Fall Festival Fun

Over the weekend we got to kick off some Halloween fun with 2 fall festivals.  Who doesn't love a fall festival?!  I love fall, Halloween and all the fun stuff that comes with it.  The girls were so excited to finally get to put on their Halloween costumes!  This year we have 3 wild animals...just like real life, right!?!  Cohen is a raccoon, Kate is a cheetah, and Bryce, our little stinker, is a skunk.  They all look absolutely adorable to me.  Before we headed to our first fall festival on Saturday I wanted to get a picture of the 3 of them in costume.

You may be wondering where the individual picture of Kate is?  Well at this point she had ran off to find acorns and wanted no part of another picture.  I will have to work on getting one of her later!  I love her costume so its going to happen.  I feel bribery with candy coming on.
We were now ready to make our way to Gainesville to fall festival #1.  Our Aunt Vicki is in charge of the fall festival at her church each year and we try to make it there if we can.  This year it worked out that we could go so we went to the festival for about an hour and then had a visit at Grannie and Papa's house.  The girls each played all the games, took a hay ride, and stopped by the petting zoo.  This was actually the only thing Kate could focus on!

Bryce was mesmerized by the tractor while we were having our hay ride.  

After we left Grannie and Papa's, we headed to the BBQ chicken supper in Bold Springs.  We always look forward to this!  The girls love to do the cake walk and the chicken is some of the best you will ever have!  They do this twice a year and we look forward to it both times!

Fall festival #2 came on Sunday night and it was our church's festival.  I look forward to this every year!  Everyone comes out for a hotdog supper, games for the kids, a hayride, cake walk, and trunk-or-treat.  My Sunday school class was in charge of the photo booth so we had a good time trying out the props before everything got started!

We were doing good to all sit here much less use props

The girls were in heaven!  Kate was in the jump house, Cohen was all about the hay ride, both girls were cake walking.  It was really just so much fun for everyone.  Trunk-or-treat was the last thing and there were some super cute trunks!  Nat and Shawn was my favorite with the "Little Red Riding Hood" theme.  Nothing beats a wolf dressed like grandma in the back!  Brad & Erin had a great one too and I think their's really caught Kate's attention most of all!  You had to get your candy by sticking your hand in the monster's mouth and there was someone behind that mouth that really just threw Kate all off!  She kept asking us to get the candy for her.  We were laughing so hard at her.  It was really cute.  I love love love these fun family events.  It was a great "Halloween" weekend for us and with us going to the GA/Florida game next weekend it was our main Halloween weekend with the kids!

eating donuts with NO hands! 

Perfect cheetah face!

 Bryce, Waylon, and Wyatt had some stroller fun with lots to take in!

 Even the big boys had some donut fun

Kate & Sam enjoying the hay ride!

Its dark but we had to get a pic of the wolf in the trunk dressed as Grandma.  

Sky Top Apple Orchard

If you have read our family's blog over the last few years you know that one of our favorite places to go in the fall is to Sky Top Apple Orchard.  I cannot express in words how much I LOVE this place.  I mean I do love apples and it is beautiful there since it sits on top of a mountain, but lets just cut to the chase...I live for their apple cider donuts.  Beyond AH-MAY-ZING!  A dozen donuts and an apple cider slushie and this girl is happy!  We decided to avoid the crowds this year and went during the week.  We had did this last year too but that was more because we had just had Bryce and were running out of time to get there.  We picked Cohen up early from school on Tuesday and drove to Hendersonville to the orchard.  We had packed a picnic lunch and the weather has been to die for this week.  It was a great day.   After finishing our picnic and the kids playing on the playground, we took a hayride through the orchard.  We decided to pick all of our apples this year and a lot of the "u-pick" apples were way out in the orchard which meant we would be getting our exercise in.  The orchard is on top of a mountain so going down was a lot easier than coming back but we made it!  The girls loved finding an apple and picking it.  We had been given this handy dandy apple tool that helps in getting the apples that are at the tops of the trees which is a lot of the apples!  We love pink lady apples and fuji apples so those were definites on our pick list.  Cohen had told her friend Brody that she would get him some Granny Smith apples and trust me when I say that girl was serious about getting him some of those apples.  It was a lot of fun just walking and picking.  Bryce had the best seat in his stroller.  At one point coming back up the hill, we had stopped to pick a few more, and I turned to see Kate sitting on the ground eating an apple.  She looked at me and just said, "too tired".  I love that girl!  I decided Bryce and I would sit with her while Kelly and Cohen picked more.  While we waited we took a few "selfies".  She is a hoot!  Our orchard visit was a success and we had such a fun time.  After paying for our apples and getting one more slushie we were on our way to our next stop.

Kate was at 3 1/2 ft!

Cohen has hit 4 ft!

You can see from this picture that Bryce really didn't care how tall he was...we will guess 2 1/2 ft.

Being silly, what Cohen is good at!

Hubs going for the high apples

tired of walking 

 selfies with Kate

Stop #2 was a walk to the goat barn at the Carl Sanburg home.  I really wasn't up for more uphill walking but Hubs wanted to do this.  I think he was the only one but we went with it.  Of course Kate absolutely loves seeing any and every animal she can.  She had fun with the goats and even Bryce handled being up close and personal a lot better this time.  There was a beautiful lake view on the way up.  I love seeing all the beautiful fall leaves!

Stop #3 was back to the gem mine we had visited last year.  The girls LOVED it and were both begging to go back.  It is so fun to watch them too.  Each time that sift that dirt off and reveal a gem it is like Christmas to them.  I love it.  Cohen was all about the "gold" she was finding and Kate liked all of hers.  Since the trip she has taken a rock to preschool to show everyone and one to church.  I'm pretty sure I will have rocks hidden all in my car from all of her show and tells!

After mining for all of those gems we had worked up quite the appetite.  We headed to the downtown area of Hendersonville and found a yummy pizza place.  You can't go wrong with any of us with spaghetti and pizza.  Our funny story of the night was at the restaurant Bryce really did a dirty!  It was one of those that really requires both parents but being in a restaurant I take him to the bathroom to attempt it alone.  Lo and behold this particular restaurant has NO changing table...what?! Someone must not have kids...  This was not one of those diapers you could take to the car because it was everywhere.  All over the clothes and everything.  I started stripping him down, laid out our own changing pad and went to work.  Videos would only do this situation justice but believe me when I say I was breaking a sweat at this point.  Cohen was helping as much as she could.  So I finish up only to hear Kelly opening the bathroom door because now Kate needs to go.  This sweet little older lady was waiting in this 2 stall bathroom for her turn and has probably heard the gags from Cohen as I change Bryce, who now is in nothing but a diaper!  Well as I'm coming out to pass Bryce to Kelly and wash my hands, Kate jumps right in front of this lady and heads to the potty.  She leaves the door wide open, hops on the potty without a thought that someone might have been ahead of her in line.  The lady asks me if she "belongs to me".  All I can do is laugh, get her all finished and washed up and make a bee line to get out of that place.  I have a one year old in only a diaper because his extra change of clothes is a summer outfit that is too tight (I have failed to update that little item here lately) and I am so tired from the day and the bathroom mess that I just want to get to the car asap!  Bryce is now so happy and thank goodness it was a warm day so we could get him to the car and wrapped back up!  I'm pretty sure we got some crazy looks though headed that way.  Never a dull moment with 3 kids!  Memories!