Scarecrow Trail

Over fall break, Bruce, Abigail, Abigail's friend "J" and I all went to the scarecrow trail at the local botanical gardens followed by a yummy meal at the Olive Garden. This was the day after a 'slumber party' which we always seem to work in over a school break since "J" is in a traditional school setting.

The girls (as well as the grown ups) had a blast seeing the creative 'crows' and also visiting the butterfly house during the trip. These are just a few of the scarecrows we saw.

It's hard to believe we'll be returning in a week to see the Christmas light members only 'walk thru.' BOY, does time fly!!...walk like an 'Egyptian'.....
.....for some reason the girls walked around talking with very southern accents all day, so the 'southern belle' was their favorite scarecrow......
...not quite sure...is he juggling?????
..hmmmmm....

..they thought the hippies were funny.....this was THEIR hippy pose....

Beach time.....

At the beginning of October, we were able to go to Orange Beach, Alabama for a few days for a wedding, but also for a mini vacation. We have already decided to plan for another trip there next year around fall break time, if at all possible.

Because the wedding was associated with someone from our church, there were others from our church there, including a family which includes one of Abigail's buddies. So, she enjoyed playing with her buddy some while there. We enjoyed the condo stay...just having some extra space and the kitchen well stocked was wonderful and unexpected (we have never stayed in a condo before.)...me after getting up from being knocked over by a wave....swimwsuit/coverup and all...we all thought it was funny :)
...taken after dinner at the first place we ate....it was a great place to eat.....
....Abigail 'netting' for shells.....she collected a lot which we have displayed in a neat glass vase in one of our bathrooms at home.....
..riding on the luggage cart....she always has to do this....
...Abigail and her buddy MacKenzie on the beach just before the wedding started....
..the living room of our condo.....
...Bruce in front of our condo...the Phoenix V...
....Bruce and Abigail on the beach just after sunset...
...our family at the wedding.....

...Abigail on the beach our last morning there...she had been shell hunting one last time :)

We have a winner......

Today, Abigail won the "best overall" costume at school. She was dressed up as a "Twister game board." She also got an honorable mention in the craft contest for her decorated pumpkin. A friend who teaches third grade gave us the plywood pumpkin...already painted. She decorated it with a sharpie :) I took this photo just as we were leaving school today....so she is wearing 'normal' clothing under her costume. She has her backpack on and her craft and prize in hand..so it's hard to tell exactly how she looked at the time of the judging. I'll post her really dressed up photo after I take it tomorrow. She plans to go to Publix (they do a special event for the community tomorrow) and then we'll go to her school for a trunk or treat event afterwards. Hopefully the rain will hold off :)

Ugh....

I realize I have not posted in a while....not because we have not had lots going on, but because I have felt like "ugh." I think I have been battling something for almost two weeks really.....at least a full week and a half for sure. Taking OIL OF OREGANO capsules really helped, but towards the end of the week, something extra in the air just sent me over the edge. I woke up Saturday morning with a very sore throat and feeling like a truck had run over me. Just in case it was the flu or strep, I went to a walk in clinic to be tested for both. (wanted to get on that tamiflu/antibiotics ASAP if needed)

Thankfully both tests were negative...just sinus crud...not even an infection....just lots of congestion.....so I am taking extra oil of oregano, some vitamin C, some mucinex D and trying to rest as much as I can between my normal activities. (But, do moms ever really get to rest?? LOL?)

I will try to post some beach photos soon, as we did have a good time there at the end of fall break, and I also have some awesome botanical garden scarecrow trail photos.

In the meantime, please pray that I'll get over this "ugh" soon. I would surely appreciate it :)