Like the leaves spinning off the trees, the weekend before last was a whirlwind of autumn activities for the McKinstrys.
For
weeks, Dave had been planning a camping trip with some friends and our
church family. This was the only weekend before November that we didn't
already have plans to do something else, so it was the only opportunity
to get something going before the weather got too cold. Everyone else
must be just as busy as we are though because no one ended up being able
to camp out like we'd hoped. Instead Dave turned the event into a
bonfire which had a pretty decent turn out. (Sadly, I forgot the camera so I don't have any pics for you this time.)
Caleb, Hadley, and I went over for a little while, but with both kids
recovering from colds and ear infections, we didn't stay long,
especially once it began to get too dark for me to see where my busy boy
was running.
After
staying up late Friday for the bonfire, we all slept in Saturday, which
is unusual since at least one of the kids is usually up and ready to go
early. I was not feeling too well from my Lupus, so we decided to have a
laid back morning and to take a trip to the Festival of Leaves on Main
Street to get out and enjoy the scenery.
While we were getting ready,
Caleb went out to play with the pumpkins on the front porch. Although my
Dad bought Hadley the pumpkin with the face and Caleb the Mickey one,
for some reason, Caleb has now claimed the toothy-faced one as his own.
He thought it was great fun to roll the pumpkins off the porch until
Mommy had to go and stop all the fun! He also liked laying all the
pumpkins on their sides, explaining to me that they were sleeping.
I haven't been to the Festival of Leaves for years since it usually hits the same weekend as the Luray Heritage Festival. Honestly, I can't even remember the last time I went, but it was probably at least fifteen years ago or better. This year for some reason, the festivals were held on different weekends which was great for people who want to go to both.
Hadley was happy about it.
Notice her sunflower purse.
This girl is ready!
There
were lots of crafts at the festival, but many of them were much more
trendy than what you'd find at the Heritage Festival. Hadley and I spent
a good chunk of time looking at one tent in particular with homemade
hair bows. Of course we had to buy a few for when her hair gets a little longer. :)
My Mom works at an insurance agency on a street adjacent to Main Street, so when she got off work, she joined us. She was pretty excited to show off her grandbabies to everyone. I think Hadley enjoyed being shown off too!
Caleb's liked playing on the old caboose down by the Visitor's Center as much as anything. Hadley even got to try it out a some too.
As nap time approached, we headed back to the car. Caleb wanted to stay and play some more but was quickly satisfied with a cookie one of my mom's friends had given her for him. As he finished the first cookie, he yelled to my mom who was several blocks up ahead something like, "Grandma, come back here. Me want a chocolate cookie." And, did Grandma have a chocolate cookie in her purse for her favorite grandson? You bet!
The fall activities that day didn't end with the festival though. Our pastor hosted the annual hayride for the church at his farm like usual. I was going to stay at the house with Hadley but some of the church ladies were adamant that I leave her with them and enjoy the hour long hayride with my boys. I hated to leave my sweet girl behind but I knew she'd be getting plenty of lovin'. The scenery was beautiful and the weather was great, much better than our chilly ride last year. The kids are all so great with Caleb even though he is younger than the rest and include him in whatever they're playing. On the way home, he even sat in the back with Chloe, snuggling all the way back to the house.
No comments:
Post a Comment