Fall-filled Posts Below...

Enjoy ALL of the fall themed posts below!!! Hope you have a happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Party...

Nico had his Pumpkin Party at school on Wednesday. The room was decorated so festively and the kids had some yummy treats to eat and fun games to play.

Nico and his classmates sitting so nicely at the table.

Cheese ball!

Showing Mommy his jack-o-lantern. Look at those dimples (on Nico, not the pumpkin, those are "band-aids" he said)!

Pumpkin Carving...

We carved our pumpkin earlier this week. Nico decided our jack should have one circle eye, one triangle eye and a square nose. Nico was extremely excited to carve our pumpkin. He kept talking about the goop inside...

Here he is doing some preliminary artwork on the pumpkin.

Bring on the goop!

He has his spoon ready to scoop the goop...

...and now the look of total disgust! He didn't get near the thing again once David started pulling the seeds and pulp out...HA! Such a stinker!

(I'll post a picture of the finished product in the Halloween entry.)

Music and Molasses...

Another year, another Music and Molasses Festival. Every year we get together with the family to attend this fun little festival. They have mule cart rides, a "little farmer" area, local arts and crafts and yummy food. It's a fun family tradition that I see happening for many years to come.

La La, Nico, Mommy and Papa on our mule cart ride.

Nico hulling corn like a pro! This seriously occupied him for a long while. I think you can buy these corn cobs in the bird food section of stores...hmmm?!

This would have been impossible without the help of the sweet girl working the booth. After a minute she held the string making it a little easier for him to "grab" it. It was quite hilarious to watch him try to get this apple!

Walden Farms...

A couple of weeks ago Nico, Giggy and I went to a local pumpkin patch called Walden Farms. It was a beautiful fall day...perfect weather for such a fun memory!

There was a pint-size hay maze that was quickly navigated by Nico. He loves doing mazes in activity books, so this was right up his alley.

Nico snuck into the locked toddler area to check out a rock table. We might be recreating this for our backyard since he's quickly outgrowing the turtle sandbox.

My sweet sunshine! I love this picture!

Nico and Giggy in front of the GIANT pumpkin! Yes, it's real!

Nico was fascinated with the water pump.

This was a terribly uncomfortable train ride for mommy!

Such a big boy! And check out those muscles!

Disney World 2011...

Last week we went to DISNEY WORLD!!! We went with David's entire family (just about). His mom and dad, aunt and both sisters and their families. So much fun was had and many great memories were made. The best way to share all of these fun times is to recap below the pictures. Enjoy our journey...

Nico and Emma at the timeshare discussing what they think Disney World is like.

The first night in Orlando, we ate dinner at T-Rex (a dino-themed restaurant). Yummy, but loud. The kids (and kids at heart) enjoyed it for the most part.

Sticker Girl! I'm not sure what this guy's job was at Downtown Disney (worked at the information desk???), but the kids had a great time covering themselves and each other with stickers. Thanks to Nico and Robbie, Emma definitely had the most, which is how she earned the nickname.

Eli, Nico and Woody (made entirely of Legos).

This picture cracks me up. I just had to include it :)

The Monger Family with Mickey Mouse.

Nico and his favorite, Pluto.

Nico and his $10 gelato sundae at Epcot. The adults had "beverages", the kids got ice cream. Fun times!

The Monger's and the "giant gold ball".

Surprise! You're in the picture Paige!!! You tried hard not to be though...or maybe I just stunk:) This was Nico's favorite ride: The Monorail. We could have paid $14 to park and just rode the monorail back and forth!?

Peter Pan trick-or-treating at Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party.

David and Nico's best impression of Peter Pan. Yes, David has on the hat.

This was were Nico sat most of the trip. This was at the fireworks show at Magic Kingdom.

If you know Nico, you know he doesn't sleep in. This was after our first full day at the parks. We had to practically drag him out of bed. David joked that Nico turned into a teenager on the trip!

Lindsey and Nico at The World of Dr. Seuss at Islands of Adventure.

Day 1 of non-stop rainfall. We were so optimistic that it was just a shower and that it would pass over within the hour.

NOPE. We thoughtfully put Nico in his swimsuit for the day thinking that it would quickly dry when the rain stopped and he wouldn't have to walk around in wet clothes. By the time we got to the first stop in the park he was shivering with blue lips. We quickly purchased a beach towel (reasonably priced at only $20!) to wrap him in.

This was in line at the Toy Story ride. 60 minutes waiting wouldn't have been so pleasurable had it not been raining cats and dogs outside. Better to be in here versus out there.

Day 2 of non-stop rainfall. At this point people had nothing to do but laugh. The hard rain and gusty winds made it seem ridiculous for people get out in it. When we got off the monorail water was pooling at the bottom of the exit ramp. Pooling probably isn't the best word since it had a strong current! We were a little more mentally prepared this time (we knew it would rain all day). We also purchased ponchos since our rain jackets were water-logged in the first 20 minutes the day before. This was definitely the better route.

Nico in his cute poncho.

Of course on the day where we think we'll be battling rain all day, the sun comes out. I'm not complaining...just sayin'. Here's my sweet boy on the carousel in the sunshine!

I'm pretty sure David told Nico to "look at mommy" as to demonstrate how to lean in for the picture. I love it all the more!

Well, that was our trip in a nutshell. Hope you enjoyed it!

Story Time...

Nico and I met friends at the downtown library for story time, a picnic lunch and a little bluegrass...gotta love living in Nashville! I used to take Nico to these weekly story times all of the time, but it's been hard to get down there lately. It was nice to revisit it and the kids enjoyed it in a totally different way at this age.

Sweet monkey!

Nico and some of his best buds: Keenan and Finley. These kids will play and play and PLAY!!!

Friends...

We had our great friends, the Williams, come for a visit last weekend. They brought their girls and a good time. We have been friends with these guys since college and our friendship is effortless and easy. We are all perfectly content sitting at the house, watching the kids nicely playing together (most of the time), talking about old times and funny memories, and creating new memories. The weather was perfect while they were here so we took advantage by making our way to Cheekwood Botanical Gardens. They currently have a great train exhibit made of only things you'd find outdoors in the woods or a garden. The kids had a great time chasing the trains around the tracks. We let the kiddos tickle their tootsies in a stream and made a craft...all before lunch. After "rest" time we prepped dinner and watched the game with even more friends. Thanks for the visit! Eagerly waiting for our next visit!

This was not staged.

Nor was this. This photo is so telling of this time in our lives!

Family photo opp. They had these frames set up all over the grounds...great idea!

Little daredevils!

Cue theme song from Andy Griffith...