Halloween - and other dress up days!

Honestly I had so few Halloween pictures this year, mostly because the kids scattered as soon as they got dressed.  We had a Houston Texan, one of the KPop Demon Hunters (I can't remember...Rumi??), and Marshmello.  The kids looked great!  Shout out to our friend/neighbor for Maryn's fantastic hair. I could have never attempted that.

And then Tilly got a Halloween sweater. She "loved" it.  Can't you tell from the face?  

But, before Halloween, we had another dress up occasion!  Ford did a fabulous job on the annual Homecoming Gala and Casino. It's a nice change from our normal joggers and fishing shirts.  

 

 

Sports, Sports, Sports

This September and October has been sheer craziness, with activities pulling us in every direction!  We have the standard activities (church, music, school) but also had different sport seasons overlapping!  

First up - JB made the middle school tennis team!  While he's played for a while in tennis clinics and with friends, he's never been part of a tennis team and the whole season went great. We are so proud of him.  And the team - who went on to win the regional championship!

JB always had a lot of support at the game, from grandparents to aunts/uncles (Kim and Andy) to his old standbys - the siblings.  

Maryn also had her first experience with Volleyball and did great!  She learned so much, had fantastic coaches and a great group of girls, and overall had a fun time, too.  Her team made it all the way to the quarterfinals, which is remarkable considering so many on the team had never played before.

We got the chance to watch a D1 Volleyball scrimmage in Savannah one Sunday, which made us enjoy the sport even more!  I've have very little exposure (maybe none) to volleyball, so this was a learning season for me, too :)  But it's so fast paced and fun to watch that I hope she sticks with it for a couple more seasons!

And then Wesley focused most of the Fall on his golf swing.  He's very good about coming home, jumping on his dirtbike, and heading up to the range to work on his swing with some of the Pros. 

(Old picture - but he's progressing well with his swing!)

Fall Break with Grammy and Gran Gran

Since G&G came to visit us for Fall Break, we took advantage of the fact that we live in a super fun area to explore things close to home.  We had a great time with them!

First, the Greek festival, where we enjoyed some great food, delicious coffee, watched the dancing and toured the beautiful church.

We also spent some time in Savannah at our favorite restaurants and the train museum!

For the first time we explored Old Fort Jackson, learning all about the Fort and watching a real cannon firing!  I suspect we'll come back here again, lots of fun for all.

And then there are just the times spent hanging out at home.  We treasure those times, too :)

Always love it when they make the trip across the South to visit our family!

New York with our best girl!

We had so much fun creating wonderful memories with Maryn on her10th birthday trip!  She loves some 1:1 time (as do we), and all that togetherness - in such a fun city! - was super special. And we had the most perfect weather for the trip: moderate temps and beautiful sunny skies.

I only have 175 pictures, but will try to capture some favorite moments, in no particular order. (I plan to make a book for Maryn so we can look at all of them, again and again.)

First, we loved Central Park and the pony ride with Amazing Grace!  We learned about the park, saw some very famous spots from movies and shows, and rode the 100+ year old carousel.

We made a special trip to the American Girl Doll Store for some shopping and hair styles for M (and for Lyla!)  We also did some shopping at FAO Swartz for a souvenir Jellycat doll.

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge one night, and then also saw the bridge (plus the Statue of Liberty and so much more!) from our boat tour.

And - the SLOOMOO Institute!!  A museum dedicated to SLIME.  Something Maryn absolutely adores. We had some fun, too (and learned a lot about slime and its history).  We touched slime, made slime, stepped on slime.  And, against better judgement, took a lot of slime home :)

Now, of course we ate some good food, too!  I think we got all of Maryn's requests: real NY pizza in Brooklyn, a pretzel, ice cream, fried rice in Chinatown, personalized MMs.  A random Belgian restaurant that our Savannah driver recommended that had the best fries. All the best!

The last morning, we got to see one of my dear friends and do some final walking around Times Square before heading back to Gia and the boys.

What a special time with Maryn - our little girl who is turning into a little lady before our eyes!  We will cherish these memories with her.  Maryn, we love you a bushel and a peck!