Finally Fall!!

What a fun fall we had! We kicked off the cooler-weather season with our very first campout to celebrate our buddy Brax's 5th birthday!! Darci put on an amazing all-boy (read: no girls allowed) spend the night campout in their backyard. All the Daddies came to play with their boys, and I think they had as much fun as the kiddos did.

There was a bonfire to roast marshmallows on, they rode around the yard on the Bad Boy Buggy, and all slept in tents. Our boys had so much fun celebrating Brax's birthday! Here are a few of my favorite pictures...

Uncle Bobber (even though he isn't our uncle, the boys still call him that) somehow managed to be the designated driver of all the kids that were hyped up on CapriSuns!And they played in the "tree house".

Getting their treat bags, which had everything they would need at a campout: a flashlight with their name on it, a bug catcher, a magnifying glass (that was immediately lost), some glow sticks, and lots of other fun treats.The birthday boy with his gummy worm cupcakes...The three amigos showing off their glow sticks right before bed. Everybody taking one last spin on the Bad Boy Buggy before the Daddies zipped them in the tents. ...And here's what happens when you play so hard: (don't you love how he fell asleep with the glow sticks on top of him?!)

Here's what the backyard looked like the morning after...What better way to wake up than to already be with all your favorite friends and start running around outside in your jammies at 5:30 a.m.?
They reallly did have a blast, and months later are STILL talking about how they want to have a no-girls-allowed spend-the-night campout in their backyard. Hate to tell em, but its probably not possible to top that one. Better just leave that to Miss Darci.

A few weeks later the boys' class took a field trip to Gentry's Farm in Franklin to learn all about pumpkins, corn, farm animals and fall. We started off with a picnic, then walked across a little bridge to the farm.

Miss Anna's Pre-K class 2010:First we learned all about corn and listened so politely. And then they got to play in troughs of dried corn kernels
Next stop was the old barn where she taught them all about wheat and flour, and inside were lots of little activity stations for them to play with and learn about.Then we visited an old tobacco barn that is now currently housing a hay-bale maze......that ends with a slide down.Measuring one of my little pumpkins:And then for the hayride. This is Mr. Gentry explaining to all the kids about how the pumpkin starts out as a little yellow flower, and tying it all into God's goodness and faithfulness. Such a sweet object lesson. And then we got to each pick out our own pumpkin.It was one of my favorite field trips!

Anyone who knows us knows that we spend an insane amount of time outside. If the sun is shining we're outside, and sometimes even when it isn't. We are very blessed to have lived in a cul de sac with lots of children, and since we are outside so often we are almost always playing with these friends. Here's most of the cul de sac kids on one random afternoon: Lauren, Allison, Anna Beth, Dalton & Mackenzie. We've gained other friends on our street, and we've said goodbye to one, but we sure have enjoyed having people to play with in the afternoons. That just about wraps up our September. Here's a fun picture of my two little buddies that captures their little spirits just perfectly....Happy Fall, Y'all!