Fall Hike and Orchard

Last Saturday was Andrew's last day of Raptor Tots soccer, and they has the kids come together at the end for a photo. Some kids ran away, and we were sad to not have Peyton in the picture, because she was out sick. Here is what I could capture before they all scattered:

On Sunday, we headed over to Edward's Apple Orchard, which is always too crowded. We tried to go early, and it wasn't as bad as when we went last year, but we still had some trouble getting around in the barn due to all the people. I just want to go so that so I can get a picture under the Edward's sign each year for Andrew's photo books. A nice lady took our family picture. Why I'm making that stupid face is beyond me.

We tried...

Andrew is crazy about flowers! Any time he sees flowers, he runs up and sniffs them.

After stopping for lunch, Andrew fell asleep in the car for a little bit before we went on a short hike. This is actually an interesting story. Mike was walking ahead of us, and I saw him sharpening a stick. He made some comment about how he saw something in the woods with 4 legs, and I just rolled my eyes. Andrew and I walk ahead, and about 2 minutes later I see something black with 4 legs look at us between the trees and run away. I grabbed Andrew like a football and started running out of the woods. Mike saw my face, and I said, "there is something in there that is black and big!!" He said, "I told you!!" We booked it out of there and that was the end of the hike. Ha! No idea what it could possibly be. Mike thought it was dog, just because there is nothing that looks like in the woods. Ohhh, spooky.....

This has just been a stunning fall, which is surprising due to the drought. I took Jez out hiking at Rock Cut one day at lunch and was so shocked by the leaves that I ran home to get my camera.

Earlier in the week, I took Andrew around the walking path in our neighborhood after he got home from daycare. He was running and running! He also loves to collect things, such as leave, walnuts, and pine cones.

 

Here are a couple of funny pictures that I wanted to add. One night he was so engrossed with what was on TV, that he literally sat like this for about 2 minutes:

Andrew continues to love daycare, and I could not be happier. He has still be giving us a heck of a time getting in his car seat, which has made things difficult at times, because I just can't take him anywhere at the risk of not being able to get him home. We are hoping this all just passes here in the upcoming months. I have been taking a three week basics photography class, which I have been looking forward to for a long time. I already learned a lot of new things on the first night.

I'll end this entry with some really cool pictures of a praying mantis in our garage. I have never seen one in real life before! Isn't that crazy!?