

Soccer

This fall, Bear is getting his first chance to play an "organized" sport - soccer! He's playing in a Under 4 league that meets each Friday evening for about a hour. They aren't really on a team, but rather break into groups and learn basic skills and fundamentals. It has been the cutest thing ever! Some of the kids are really good - they look like they've been dribbling a soccer ball since they were in the womb. Others are trying so hard to learn, but still don't quite have the motor development to put it all together! And the rest - my sweet Bear included - think it is playtime and love to goof off and see how much attention they can get from the instructors :)

Notice the 5 kids listening well - and Bear doing his own thing!

Sweet boy - he spends more time on the ground than on his feet! His favorite thing to do is stop the ball with his foot and then topple over on the ground.

Here's one drill where he was trying really hard - he ran hard and kicked the ball in the net! Goal!

I'll add more pictures later - this was their first night and they've gotten cute little jerseys since then. They've also been playing a few "games" and it is classic little kids sporting events - kids playing in the grass, kids picking up the ball instead of kicking, and kids tackling each other (again - Bear is in this category and I'm thinking he might be better suited for football). We've had a great time and I think Bear has really enjoyed this "first" sporting experience!