A Visit to the Farm

It was an absolutely perfect Saturday in October and Jason and I took the girls up to Ellijay to visit some family friends on their farm. Mr. and Mrs. Donath had given us an open invitation to come and visit and we were happy to finally take them up on their offer! We had a great time feeding and petting all the animals, taking a walk around their land to take in all the gorgeous scenery and rocking on the front porch and enjoying the breeze. We finished off our visit with a wonderful meal.

To the Donaths~ thank you for being so hospitable and opening up your home and farm to us! We hope that it won't be another 2 years before we come see you again!

Caitlin has just recently learned most of the farm animals and the noises they make. "E-I-E-I-O" gets sung a lot around our house. Caitlin was a little nervous around the animals at first, but once she warmed up, she was so excited! It was truly a great moment watching Caitlin realize these animals were real and she could actually touch them!

Dolly the goat wanted to get some crackers too!

Ava thought that it was so cool to touch a "real" egg straight from the chickens' pen! She held onto that egg for most of the day and then even took it to school for show and tell on Monday.

The Donaths sent us home with a dozen fresh eggs- they were delicious!!

Stopping for a picture with Daddy...

... and then they are off again! Notice Ava is still holding on to that egg!

Ava loved feeding crackers to the momma goats-

this momma goat got her horns stuck in the wire fence!

Onto feeding Gilbert the donkey!

He loves Krispy Kreme doughnuts, too :)

Bosco

Peaches was Ava's favorite cow... she was so pretty!

Caitlin was enamored by the cows... we stood by this fence for quite a while!

There is nothing like enjoying the fresh air and the sunshine!

Such a big girl in the rocking chair all by herself!

I love this one!

Stopping to smell the roses... or geraniums!

Finally, the ducks!

Love this sweet smile

Picking what looks like the very last batch of apples from the tree

What an amazing day! We can't wait to go back!

Pumpkin Patch Picture Comparison

I love watching how we all change from year to year! Since the Pumpkin Patch is an annual thing, it was easy to look back at pictures from previous years. Enjoy!

The Family Pic

2007

2008

2009

2010

The girls and their Daddy

2007

2008

2009

2010

Me and my Little Pumpkins

2007

2008

2010

The Pumpkin Patch

Aaaah...the pumpkin patch- one my favorite annual fall things to do! This was the 3rd time we have gone to Berry Patch Farms with the Malcoms and I look forward to it every year. I love buying matching shirts for the girls, going on a hayride, finding the perfect pumpkin and taking gorgeous fall family pictures where one will hopefully be good enough to make it onto the Christmas card...

Ha! And then my fantasy stops and reality sets in!! I'm not sure why I build this experience up in my mind every year but this pumpkin patch visit definitely did not go according to plan :)

First of all, it was HOT! No seriously- it was really, really hot! It felt like July in the middle of October! We were all pretty miserable in our jeans, and the kids had on long sleeves. When we went to pick out our pumpkin, we felt like we were baking out in the pumpkin patch in the scorching sun with no shade in sight.

Then, we as parents made an excellent decision and thought that the kids could make it through church and going out to eat and then on to the Pumpkin Patch with a little tiny nap. Smart, right?

Once we got there, Ava wanted her face painted... and instead of choosing a cute little pumpkin, she chose a big scary ghost that took up the whole side of her face dashing all my hopes and dreams of a pretty Christmas card picture.

Exhibit A: The Scary Ghost!

Ava looks like she could fall asleep in the chair if she has to sit there much longer!

Caitlin loved wearing her sunglasses!

Peer pressure is the best... Isa wanted a ghost after Ava got one. Sorry Jen and Jeremy! :)

Caitlin and Daddy

Daddy and Ava enjoying the hayride! At least it was shaded :)

Isa and Mommy

Caitlin wanted to check out and pick up every single pumpkin!

This is the best I could get of all three girls- they wouldn't sit still long enough to get closer together and smile!

Ditto, for this one

This picture makes me laugh because it is really the best one of the bunch

The Malcoms actually got a decent picture~

Welcome baby Bode to our annual pumpkin patch adventure!

So much for pictures with Mommy and her girls...

At least Caitlin is somewhat in the frame :)

After I just let go of all the expectations I had of the Pumpkin Patch, I just had to laugh... it really was funny and one of those priceless parent experiences that everyone has been through. These pictures show a slice of time in our lives where everything is not picture perfect and definitely a lot more realistic than a perfectly posed Christmas card shot... maybe I will end up putting one of these on our Christmas card after all! :)

There's always next year...right guys?

The Best Birthday Ever

I have to give credit, where credit is due... my husband is the best!

He planned the perfect 30th birthday surprise for me- and I was actually surprised! Probably the first time ever that something was completely a surprise- I'm pretty good at picking up on clues and figuring things out. Jason is still mad to this day that I got my nails done and bought a new dress for a dinner that turned into our engagement dinner :)

While we were giving our babysitter last minute instructions, an Escalade with a driver pulled into our driveway! Then instead of heading to the Melting Pot, which I had originally thought was our plan, our driver went to pick up Tony and Alina, my brother and sister-in-law. Then to top things off, the driver headed to Marietta and picked up my best friend Lauri and her boyfriend Marc. No one would tell me where we were headed, but we started on our way towards Atlanta.

We took the most twisted and backwards way to Buckhead and our driver ended up dropping us off in front of The St. Regis for drinks. We had a few delicious cocktails and then walked over to Chops for an even more delicious dinner.

Jason and I have gone to a lot of swanky and cool restaurants in Atlanta. In fact, one of our favorite things to do together is to go try out new restaurants and we try to go to a new one every chance we get. But for our anniversary, we always come back to Chops- it is always and consistently a great meal and a good time. Their spinach salad is the best salad I have ever had. EVER. I love it and have always said I would rather skip the steak and have two portions of their salad!! Yum!

Sitting with two of my favorite boys at the St. Regis

What a hottie... of course, I mean Jason!

The lovely ladies

Family Fun Night...

nothing brings you closer than drinking together :)

Sharing an amazing bottle of wine, creme brulee, SPINACH SALAD, being surrounded by my favorite people that I love the most... what more could I ask for? What a great way to spend the first night of my 30's... I can already tell this will be the best decade of my life yet!

Georgia Tech Homecoming- Go Jackets!!

What is one of my favorite things about the fall?? College football!!

Ok, ok... I'll be honest- I get way more excited about the tailgating part of football than the game itself. But... I have always loved game day and the excitement and fun of tens of thousands of people on campus. My favorite game of the Tech season is Homecoming and I loved sharing this experience with the girls. The fraternity and sorority houses are pomped and decorated, the Wreck Parade is always fun to watch (even though we haven't made it to this in several years- it starts way too early in the morning!!) and there are always good friends coming in town that we haven't seen in years! I LOVE it! I hope that we will be able to continue this tradition each year and I can't wait until next year when hopefully Caitlin will be able to sit through a game and Tech will have a winning season... Go Jackets!

The girls had so much fun playing in the sand with their friends, and our godsons, Christian and Collin~ hopefully, we are looking at the future generation of yellow jackets!

Watching them play together, it's easy to imagine them partying at the Pi Kapp beach party together in about 15 years :)

Tuckered out after a long day in the hot sun... good thing Uncle Tony was there to give Ava a ride through campus!