The Wonderful-ness of Fall

We have been keeping busy during this most-enjoyable season of fall. The kids enjoyed another trip to the apple orchard with just Mom this time. They did quite well...but there were two challenges. The first was was maneuvering both Marie and Joey plus a bushel of apples and a small pumpkin up and down the wagon that took to and from the trees. The second was comforting Joey when we had to head back to the car...away from the tractor when we were finished. The boy loves his motorized vehicles.

We have been enjoying the weather as much as we can...visits to the park to play and practice on our roller skates, walks and bike rides along our path, exploring the various shapes and colors of the leaves on the trees surrounding our house, and trips up and down (walking, running, or rolling and mostly with Dad) the hill behind our house. The kids have also been enjoying watching football with Dad. Joey actually goes through something like withdrawal symptoms on Tuesdays and has been known to turn on the TV in the morning in the hopes of finding a football game to watch.

The 2nd week of October we also squeezed in a trip to Ohio/Pittsburgh to visit the Shibata's and celebrate JJ's 3rd birthday. The kids had a GREAT time and still talk about JJ's car party and how they got to play with all the cars and trains. Joey was also pretty impressed with getting to see a fire engine on it's way to "help" during the drive over.

Somewhere in there, we have also squeezed in a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Meinhart, who helped with applesauce and watching the kids while I made a trip to the Chicago area for work, celebrating our 7th wedding anniversary, and life in general. Marie has really been enjoying her weekly organized school-ish activities, which include trips to the library, Atrium, and Liturgy of the Word for children on Sundays. She is definitely going to be ready for "real" school next fall.

It seems that time is flying by and it's hard to believe that November is almost upon us. We continue to be tremendously thankful for all of our many blessings. I'll leave you with one quick quote from Marie at dinner time as we were discussing a recent "baby doctor" appointment.

Marie: "Well, I'll still be happy, even though I was hoping for a baby sister."

Oh...by the way. It's a boy!! :)