October is always one of my favorite months out of this year, and this one was no exception. With the weather turning cooler, we spent many days outside having picnic lunches and playing on the driveway or in the backyard. Then, there's all of our favorite activities to look forward to: Country Adventures, the fair, and the Fall Festival at church. 
October 8th: One very special activity that was a highlight of this month was meeting my cousin, Jenny, and her boys, Ryan and Miles, at the Greenville Zoo. Jenny and I are almost exactly one year in apart in age: 364 days to be exact. We grew up writing to each other frequently and sharing major holidays together. She was my matron of honor, and prior to that, I was her maid of honor. She has always been one of those heart friends in that we connect immediately when we get together as if no time had passed at all. We spent the morning and afternoon enjoying the beautiful fall weather while the kids looked at the animals, ate lunch in the shade, and played on some pretty terrific playground equipment. I had the chance to admire sweet baby Miles as he contentedly went along for the ride. It was a great day! 
October 12th: Happy 3rd Birthday Jackson! I just cannot believe that our baby (as of yet) is three! As you can see, he took a little bite of his blue frosting before we could grab a picture. It's so hard to wait for butter cream frosting...I understand completely!
October 15th: We had some of Jackson's little friends over for a belated birthday play date. We had some breakfast treats inside and then went outside for the kids to play on the driveway with their ride-on toys. I have definitely been in a phase of "less is more" lately, but the children didn't seem to notice one bit. Ultimately, all they want to do is play! (One little guy missing from these pictures is Jackson's friend Forbes. It's hard to catch him sitting still!)
October 8th: One very special activity that was a highlight of this month was meeting my cousin, Jenny, and her boys, Ryan and Miles, at the Greenville Zoo. Jenny and I are almost exactly one year in apart in age: 364 days to be exact. We grew up writing to each other frequently and sharing major holidays together. She was my matron of honor, and prior to that, I was her maid of honor. She has always been one of those heart friends in that we connect immediately when we get together as if no time had passed at all. We spent the morning and afternoon enjoying the beautiful fall weather while the kids looked at the animals, ate lunch in the shade, and played on some pretty terrific playground equipment. I had the chance to admire sweet baby Miles as he contentedly went along for the ride. It was a great day! October 12th: Happy 3rd Birthday Jackson! I just cannot believe that our baby (as of yet) is three! As you can see, he took a little bite of his blue frosting before we could grab a picture. It's so hard to wait for butter cream frosting...I understand completely!October 15th: We had some of Jackson's little friends over for a belated birthday play date. We had some breakfast treats inside and then went outside for the kids to play on the driveway with their ride-on toys. I have definitely been in a phase of "less is more" lately, but the children didn't seem to notice one bit. Ultimately, all they want to do is play! (One little guy missing from these pictures is Jackson's friend Forbes. It's hard to catch him sitting still!)
We also went out to Country Adventures on the 12th. We always look forward to going for a hayride, picking out a pumpkin from the barn, petting the animals, and eating hot dogs and S'Mores by the camp fire. It just feels like we're ushering in the autumn!
October 22nd: As you can see, we didn't have fun at the fair this year. Oh my gracious! We always have fun at the fair! Rivers and Jackson both loved going down the slide with Daniel and riding the bumble bee and the carousel. I joined them for the Ferris wheel and to eat some yummy food together. We even bumped into our friends the McCatherns, so Hodges and Rivers rode the motorcycles together. In total, the kids went to the fair three times including their trips with each set of grandparents. They are already asking when the fair will come again!
October 13th and 28th:
Rivers enjoyed two special days at preschool this month: Western Day and her fall party. For Western Day, Jackson and I went to see Rivers parade in on her stick horse at the assembly, sing and dance with her friends in music class, and then we all went outside to enjoy time together at the various activities they had set up for the children. Just kidding! Rivers had other plans. She really wanted to spend the morning with her friend Eden going through the bouncy castles and eating snacks while Jackson and I wandered around aimlessly looking to see where she had gotten to. I finally had to give her a little pep talk to let her know that we came to Western Day to be with her and she needed to spend some time with her brother...and her Mom! I much more enjoy to pop into her little class parties to watch the kids playing games together and enjoying a craft and snack!
October 31st: The First Baptist Fall Festival was wonderful this year! It's always great, but the kids really enjoyed the games especially for the preschoolers. Rivers was contented to sit and draw, while Jackson simply wanted to sit on his Nanny's lap and eat. Despite my last minute dash to the store to pick up Halloween candy, we ended up staying at the festival the entire time and making it home just in time to hand out Halloween candy to about 10 trick-or-treaters. Hey, more Twix bars for us this year! 
Jackson and his buddy Forbes: truly a pirate and Spiderman at heart!
Here are my sister-in-law Hannah and I both pregnant! This picture was taken on Jackson's birthday when I was one day shy of being 22 weeks, and her due date is just 12 days after mine on February 28th. It's so neat to me that Daniel and I are wrapping up our family with the pregnancy of these twins, and Hannah and Owen are just starting their family! There is something so special about that first pregnancy. It has been a really sweet time!
