Pumpkin Mania

Pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin pies, pumpkin cookies and cakes.  Everywhere we look, there is pumpkin mania!  Last week we went to a small church pumpkin patch. It was perfect!  The kids got to play and then choose a few pumpkins to take home with us.

Four of my very favorite pumpkins.

This kid is growing like crazy!  The scarecrow measured him over 5 ft for sure.

They even had some miniature golf, which Jackson loved.

You can just see it on their faces.  We love fall.

Pumpkins in hand.  Smiles all around.  Success!

Then yesterday, the littlest one and I went to the Dallas Arboretum with Mandy and Matthew.

It's my favorite time of the year there.

There are so many giant pumpkins!

It was a brisk 66 degrees and these kids were ready to explore.

Cameron was so impressed that she even found the perfect spot to sit down and smile for my camera.

The entrance to the pumpkin patch was filled with strollers and there were pumpkins as far as we could see!

There's something so entertaining about climbing on 22 pumpkins.  

Wizard of Oz was the theme this year and they did an outstanding job executing it.

We saw the tin man and the cowardly lion...

and Auntie Em's House was there, too.

Matthew loved the scarecrow the most!

Cami preferred the colorful horses.

The Land of Oz was so cool!

These two even got to sit inside a carriage. 

Cheers to good friends...

young and old...

and to being silly!

Let's Go to the Zoo!

Cameron woke up yesterday morning with a plan.  She came downstairs with a solid case of bedhead and very drowsily asked, "do we have any plans today?"  When I told her we didn't, she said, "well, I'd really like to go to the Dallas Zoo today."  So we made it happen!

First stop, the penguins.  She's almost as tall as the emperor penguin.

These little guys were waddling around all over the place and so cute to watch.

Some of my very favorites were up next, though.  There was even a baby elephant this time!

It was such a gorgeous day to be outside.  Cami and Gigi both agreed.

Next up, the giraffes.  And guess what?  There was baby giraffe! 
Y'all.  One of the cutest baby animals ever.

We bought some giraffe food and Betty the Giraffe immediately came over to see us.

Cami fed her first...

then told Gigi to "be brave" and do it, too.  Gigi had never fed one before--so cool!

That big smile says it all.

Then my little monkey and I went over to see the ostriches, zebras and guineas.

After that, we got to see the daddy lion, along with the mama and baby cub. 
Such impressive animals.

"Hey mom, look at me!"

The gorillas were after that and there were so many roaming around. 
This big silverback was the first one that we saw.

We found this guy right up at the glass...

not so sure he wanted to be our friend.  Look at that stare!

As much as this kid liked seeing the real gorillas, playing with the statue was just as entertaining.

After lunch, we headed over to the brand new Hippo Hut.

It was fantastic and at least 100% improvement from the previous hippo exhibit.

More statue happiness.  This girl simply enjoys life.

We ended our afternoon with a train ride around the zoo.  Such a fabulous, impromptu day. 
We should have more of those before she goes to Kindergarten!

Bonus Lake Day

There was no football practice on Friday night.  No games on Saturday, either.  And, not even a birthday party to speak of that day.  Crazy!  Did we just sit home and watch TV?  Not a chance.  We drove up to the lake and were giddy with excitement for a bonus day on the water!

One of my favorite parts has always been watching the sun rise over the lake.  These beautiful girls enjoyed it with me.  I wish I looked "camera ready" at 7:15 am, like they do!

We logged almost four hours on the tube later that day.  I'll count that as a win.  The water was a  chilly 74 degrees, but it didn't deter these kids from having fun.  

Bumblebees are Back!

Not full time, but they were sure back in full force this past weekend!

These four girls entered a 3 v 3 tournament in Frisco.  It was so good seeing them back in their yellow and black!

The first game was a cinch and our girls won handily--15 to 0!

Coach Jared was so proud!

They won the second game that afternoon.
The next morning didn't go quite as well, and they lost 8-4.  Bummer.
Guess who came back with a fervor, though?  

Yep!  These girls showed up to win in the championship game.

And win they did!  Bees won 8-4 against the same team that beat them that same morning.  Boom!

These two are a dynamic duo any day of the week.
Championship Sundays are the sweetest, though.