Surprise for Grandma

Mick's mom has still been working on recovering from her multiple back surgeries, and her birthday was on Thursday, so we made plans with Rob and Stacy to all go down and surprise her for the weekend.  We took Friday off and drove down to get there a little after lunch, and she was completely surprised!  It was better than any gift, we're sure.

On Saturday, Landon had a soccer game on Jekyll Island and we walked over to the beach while they were warming up.

Em loves being on the beach, but doesn't usually understand why she can't play in the sand and water when she's fully dressed.

It was a little chilly out there too!

She got in a little visiting time with Uncle Chris, who she rarely sees.

And when the boys decided they wanted to play ball in the park, Em was right there with them.  She likes keeping up with the big kids :)!

It was nice to have just a relaxing weekend where everyone had some time together, especially Grandma with her three loves.

Sunday came quickly and it was time to say goodbye--Em and Grandma shared Eskimo kisses :).

Halloween

I was pretty excited when Em said she wanted to be Wonder Woman for Halloween this year.  There was certainly a good chance she was going to ask to be Elsa from Frozen, but I think she wanted to be different and there were a lot of Elsas.  I bought the stuff to make her costume, and really got some use out of my sewing machine.  I'm getting a little better with it--I told Mick I was pretty sure her costume would look good from a distance, but I could see all the little flaws in it.  Em was so excited about it though, and that was enough for me.

I thought she looked pretty awesome, but this picture is the best--she wanted to get on the stool in the bathroom to see how she looked, and her expression was priceless!

They wore their costumes to school on Friday morning, just long enough for show and tell.  Luckily, they changed into regular clothes for most of the day (I was worried about her costume making it through the day).

She stayed in character and was proud to show off to her friends when she got to school.

Friday afternoon, they changed back into their costumes for a 4pm parade.  Mick and I got there to watch it--this is most of her classmates waiting anxiously.

Em waving proudly in the parade!

She really looked great!

 This is her whole class in costume--only one Elsa!

This is her best friend Emmy--so funny that they both chose superheroes!

I love their little friendship.

We were invited to a pre-Halloween party at a neighbor's house, so we took some food and went down shortly after we got home.  I think this might be Em's new boyfriend, Jack--they played together, rolling and doing flips in the grass, and then decided they wanted to trick or treat together too.

Too cute!  He's two months older than her, so they'll start kindergarten together next year.

Wonder Woman is ready to trick or treat!  We had a great time, but it started raining around 8pm so we headed home with a very full candy bucket.  It was fun that Halloween fell on a Friday night this year so Em could stay up later than usual--she watched a short movie when we got home and enjoyed a few pieces of candy.  She's decided her favorites are "peanut cups" this year.  Yum :).

Field Trip

I went with Em's class on a field trip to the pumpkin patch on Friday--one of the best things about working so close by now is being able to be at her school in literally three minutes!  It was a beautiful day for it--cool in the morning, but warmed up perfectly by noon.

I can hardly believe how tall she is!

This is her class learning about pumpkins from one of the staff members at Hall Family Farm.

Emma, Emily and Emmy--Emmy is her very best friend at school.

They each got to pick out one small pumpkin to take home.

Em was excited to go through the corn maze and go on the hay ride!

As we got ready to leave, the class all got together for a few pictures.

And Em and Emmy took a quick tricycle ride.  I love seeing them have so much fun together--I hate that they won't be going to the same school for kindergarten, but hopefully they'll stay close through playdates!

Boo Bash

Blakeney had their annual Boo Bash on Saturday, and we decided to go early and try to beat some of the crowds.  It was a great idea--except that Em still wanted all the Halloween treats and it was only 10am!  We gave in for a double chocolate cupcake, but when the icing was gone, she was done with it.

There was pumpkin painting, sponsored by one of the local kids' art studios, Noah's Art.

It was another perfect fall day to be outside.

They have a little train to ride around, and Em apparently thought she was in a parade, judging by her little pageant wave.

They have a couple of fair rides (and best of all, it's all free!), and I think it's pretty obvious by her expression how much she liked them.

We ate lunch there and came home by early afternoon--fun morning!

Dance School Dropout

Well, we knew the real dance class would determine if Em wanted to stick with it, and it certainly did.  I've been meaning to update here, but after only two classes, Em decided she hates dance and doesn't want to do it anymore.  I have to admit I was really frustrated, but Mick and I ultimately agreed that we didn't want to spend the money, much less take her every week if she hated it, so we withdrew her.  I know she's only four and has plenty of time to decide, so we'll see what happens in another year or so.

She did ask if she could go back to gymnastics instead of dance, so we re-enrolled her at The Little Gym, and she absolutely loves it.  Maybe she'll just be a gymnast instead of a dancer!

Apple Picking

I've wanted us to go apple picking for a couple of years now, but I always seem to wait too late in the year to think about it, or we never have a great time to go.  We decided to go in mid October because the Fuji apples (my favorite) are ready to pick.  We all like apples, but I eat the most of the three of us, so my vote won :).  We went to Sky Top Orchard near Flat Rock, NC--it was a short 2 hour drive and perfect weather.  We got there a little after 10am and grabbed our buckets to head to the trees!

I was pretty sure Em would have a good time, but she was really more excited than I anticipated, especially after she found apples she could reach!

There were tons of apples on the ground that animals had started on or that had just fallen from the trees.

Em always likes when Mick puts her on his shoulders to reach things.

And that gave her much better access to the good apples.

The buckets filled up fast with all three of us picking.

Then Em enjoyed climbing a few trees.

We stopped for a few pictures.

We don't always remember to take family pictures when it's just the three of us, so I was glad we got one.

There was a little area with goats, sheep and ducks that Em took a minute to feed.

And maybe her favorite part was a big play area--there were swings, slides, and all these little houses for the kids to climb and play in.  She and Mick played there while I waited in line to get apple cider doughnuts. It was about a half an hour wait, but well worth it--they were delicious!  We ended up with about 30 pounds of apples and a dozen doughnuts.

A little before 1pm, dark clouds started to roll in and we knew from the forecast that rain was coming.  We drove the couple of miles into Flat Rock to have pizza for lunch at Flat Rock Bakery, and were glad we picked a table under the covered area when it started to pour!

It was perfect timing--we finished lunch and headed home.  Em slept the whole way home, which was also nice.

On Sunday, we had to start putting our apples to use, so Em and I baked two apple pies.  She has an Amelia Bedelia book about baking an apple pie, and in it, the little girl uses extra apples and dough to make her own pie.  Em decided she wanted to do that, so she used this mini loaf pan and was pretty excited about her creation.

We decided to freeze one of the pies for later use, and we kept one to eat.  Em enjoyed helping create the lattice top for one of the pies.

 I was so glad we finally got to an orchard this year--it made for a really fun weekend.