Thanksgiving

We just got back into town last night after spending Thanksgiving in South Carolina with both of our families. The boys and I were there since Monday of last week and Dustin came on Wednesday night. For anyone that doesn't know, Dustin and I started dating in high school and our parents still live in the same home town. This makes holiday visits super convenient to see both sides in one trip. This year, my extended family that live in North Carolina and Florida also made the trip. I brought my real camera, but chasing around two tiny humans doesn't leave much room for turning it on and removing a lens cap, so here are a few pics I was able to capture with my phone during the week.

 Aiken is known mostly for golf and horses. On Tuesday, we visited the Equine Rescue so the boys could see some horses, ponies, donkeys and of course a tractor.

 And of course Chick-fil-A.

 Anyone with kids knows that kids adapt super well to traveling and usually have no sleep issues whatsoever. Just kidding. The littlest was up by 4:45 every morning and since he was in sleeping in the same room, we couldn't let him cry it out tuck him nicely back in over and over. This brought plenty of early morning playtime.

 More horses.

 Walking around downtown with some "yi-bops"

 Kids also usually eat super well when traveling. Ryder was thrilled to get cupcakes every night.

 They love each other.

 Thanksgiving number one with my family.

 

 Ryder with his nightly cupcake.

 The King/Oprea/Bullard cousins

 Sugar crash and stimulation overload.

 Thanksgiving number two with Dustin's side of the family. Somehow, I only managed to take a couple pics.

 And this sums up how we all feel after the week.

The week before last, we got to go to Finn's school for a family Thanksgiving celebration. It was just the sweetest little thing where they sang a couple songs for the parents and then everyone from all the classes got to eat a meal together. 

 We have been full swing into Christmas since Nov 1 in our house, so stay tuned for some pics of all things merry and bright.

Fall part 2

We have moved right through Fall and into Christmas in our house, so here are some pics of the last couple weeks. Dustin and I escaped for a weekend in the North GA mountains while he officiated a wedding for a friend that is also a KLife leader. It was such a fun little getaway during my favorite time of year! Here's a pic from the rehearsal dinner.

 During the day Saturday, we went to Highlands, NC on what was quite possibly the coldest day they've had so far this season.

 We clean up pretty nicely when we're not chasing after the little people.

 But we were happy to get home to these two.

 We've continued our month-of-pumpkin festivities by painting some pumpkins with our friend, Ryan.

 We went to trunk or treat by our house. Don't be fooled by the cozy costumes- it was a cool 80 degrees for most of our Halloween activities this year.

 Ryder absolutely loved Halloween! He had no problem running right up there to get a piece of candy and wanted to open every single piece as soon as he got it. Finn still isn't really into candy. He was most excited about a bag of pretzels. If only mommy had his will power.

 I'm not sure who loved Finn's school parties more.

 While waiting for trick or treating to start, the boys took turns riding a bike. Safety first.

 Heading out to trick or treat!

 Please note the pretzel in Finn's hand and the full sized Reese's PB cup in Ryder's.

 They ran up to our door when we got home and started raiding our bucket.

 I took Ryder to the zoo one day while Finn was in school and he absolutely loved it! Usually he's confined to the stroller so I can chase said big brother, but this time he was free to roam and we practically had the zoo to ourselves.

 We went on a family nature walk one Saturday morning.

 We had Dustin's work fall farm party at a beautiful event/equestrian facility north of Atlanta. It was such a fun time complete with BBQ, Bluegrass music, bounce houses, petting zoo, pony rides, s'mores and rock climbing.

 Ryder liked the horses from a distance. His pony sneezed and Ryder cried, so he was done.

 Finn would've ridden all night.

 I took the boys on a mommy/son date to the Varsity before a puppet show. The hot dogs may have lasted longer than Ryder did at the puppet show, but we had a great time.

 Now that Halloween is behind us, we have moved on to full force Christmas in our house. Complete with decorations and baking.

 Speaking of Christmas... we swapped family photo sessions with some close friends at their house to hopefully get a few good Christmas pics. I highly recommend this to anyone in this season of life. It doesn't matter how much you pay for pics, you can't control those sweet littles. This way, I snapped a few of her family and she got some good ones of us.

 The kid's got great follow through.