Goodbye Fall!

I can't say we were ready for the snow that hit us this week, but at least we soaked up a lot of fun in the sun during the weeks leading up to it.

We had a very productive garden this fall thanks once again to my dad. We did a fairly good job keeping up with the produce this year (at the expense of other chores, of course).

We were able to sneak in one last visit to our friends' farm, where we pressed some of our apples into fresh cider. The best part is that they have 10 year old girl who is a bit of a mother hen towards Olivia so they had lots of fun together.

Since it's not looking likely that we will be able to have big gatherings for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, my parents treated the kids to outdoor fun on our last nice weekend of October. Here they are getting ready to go go-karting. Next time, we will put Elena behind the boys. She went along at a slow and steady pace, but we didn't think to tell her she should stay to the right so others could pass her. Alex and Eliud were stuck behind her for most of the time. Sam somehow snuck past her right away. It was entertaining at least to see how oblivious she was (between the noise of the go-karts and the wind, she couldn't hear us telling her to let them pass). They all had fun anyway! 

We also made it to Camden park to go hiking twice! Once with Seth's mom and once with my parents. The first time they ended up in the water and were soaking wet for the hike...with the sun out it didn't seem to bother them much. 

Charlie caught (and possible killed) a fish with his bare hands in a creek. It was admittedly not very difficult as the fish was caught in some branches.

The kids were also fortunate to have their school marathon on a day with 80-degree weather. They walked a little under 3 miles around town and then had an obstacle course set up when they got back. 

As we were walking the marathon, the kids were pointing out Trump and Biden signs. Charlie then told me about a sign he saw in our neighborhood that said (in Charlie's words): "No more Bull...and then it said the S-word."

A classmate of his was walking with us and heard him. He gasped and said, "It said stupid?!"It was so sweet. I quickly stopped Charlie from implying it said something else. Unfortunately, our kids have heard it all in our neighborhood already. At least they know not to repeat them (within our earshot at least!)