Our Favorite Month Is Here!!
October is my favorite month. Hands down. I mean what's not to love about football, cooler temps (sometimes), pumpkins, awesome clothes, boots, parties, Halloween, birthdays and LOTS of visitors??
The first weekend of October we were beyond excited and blessed to host long term friends The Seeligers. Nick and Justin have been best friends since childhood. They have remained close and important part of each others life. The Seeligers have been overseas in Turkey and the Azores for 4 years. They now have 3 kids under 5 and finally got to meet the 2 little ones. It was wild and crazy but the boys were instant best friends!
The very next weekend, 2 very exciting visitors came in to town.. Big Poppa and Gamma!! The boys were thrilled to wake up to find them here. And even more excited that we were going to the pumpkin patch at one of their favorite places.. the Oil Ranch.
Their favorite each time is the hay ride. Pulled behind a tractor with a piece of cow food in hand, they love sitting on the hay and watching for all the friends to come.
The also LOVED the train. Eli chose to sit the caboose with his buddy Big Poppa. Beckett wanted to be closer to the front with Gamma.
And no trip to the ranch is complete without pony rides and baby animals.
Big Poppa and Beckett tried their hand at milking Daisy. Eli wouldn't touch it!
I love that the Oil Ranch had so many fun things for fall! The scarecrows everywhere were so creative. Eli wanted a picture with his favorites.
And the pumpkin picking! Each kiddo got to take home one small pumpkin. Pumpkin heads at the pumpkin patch :-) Every time Eli looks at these he says. Big Poppa is so silly!
And if that wasn't enough fun, the very next weekend the boys and I took our first road trip ever together.. without daddy! Justin's cousins and her sweet kiddos were visiting her mom in Dallas and we made a plan to get together. You may remember them from some of my previous post from their visit and our visit to Arkansas. Hadley turned 4 a week before the boys and Noah turned 2 a week before that. Did I mention that they also adopted a sweet baby girl, Harper who is now 2 months old. We were excited to meet their new addition and spend some time with cousins. Did I mention that my boys LOVE Hadley. Noah they think is a "baby" which he was last time they saw him! Noah, however, considers himself as big as them for sure.
I have never traveled really outside of Houston with the boys by myself in the car. We have flown home but never driven just the three of us. Eli said "daddy's not going? How will we find our way?"
We got there around 8pm and the cousins went crazy having so much fun together.
The next morning was wild getting everyone ready for a fun morning at the Dallas Arboretum.
The Dallas Arboretum was insanely beautiful and perfect for fall. The Arboretum has pumpkin village.. with the "most ginormeous" pumpkins any of our kiddos had ever seen. And they told us that.. many times!
We even begged and pleaded to get all the kiddos in a picture together. This was no small task. Even baby Harper!
After a stop in at the Pumpkin Village we went to the newly opened Children's Garden. There were so many fun interactive gardens and activities.
And after all this gorgeous craziness, we put on our pajamas and headed home to Houston. The boys "earned" a stop at Bucee's on the way home (think Walmart size gas station with awesome stuff and nicest bathrooms ever) and they each chose their favorite beaver. Made for good snuggling in their seats for the rest of the way home.
Guess what mom had to have? Oh yeah. Only the second cup of coffee I have ever drank in my entire life. I WAS EXHAUSTED!
But totally worth it right?? To see family and amazing pumpkins in our favorite month. Yes! I will leave you with photos of some of the most amazing of God's bounty this season.
Happy Fall!!
Love,
The Riley's
The first weekend of October we were beyond excited and blessed to host long term friends The Seeligers. Nick and Justin have been best friends since childhood. They have remained close and important part of each others life. The Seeligers have been overseas in Turkey and the Azores for 4 years. They now have 3 kids under 5 and finally got to meet the 2 little ones. It was wild and crazy but the boys were instant best friends!
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| swimming |
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| late night with glow sticks |
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| dinner! |
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| crazy boy time! |
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| very tired the next day |
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| loved swimming |
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| sweet baby Liam |
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| Beckett -3, Jonah -2, Noah-5, Liam - 8 months, Beckett -3 |
Their favorite each time is the hay ride. Pulled behind a tractor with a piece of cow food in hand, they love sitting on the hay and watching for all the friends to come.
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| cow food |
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| This huge bull loved Big Poppa and Eli. I have never seen Eli scramble in Big Poppa's arms so fast! |
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| Beckett wasn't too sure |
The also LOVED the train. Eli chose to sit the caboose with his buddy Big Poppa. Beckett wanted to be closer to the front with Gamma.
And no trip to the ranch is complete without pony rides and baby animals.
Big Poppa and Beckett tried their hand at milking Daisy. Eli wouldn't touch it!
I love that the Oil Ranch had so many fun things for fall! The scarecrows everywhere were so creative. Eli wanted a picture with his favorites.
And the pumpkin picking! Each kiddo got to take home one small pumpkin. Pumpkin heads at the pumpkin patch :-) Every time Eli looks at these he says. Big Poppa is so silly!
And if that wasn't enough fun, the very next weekend the boys and I took our first road trip ever together.. without daddy! Justin's cousins and her sweet kiddos were visiting her mom in Dallas and we made a plan to get together. You may remember them from some of my previous post from their visit and our visit to Arkansas. Hadley turned 4 a week before the boys and Noah turned 2 a week before that. Did I mention that they also adopted a sweet baby girl, Harper who is now 2 months old. We were excited to meet their new addition and spend some time with cousins. Did I mention that my boys LOVE Hadley. Noah they think is a "baby" which he was last time they saw him! Noah, however, considers himself as big as them for sure.
I have never traveled really outside of Houston with the boys by myself in the car. We have flown home but never driven just the three of us. Eli said "daddy's not going? How will we find our way?"
We got there around 8pm and the cousins went crazy having so much fun together.
The next morning was wild getting everyone ready for a fun morning at the Dallas Arboretum.
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| Do you love Eli's shoes??? |
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| Ready for action!! |
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| Super Mom shannon.. pushing 2, holding ones hand, and pulling a wagon. NBD. |
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| Welcome to pumpkin village |
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| Jack's house |
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| 3 cute pumpkins in a pumpkin house! |
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| running through the hay "maze" |
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| Bippity Bobbity BOO! |
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| Finally caught Noah |
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| Noah - 2, Hadley - 4, Beckett and Eli (almost 4), Harper - 2 months |
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| Checking out the "tadpoles" |
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| Slides!! |
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| Come one baby Noah! Slide with us! |
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| bananas in the incredible edible garden |
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| pomegranate |
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| HUGE cucumbers |
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| fruit and veggie art |
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| Peas |
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| Lily pads |
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| feeling the water |
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| turtle shell |
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| hide behind the acorn |
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| swimming in the "whirpool" |
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| walk in the clouds |
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| jumping so high up |
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| Look how sweet the 3 of them are. |
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| sweet little boy taking it all in |
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| Their favorite activity.. making rivers |
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| A gorgeous day in Dallas on the lake |
Guess what mom had to have? Oh yeah. Only the second cup of coffee I have ever drank in my entire life. I WAS EXHAUSTED!
But totally worth it right?? To see family and amazing pumpkins in our favorite month. Yes! I will leave you with photos of some of the most amazing of God's bounty this season.
Happy Fall!!
Love,
The Riley's