Autumn Pictures

We had such a fun day together today! Bryce has been gone a ton lately, but today for most of the day he was home with us! The kids had a primary program practice this morning, and Caleb had a soccer game. After that we took a pretty drive in our own backyard to a little family-owned pumpkin patch. Now, in years past we usually go to this amazing farm where they grow tons and tons of pumpkins all around you and its just amazing - but we tried something different this year and it really didn't compare. However, the views were breathtaking! The leaves are the perfect shades of reds, oranges, yellows, with a hint of green still hanging on. We took a hayride and took pictures with the pumpkins (that were picked somewhere and placed by hand in the "pumpkin patch") and had fun holding and petting some farm animals. Then we found a gorgeous driveway with yellow trees overhanging all the way down. We played in leaves and found caterpillars and mooed at some cows. It was so fun! Then we went to a friend's garden and picked out way cooler pumpkins for free! We came home and ate yummy pumpkin pie and just enjoyed being lazy together before Bryce went in to school. The kids just keep saying, "what a good day it was today!" and I would have to agree!

Butter, Snakes, Cheese, Ants, and Ghost Cookies

Despite the current stress that Bryce (and I) have undertaken the last couple of weeks as, we have still managed to recognize some happy goodness that has come of late!

James and I have been having a good time exploring a 3-year-old world while the other kids are at school. Last week, James and I were talking about COWS and we talked about what products come from cows, and it came up that butter comes from cows. We watched a video of a guy making butter in a glass jar and decided to try it out ourselves! It was really fun!
It tasted really really fresh and creamy and, well, buttery. We sampled it on some bread. Annabelle even liked it!



I think we've seen one snake by our house in the last 5 years that we've lived here. Our friends that just moved in were complaining about finding like 3 in the first month that they moved in! I guess we were making too much fun of them, because last week we found this snake right by our front steps! Bryce grabbed it with some tongs and put it in a jar so the kids could all see it after school. It was pretty creepy!




James loves cheese! I got him some cheese for lunch. He couldn't get it into his mouth fast enough! I looked over to see him bending down at table level shoveling the shredded-goodness into his salivating mouth! It didn't occur to him that he might be doing something "unmannerly." Good thing we weren't having company!



Caleb found an ant farm at a yard sale. I think it was free. First clue. It sat in his room for weeks and finally the day arrived that Mom or Mad were able to help him put it together. As it turns out, Mom went shopping, so Dad got to be the helper! To collect ants, they used cheese-its and peanut butter as bait. Within minutes, ants were chowing away at the salty snack. I have no idea how they got the ants in the ant farm because they were working on that task as I was heading out. Actually, I'm not even sure that the ants IN the farm ever really took place because when I got home all i could see were about 7 ants crawling around the OUTSIDE of the ant farm. On my kitchen counter. Maybe they'll try again . . .





On Sunday, we attempted to make a ghostly treat. Here is what they were supposed to look like:


Here is what ours looked like:




Here is the fun we had making them:

U2 Concert!

Bryce took me to a U2 concert last night to celebrate my birthday. We bought tickets from someone on Craigslist the day before - they were WAY up in the nosebleeds, but we were just excited to go! Then, last minute, a friend of Bryce's asked if we were interested in switching him tickets. They had tickets right down on the floor and didn't want to stand the whole time. Well, it was a no-brainer for us! We were right down close and it was so cool to see the band so close! Bono is such a performer and the 360 degree stage was AmAzIng! I've never seen anything like it.

This video is taken from Bryce's camera phone, so its not the greatest, but it shows a little of the craziness we enjoyed!

Fort Sumter

After our walking tour, we thought we could handle some MORE walking, so we dragged the kids 2 more miles up the peninsula to the Fort Sumter National Park boat dock. I thought we were never going to get there! The kids (and the adults!) did awesome, each taking turns riding the stroller and stealing "power treats" from Dad. When we finally arrived at the dock, we found out that the boat was leaving in 2 minutes and that it was the last departure of the day!!! Oh my! Tender mercy, right there. We enjoyed the boat ride to the Fort and learned a lot more about the civil war on the way there. The kids thought the Fort was amazing- we even found spots where projectiles were still encased in the walls of the fort. Pretty cool stuff.













We were all pretty hot and very tired from walking all day. We grabbed some food for the kids along the way while Grandpa went to get the car for us (thanks, Dad!). Then the adults switched off going out to eat. Bryce and I tried "Reds Ice House" for some local seafood and LoVeD every bite. A perfect ending to a busy day.

We had a wonderful trip and are all dragging our feet trying to get back to real life!

Charleston

Ahh, beautiful Charleston. We spent all day Saturday absorbing this beautiful city. We started off the day with a walking tour of historic downtown. I was worried that the kids were going to drag their feet the whole time, but they did GREAT! They had little treasure maps with pictures of things to look for on our walk. They could earn a Charleston Chew by checking off each thing. It kept Lucy and Caleb occupied for quite a while! We loved peeking in on everyone's gardens and were exasperated at how kept up everything looked. Our walking tour ended at the Battery at the far south end of the Peninsula where the kids enjoyed a picnic lunch and climbing on all the cannon balls.

At the battery:



James taking a break

Looking for our items to cross off:

peeking in gardens

cute cobblestone streets and pink houses!!

Tybee Island

The next 3 and half days we spent on the beach on Tybee Island. We rented a beach house right on the beach and it was so nice! It only rained one time, and it only rained for like 20 minutes - we were totally prepared with games to play, so it was ok. The rest of the time the weather was great! Hot (85-90 degrees) and the water was warm. Unfortunately, our beach house was that hot too because the AC stopped working! We got some money back and a free upgrade to a condo on the beach with a swimming pool. It was sooo nice to switch (we were dying!). The kids (needless to say) had a wonderful time just playing in the sand and water. We took a day trip to tour the lighthouse on the beach. The kids practically RAN up all 178 stairs to the top, but James couldn't get down fast enough and had an accident on the way down. Me: "James, did you like the lighthouse?!"
James: "Yeah, but I pooped in it."
Too funny.

Southern Hospitality

We just got back from a much needed vacation! Bryce was so busy all summer that this was the first time we could squeeze in a beach trip this year! We figured if we had to drive 6 hours to a beach somewhere, we might as well go down to Savannah and Charleston to the beach there and make a trip out of it! Mom and Dad Tarwater were able to join us and we had an absolutely wonderful time!


Our first stop was Savannah, Georgia. We stayed in a cute hotel right downtown near Ellis Square. We had dinner at Vinnies and then hit River Street to sample some pralines, gelato, a boat ride on the river, and some southern blues playing live! Love the cobblestone streets! Mom, Dad, Bryce went on a ghost tour together while I took the kids swimming at the hotel. James said, "Mommy, this was so much fun. When I go to bed tonight, I'm going to think about swimming!" So cute.


The next day we hit Paula Dean's "Lady and Sons." I skipped the buffet this time (gasp!) and ordered a meatloaf sandwich (Bryce shared some collard greens with me that are my FAVORITE!). I think Bryce liked his buffet - we were plenty stuffed. The kids went on a carriage ride with Grandpa and Grandma so Bryce and I wouldn't have to share our Paula's (they totally wouldn't appreciate it) and loved seeing Savannah that way. We had to stop by Jones street (one of the prettiest streets in America) and I saw a beautiful mustang parked right there on the road. It was a beautiful street! :)




Forsythe Park was where we took the kids to wait for Gma and Gpa to eat and it was amazing. We loved the spanish moss hanging from the trees, and the kids were happy to see a playground after a long day of walking!