Fall Finale

Where did November go?  The Christmas Season is officially getting underway around here so let's look back on the past month before the fun holiday posts begin!

Nate had two big accomplishments last month:

He finished his Fall Soccer Season and I think it was his best yet...he really had fun with the Ninja's (very fitting name) and he still talks about "really missing his Ninja friends".  This is his first real trophy and he carried it around for days, but it has finally (thankfully) found it's home on his desk in his room.  He is very proud.

He also had his first karate test and moved up to an Orange Belt.  I was extremely impressed and proud of him.  He took the testing very seriously, performed all of his skills and was so excited to get his new belt and the oh-so-cool headband.

Showing off his "Stranger Danger" skills....

his Power Punches....

his High Kicks....

and his new Tiny Tiger Orange!

Road Trip!

The weekend before Halloween we made a last minute decision to take a road trip down to Pcola Beach to celebrate the 4th birthday of this spunky little girl:

Our little Rayne turned 4 and the boys just had to be with their cousin to celebrate.  And celebrate we did.

The trip started off a little rocky...we left on a Friday evening and realized about 15 minutes from home that Stinky wasn't in the car with us.  I don't think we have ever done that...he normally screams for him before he is even buckled in, but he didn't this time so we assumed all was right. And it was, until our first night in the hotel.  The next morning we went out and bought what we hoped was a temporary replacement but we knew that was a long shot...and it was.  Lesson learned...never leave home without Stinky!

Back to the sunny side  of the weekend...

We kicked off the weekend with lunch at Flounder's on a gorgeous day.  There is nothing better than lunch on the beach on a beautful day - and a playground in the sand to keep the kids occupied!  

Then it was on to the hotel for some presents...a little beach time...and then the kids had a blast in the (slightly heated) pool.  

And a fun birthday dinner at Crabs - where, once again, the kids had way more fun on the sandy playground.

Nate picked out the birthday crown for her

On Sunday, we kissed our cousins (and sister) goodbye...and headed to Ft Pickens to explore before we began our journey home.  Another place where I spent most of my childhood but now appreciate so much more as an adult...it is a pretty cool place, so much history.

Then we had a (not-so-relaxing, tantrum-filled) lunch at Hemingway's (I was really missing my fresh seafood beach restaurants. Was disappointed to miss Peg Leg's but the wait was way too long with antsy kids!) and then hit the new "Observation Wheel" (i.e. ferris wheel).  It wouldn't be a Cox Family road trip unless we filled every minute of the 36 hours we were in town!

Then we wrapped up our whirlwind weekend by grabbing ice cream, putting on our headphones and settling in for the long ride home....

It was a gorgeous weekend and it was so much fun celebrating Rayne's big day with her!

Fantastic Fall

What a fun and fabulous fall this has been...I love fall so much, it can be overwhelming trying to do as much of the wonderful things there are to do around these parts during the month of October.  So we have crammed in as much as we possibly could have which has made the month fly by...

The weather has been perfect so we have spent a lot of time outside...we spent one Sunday afternoon hiking at the River...

Another Saturday we went to the Fall Festival at the boys' school after Nate's soccer game

The kids were looking at the wrong camera but it was the only family picture that didn't include a certain 2 yr old's tantrum face

Another weekend, we drove up to Ellijay with Neena and Fred for the Apple Festival.  By the time we got there, got faces painted, bounced in all of the bounce houses, ate festival food, got apple slices to dip in caramel and ate apple doughnuts, and browsed some of the local "artists's" wares, the boys were winding down and we realized we hadn't even hit the area with the rest of the big attractions...but luckily the boys didn't notice.

Nate went up the man selling marshmallow guns and asked for a demonstration...the man was kind enough to let Nate have some target practice, which of course means Nate came home with a marshmallow gun.  He did put the red one back and chose an orange instead - daddy was proud.

And this past weekend, after soccer, the weather was just too perfect not to stay outside so we stopped by Cagle's Farm to play at the corn maze.

After Cagle's, we came home and carved jack-o-lanterns, made chili, made a fire on the back porch and roasted marshmallows.  Nate said, in between marshmallows, that "this was the best day".  I agreed.

Well, that about sums up our last few Saturdays...minus a quick visit from CC and Papa Steve.  The only thing we didn't do this October was actually go to a Pumpkin Patch wearing something besides a soccer jersey for a cute kid photos...but we had fun and I am sure that will be just as memorable as a cute pic.  I just love seeing smiles on these boys' faces.