October was a fun month with a visit to the Coon Hollow corn maze and pumpkin patch. We joined the Slade family and started the day in Micanopy. It's cute little town and we had great lunch at a little cafe but antique people and kids don't mix. You definitely got the feeling they were waiting on us to move on to Coon Hollow. The pumpkin patch was a blast and we did a hay ride, fed the cows, did games and played golf (which Colton really enjoyed). Teague hung in there despite skipping his nap and he loved playing in the hay. We got some of the best smiles from him just sitting on the giant hay bales. A highlight of the excursion was attempting to get Mr. Colton to potty. He kept insisting he didn't have to go and finally after holding it in the entire day he tells us he has to go right NOW as we're getting to the truck. Oh to be a boy, he just drops his pants and tinkles right there at the truck in front of the whole world and his girl, Briana.
Halloween seemed to never end. We started with an event at my work called Trail of Treats. We took the boys but Josh only stayed with them for the first hour. They got to do a little bounce house fun and some of the activities for little guys but we sent them home before it got crowded (and before the scary costumes started coming out). I was dressed as Snow White for my department booth - best moment of the night was a little girl seeing me and staring up with her big eyes saying "MOMMY! It's a princess!"
Colton selected his costume this year all on his own. When he told me Triceratops I was a bit nervous but I found the most adorable and well made costumes. They were super affordable too which made it perfect and he was in love with his dinosaur costume. As soon as he put it on he immediately turned into a fierce, roaring dinosaur. For Teague I picked T-Rex. Originally I thought Tigger but the only size available was 18 months and it just wouldn't fit. T-Rex in a size 24 months it was!!
On Wednesday during the day the boys' school had a fall festival so they got all dressed up for that and enjoyed lots of fun games. I was supposed to be working a booth for the event but Colton was a little clingy so I walked around and enjoyed the booths with him.
For the actual evening of Halloween our friends came over with their son James (cutest squirrel ever!). The boys loaded up in the wagon and off we went. We had lots of trick or treaters in the neighborhood so it was super fun. The boys quickly got the hang of knocking on doors. Colton was a bit too generous with the handfuls he was taking so we had to put some candy back a few times :) Of course there were lots of thank yous and Happy Halloweens. The most difficult part for me was my internal dilemma over Colton's peanut allergy. I'll save it for another post but we recently took the allergy skin test and his allergy is still as severe as before which means anaphylactic shock which requires an epi-pen. I always try to find a balance between protecting him and allowing him to just be normal. My biggest fear was that he'd start eating candy before I had a chance to go through it but he was really great and only ate the pieces we gave him. When we got home and went through his loot I was surprised that there were ZERO pieces of candy with peanuts except for a little pre-made treat bag that had all peanut types of candy in it but was nicely sealed so I could take it out and toss it. I'm sure it won't always be that way but as Colton gets older he'll start to understand his allergy better. Right now, he just knows "peanuts are nasty."
Finally, we recently had our good friends the Doehnes come for a visit. You may remember that we visited them last October in Charlotte, NC when I was hugely pregnant. This time they came to Gainesville for a visit and we had a blast. Jeff is a big Gators fan so the guys took Colton and their older son Connor to the game. I had seats in the Champions Club through work which means outdoor seating with all the action and excitement but indoor bathrooms, food and seating areas. Josh said Colton did well but he did fall asleep in the 2nd quarter and took a nice long nap on his shoulder.
Here is a link to Jamie's awesome photos of the boys -
https://plus.google.com/photos/108975974970822083107/albums/5808519587640929681?banner=pwa
The rest of the weekend went by too quickly. It was chaos with four boys under four but thankfully the Doehnes know chaos and don't judge :) On our last night we visited campus and saw the gators in Lake Alice and then had a yummy dinner at Blue Highway Pizza. I'm not at all surprised they stuck us at a table outside away from everyone else, good move!! It was crazy but so much fun and I loved every second of their visit. We can't wait to make our next trip to Charlotte!! Hopefully we'll be up there next fall.
That about wraps up the start of fall and the holiday season. I'm in full party planning mode for both boys and we're finalizing the details for Thanksgiving with my family. I know the next seven or so weeks until the end of the year (that's just crazy!!) will fly by so I plan to soak up every second and remember all the reasons we celebrate this time of year. These days go by so quickly and I don't want to miss a single second to create memories that my boys will have with them forever.
Love,
Jenny
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| Halloween 2012 |
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