October Happenings

We had a busy October with lots of trips and festivals. We took a camping trip to Anastasia State Park which is right on the beach in St Augustine. We had a nice time kayaking in the inlet, biking around the campground and spending time at the beach. Charles bought boogie boards for him & Cameron and they had fun playing in the waves with them. Olivia on the other hand still does not like the ocean & won't go anywhere near it.

Cameron catching a wave!

Olivia playing in the sand & eating snacks :)

Celebrating the birthday of our wonderful babysitter, Shelby (the blonde in the middle).

Playing at the Pickin' Patch, the one and only pumpkin patch in Marion County where the pumpkins are actually grown & not shipped in. Cameron had fun cutting the pumpkin off the vine. They also had a hay ride around the farm & hay mounds to climb on.

Ready to cut!

Olivia being a helper too :)

Had to post a photo of the beautiful headboard Charles made me for our bedroom. He is so talented!

Playing at Coon Hollow Corn Maze- they open for a few weekends in October & have lots of fun activities for the kids. 

Here's Cameron & Olivia going down the big slide

Loved playing on the old farm equipment

Barrel rides, pulled by a tractor. Olivia loved this & wanted to go 3 more times, by herself! "No mommy, just me!"

Of course the corn tubs are always a hit!

A belly full of corn :)

Hay ride out to the cow field to feed the cows

Charles' 40th Birthday Party

On October 10th, 2013, Charles turned 40! I decided to celebrate this milestone with a big party with our friends & family. We had the party the weekend prior to his birthday since he was taking a motorcycle trip with some friends to Barber Motor Sports in Birmingham, Alabama. He left early on his birthday (Thursday) & came back Sunday night. (It was a thousand miles round trip.) He had a great time & really enjoyed watching the vintage motorcycle races & touring the motorcycle & race car museum. His brother, Robert, also made the trip.

I had an event planner, Melissa Galloway, help with the party & after talking to her we decided to use his love of his BMW racecar as the theme for the party. She created the invitations & all the decorations. We had food from one of our favorite restaurants & a DJ which made the night really fun. We had about 40 people at the party & we all had a great time. Happy 40th Birthday Charles! 

The invitations

The party was held around the pool at our community clubhouse- here's some of the decorations Melissa put around the pool.

The drink station 

Food tables

Some photos of our friends who were able to attend

Me and the birthday boy :)

Charles and I with his motorcycle friend, Joe

Dancing to our first dance song from our wedding

The cake

Make a wish!

Olivia update

Here's some of the activities Olivia has been up to during August & September-

Olivia loves to ride her bike! She tries hard to keep up with Cameron :)

She loves purses, especially a few old ones of mine that I have given to her. Here she is showing off her phone (an old one of Charles') 

She has been going to mommy & me gymnastics since she was 20 months old and just recently got moved up into the Tumblebuddies class where she goes out by herself. She is the youngest in the class but does very well listening & following directions.

Photo is a little blurry but it shows Olivia hanging upside down on the bar

Walking the beam

Showing off her new leotard I bought her for gymnastics

In September Olivia started her first ballet class which is held at the same location as her gymnastics class. She really does great in that class also & loves it! I can't get over how cute she looks in her ballet outfit!

Labor Day trip to the Cabin

We took a short trip to the cabin over Labor Day weekend & got to enjoy some apple picking, yummy food made on the fire, celebrating Cameron's official birthday and tubing down the river. It was another great trip to the cabin!

This was our second trip to Mercier Orchards in Blue Ridge, GA but our first time picking apples. The kids loved it!

This is us on the wagon ride to the orchards.

Picking apples

Yummy!

Lots of apples! I made apple dumplings and apple pie :)

Our cabin trips always include spending some time in downtown Blue Ridge & visiting an ice cream shop there.

Snapping green beans to cook on the fire- so delicious! Charles does a lot of the cooking at the cabin & loves to cook things over the firepit. Food always turns out so good!

Ribs :)

Opening his gifts- a Kindle and some Disney buses

Not at the cabin but here's Cameron celebrating his birthday in his classroom 

Olivia being silly while I was folding clothes

Our picnic lunch after tubing. Charles & Olivia went on one tube together (she was scared of some of the rapids) and Cameron & I had our own tubes. Cameron did great & loved it