Fun in the Fall

Every season has its advantages and things I look forward to, and it just so happens that Fall has a few of my favorite things in it. 

Fall means family time. The weather is still nice enough to play outside. The sun still stays up late. Basketball season hasn't started yet. Need I say more? We spent a lot of time together this fall. From time just as a family of five at home or out in the community with cousins at the pumpkin patch, we enjoyed it all. 

 

Fall means friend time. I try to carve out a little time every few months (and more often if we can make it work!) to see my besties. Ashley, Kaci and I enjoyed some wonderful time in Champaign together, which consisted of many glasses of wine, many laughs, and a piercing (not mine!). I'm already counting down the days until I get to see these girls again, with hopefully the addition of Kendra next time. 

Fall means the start of Broadway season at the Fox! This is Nichole and I's third year getting season tickets, and I want to get them forever. What a fun way to spend a day!

Fall means spooky season. And while Halloween isn't my favorite holiday- because it's obviously Thanksgiving with all the amazing food- it is one that I really enjoy the traditions that come along with it. We carved pumpkins and pulled out the pumpkin guts. Brady wanted a scary one, and Ashley wanted a cat one. Katie mostly just watched. Shout out to Eric with his mad pumpkin carving skills. We also did all the trick-or-treating as our favorite characters from the Mario Movie- Mario, Princess Peach, and Toad. I'm thankful that Katie finally agreed that her hat wasn't so bad and actually wore it. We scared on the square, trunk or treated, and trick or treated to our hearts delight. And we will be eating all their candy for a long long time. 

 

Fall means fun. So much fun. Maybe a little a lot of crazy too. But mostly fun. 

The Halloween that Never Was...

Well Halloween 2021 was a bit of a bust. Not because their costumes were not on point- because they definitely were. But we had lots of setbacks that basically meant Halloween was pretty much nonexistent for us this year.

Brayden and Ashley had hand foot and mouth over Halloween weekend. They really broke out around their mouths (which I'm assuming is because they still drool SO much). But they were in good spirits with it all. We ended up with some on our hands and a rogue spot on the back of a knee or arm, but I never noticed any on their feet or inside their mouths, so I was thankful for that. Their feet did peel something crazy once all their sores went away.

I was planning on taking them trick-or-treating the first weekend of November since their sores had healed up. But that Friday morning I realized that I couldn't smell that the kids had pooped when I was changing their diapers. I started smelling everything in our house that I thought would have a strong scent and couldn't smell anything. 

I called mom to watch the kids and went to the health department to get tested for Covid. Low and behold the test quickly came back positive. So that was a big old bummer on all the things I had planned. I feel lucky that the only symptom I had was a loss of smell, I could even still taste (thank you vaccine for helping me not get really sick!). 

From that point until the end of my quarantine, I wore a mask around the kids and Eric, and I'm pleased to say that no one else in my family got sick. But since the kids couldn't be away from me, their quarantine couldn't start until mine was over, so we were out for what seemed like forever. 

At this point, it's already past Thanksgiving, so trick-or-treating anyone would be mute at this point. Thankfully, the weekend before Halloween we went to Scare on the Square and got to wear our costumes out and about and trick or treat local businesses. 

So enjoy a few photos from that day as it's the only ones I have of them in their slinky-dog costume. Huge shout out to my mom for making these costumes for us- you are a rock star and I'm so thankful for your crafty skills!