Family Fun in Kentucky

This past weekend, Ryan and I went to Kentucky to visit David and to see where we will be living in 2012. It was really nice to be together as a family for a few days!! And we had a GREAT time ... although I really cannot imagine living there for any length of time. I will simply say that it is going to be a huge adjustment {on multiple levels}; however, I know that it could be much worse, and that I have to trust in God's plan for our family. So that is what I will be trying to do :)

Anyway, back to our visit. We arrived around 8:30 Friday night and stayed until 10:00 Monday {Halloween} morning. We stayed at a really nice Hampton Inn and ate at some decent local restaurants. We spent a lot of time in the car driving around the area, visited a few local attractions, made several trips to Walmart {this is going to have to become my new favorite store!}, had some Halloween related fun, and enjoyed each others company.

To spice things up a bit, here is a list of my top 10 favorite things {and some pictures} from our weekend TOGETHER in Kentucky ... in no particular order:

1. Feeding the ducks at The Mall at Lexington Green.

There was even a little machine to buy duck food for $0.25 :)

2. Taking in the scenery. It is a mountainous and rocky area being on the outskirts of a national forest {there are even steep grades for trucks on the interstate!}, and there are lots of little bodies of water. It really is beautiful ... espeically this time of year! The trees were full of color as far as you could see. There were also cows and horses all over the place, which Ryan enjoyed.

3. Going to Joseph-Beth Booksellers {a 2 story independent book store}, where we got a few books for Ryan, did a little trick-or-treating around the store, and had fun riding the escalator.

4. Watching a live horse race at Keeneland -- the horse park in Lexington :) We will be going back!

5. Seeing Fred Flintstone riding around on a 4-wheeler while we were driving around looking for houses to rent {of which we found none, but this sure gave us a good laugh!}

6. Carving a pumpkin in our hotel room.





7. Reading the book "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" and then watching the movie on David's laptop together in bed.

8. Making a Haunted Gingerbread House at David's office {and temporary home for the time being}.

"Delicious!"

Love Ryan's scary face!!

9. Having dinner at Harland Sanders Cafe (i.e., the original Kentucky Fried Chicken).

10. Meeting the Bigfoot Team at breakfast Monday morning ... they were staying at our hotel while they filmed an upcoming episode of Finding Bigfoot in the Kentucky Wilderness for Animal Planet.

Trick-or-Treat 2011

This year for Halloween, Ryan dressed up as Sheriff Woody from Toy Story :) He is really into Buzz Lightyear and Woody again, after a brief hiatus for Lighting McQueen ... SO his costume this year was perfect!

{although he would probably have preferred Buzz, but that costume wasn't nearly as cute thanks to the purple hood ... so Mommy went with Woody :)}

"Pull my string! The birthday party's today?"

After a nice dinner with Pop, Aunt Laura, and Daniel, R got dressed up in his costume and we went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood for about an hour. Uncle Alan joined us about midway through after his softball game.

Trick-or-treat!

Ryan was not originally thrilled with the idea of getting his costume on ... he loved wearing it by itself but had no desire to put it on over clothes {and it was a chilly night so no clothes underneath was not an option}. Thankfully two little girls came to the door and once he saw what they were doing, he wanted to get dressed and join them :)

Ryan and the girls :)

I snapped a few pictures of my little cowboy and he was out the door running, and continued at this pace for the first 5 houses or so. Then he was ready to head home and eat his candy. After a little persuading, we managed to talk him into going to some more houses {let's be honest, I needed some more candy choices :)}, but he caught a ride with someone the rest of the time.

Once we were done trick-or-treating and a few more pictures had been taken, Ryan got right to business checking out all of his Halloween goodies. And Uncle Alan was right there with him! He was allowed to pick two pieces to have before bath and bed time -- skittles and a tootsie roll pop were the clear winners :)

Look at all that candy!

Trying on a spider ring R got trick-or-treating :)

It was a fun night! The only thing that could have made it better would have been for Daddy to have gotten to join us!! :)

Moving: Phase 1

The first of our things and family are off to Kentucky! David left Monday morning about 5:45 AM for his new duty station. He arrived around 10:15 AM {4.5 hours ... not bad although he wouldn't tell me how fast he drove :) }, and headed straight for his new office AFTER stopping at a gas station to shave. Thank goodness he pulls off being homeless well! :)

Bye!

Loaded to the MAX!!

The guys he has met at the office seem nice {one even invited him over for dinner ... unfortunately he is moving soon himself}, and he says the area is very rural -- there is a Kroger, Walmart, and Starbucks right off the interstate, but not much else. He has seen some massive houses {one with 5 - 6 garages} and lots of farms with a few horses scattered in there.

He has gotten right to work setting up his new office, which is bigger than he was expecting. And even has a nice TV with cable! Besides a brief break for dinner on Monday night at McDonalds {his options are limited so it is a good thing he likes Micky D's}, he worked until 4 AM on Tuesday morning. All I can say is he likes things set up the way he wants them! :)

The new station from the front entrance ... David's office
is at the back through the glass window.

David's desk and some of his awards.

Looking out through the window in David's office.
And, yes, all those plaques on the wall are his :)

For those wondering where David slept his first night in Kentucky ... at his office on the air mattress. I tried to talk him into going to a hotel {especially since we don't have to pay for it for the next 9 nights}, but he wanted to keep working in his office and didn't want to leave to search for a place. He has stayed in a hotel every night since though :)

Tuesday, he drove to Nashville and back in his new-to-him government car -- a Ford Fusion Hybrid -- to get his brand new computer {he is very excited about this!}. And yesterday and today have been filled with more organizing of his office {he admits he is OCD!}, meeting some more of the guys he will be working with, getting a gym membership, going to several of the local high schools, finding a storage unit for all of our belongings to go into for a few months, and familiarizing himself with the area to determine where we are going to live.

Nothing like hitting the ground running! Good luck on this new adventure, Babe! See you soon!

A Wordless Wednesday: Great Friends and Neighbors

Ryan, Ellie, and Baby Gavin :)

My favorite one! {although it is a little out of focus}

Snack time under the tree :)

Home Sweet Home

This past weekend, we spent our last weekend together in our home of the last 5 years :(

Since we bought this house before Ryan, for some time now, we have wished we had a bigger backyard for a swing set, a playroom for all Ryan's toys, and just an actual house {rather than a townhouse}; however, this did not make us any more ready or excited for this weekend to come and go, thanks to the multitude of WONDERFUL MEMORIES and GOOD TIMES we have shared here ... like bringing our sweet baby boy home from the hospital :)


This truly has been our first real HOME, as a married couple {we had no real attachment to our house in Fayetteville and although our time there together was great, it was brief} AND as a family of 3. We are definitely going to miss it!!

A Yearly Tradition

Since October of 2007 {long before Ryan was even born}, we have enjoyed many a trips up to the North Georgia mountains in the fall to go to Amicalola Falls and Burt's Farm {aka, the best pumpkin patch ever!}.

David and I went on a romantic fall weekend getaway that year to a place called Forrest Hills Mountain Resort. We enjoyed the fall mountain scenery, hiked Amicalola Falls, and happened upon Burt's Farm {it is only about 2 miles from the falls although we never knew it existed}. It was certainly the beginning of many great memories to come for our family in the quiet foothills of the Appalachian Mountains :)

Our first trip to Amicalola Falls {in 2007}.

As well as our first trip to Burt's Farm :)

Each year since {although we may have missed 2008 because I can't find any pictures :0 ... that was a crazy month with weddings, baby showers, and trips to Austin, Texas for work}, it has become a one day fall vacation for our family {we agreed after our first trip that there was no reason to spend the night since it is only about 45 minutes from home}.

So on Friday we continued the tradition ... MAYBE for the last time for a few years {unless we plan a visit to Georgia each fall that includes a day trip to Burt's Farm and Amicalola Falls ... only time will tell}.

We got up leisurely, had cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and headed out the door about 11:30 AM. Our first stop was Amicalola -- we drove to the top of the falls for a view, and then hiked up to the base of the falls.






Then we headed over to pumpkin heaven :) Ryan enjoyed running around the pumpkins with some other kids, riding in the wheelbarrow, picking out pumpkins to bring home, going on a hayride, and getting popcorn and apple cider. He fell asleep very quickly upon returning to the car :)







And for fun, a look back a few years ago ...

2009

2010

Happy Fall Y'all! :)