festive fall fun part 1

First of all, let me start by saying that Christmas came early this year for Tyler and me in the form of a new camera...we are ecstatic to be able to finally do better justice in capturing Ben and Katie Beth's sweet faces and also the scenery that's all around us (especially this time of year)!

Tyler took this with the polarized lens - I think it's a framer!

Speaking of framers...

We've been making the most of our weekends lately. Tyler teases me that I'm trying to hit every apple/pumpkin/fall/harvest festival within a two-hour radius this month.

He's right - I'm a sucker for a festival.

In what turned out to be a wonderfully misguided trek to Ellijay, GA (note: even if the Interstate exit is relatively nearby, small-town festivals are not necessarily so), we attended the annual Apple Festival right in their quaint town square. There were apples of every variety, and by the time we left, we'd had apple cider, apple bread, carmel apples, and pumpkin swirl bread (wait a second...wrong festival!)

We had to convince Ben that he'd like the caramel on his apple.

Why do we do this? Wouldn't it be better if he just didn't know?!

Ben and his bear buddy

Just happy to be out of her stroller!

(The rest of the good-camera pics won't upload at the moment, so here are some from the pocket camera.)

Once the week comes, and Tyler heads back to the land of wires and brackets, the kids and I still get to enjoy the pretty weather we've been having. These are the moments that I remember how fortunate and grateful I am to be at home with them...there are other moments that I forget that of course. :/ But being on our own schedule on gorgeous days is a newfound luxury that still makes me giddy.

All bundled up for a jog!

I overestimated the chill factor that morning...we were all sweating by the end of the loop.

Back to my affinity for festivals, after nap one Saturday afternoon, we even raced over to catch the last 15 minutes of the Ronald McDonald's Children's Festival.

I think it was worth it.

Ben got to climb into a Big Rig at the. He even honked the horn!

and pet some bunnies,

and jump in an inflatable!

(the haircut really deserves its own post...but this time, it wasn't my fault! Doesn't make it better that we paid for that does it? A second haircut followed that I'm still not satisfied with, but at least it's less Frankenstein-ish.)

After they kicked us out, we decided to just head down to Coolidge Park to see what was going on. Another wonderful mistake, as they were having a wine festival on the bridge (one festival we didn't attend - didn't think they'd love the double stroller up there!) and hot-air balloon show in the park.

Putting on a smiley show of our own!

More to come of our trip to the Pumpkin Patch Park, Ketner's Mill and Oktoberfest this weekend!

PS - If it sounds like all we do is play, I will take this opportunity to say that we've passed a head cold and stomach bug around the house, Tyler is working hard, and Ben is currently on Fall Break from preschool so we're all a bit stir crazy. So, maybe I'm choosing to focus on some more exciting times!