Autumn

The way we start off the beginning of fall is Matt's birthday.  He turned 33 this year.  We celebrated with food, as usual, and 2 desserts because I could not decide between the 2.  A blueberry tart and peanut butter ice cream.  I think the ice cream won.  

While Preston was at school one day I decided to take Porter on a little field trip to a pumpkin patch.  It was so fun to spend some one on one time with Porter.  He loved seeing the animals, riding ponies and feeding goats but the thing that really won him over was the massive corn box.  He would not leave that place.  When I finally tore him away and we got in the car I took off his shoes and it was a corn explosion that I am still cleaning up. The most unique thing about this pumpkin patch is the tractor ride. You are given a tortilla as you load up into the wagon and given instructions on how to feed the cows. It was awesome! Porter ate his whole tortilla before we had a chance to give some to the cows, so he used mine.

Halloween- Preston insisted on being a power ranger again. This time he was robo knight. He refuses to wear the mask so it is hard to tell what he is. Porter refused to wear any costume. After several attempts of putting him in the most adorable dragon costume and an amazing pirate costume and him tearing it off screaming, I settled on skeleton pajamas.  He makes them adorable but I was still sad not to see the dragon costume put to use again.  We had so much fun trick or treating with our neighbors and walking around Matt's work. Besides the little girl dressed in Audrey Hepburn costume I would have to say these boys were the cutest! 

In November grandma and grandpa field came to visit and we enjoyed spending some time together the boys kept them busy with all sorts of Lego creations and chasing games. we also stopped by this amazing chapel in the woods. Pretty impressive to see in person.

Thanksgiving- this year we spent thanksgiving with friends and enjoyed not having to make the entire thanksgiving meal.  We all went to Preston's school thanksgiving feast.  Preston only liked the Ham and the bright green drink.  Not the usual thanksgiving items and I think he was somewhat disappointed not to see them at his real thanksgiving feast.

carefully crafting his pumpkin pizza.

A Trip to the South

Really this trip was not going to be all that impressive.  And actually we didn't decide on a location until a week before we went.  We had played with ideas such as Charlston South Carolina and Savannah Georgia.  Or maybe Chicago and Nauvoo.  But New Orleans was the closest and probably the one place we would not make it to if were were living anywhere else.  So, we started the trek. .

And 2,073 miles later and a total of 33+ hours in the car here are our adventures.

Since you have to drive through Little Rock and since we have lived here for almost 3 years and have not even been to our state's capital, besides a night driving through it, I thought we would venture to the unknown world for most NWA folks.  I had heard mostly negative reviews about the place but decided to go anyway and to our surprise we actually had a great time.  To our utter dismay we did not get a chance to go to the Clinton Presidential Library because of the Government shut down. (not a big Clinton fan but still thought that it could be interesting).  We did go to the children's museum that was absolutely fantastic and then took a scenic trolley ride and ate the best Popsicle I have had...EVER.  We left Little Rock a little surprised that we had such a fun time.

We headed to what was supposed to be our final destination.  New Orleans.  We drove through Mississippi which means I officially have been to Mississippi now.  It was a weird drive in Louisiana.  The highway was going over the swamps and people lived on boat houses and similar to Venice, Italy but a lot less impressive.  Just weird to see. In New Orleans we wandered the French Quarters (took a very very short stroll down Bourbon St.) Let the kids ride the River Front Market.  Watched ferry's come in and out, rode another trolley, toured the Garden District, enjoyed Beignets, Gumbo, and Jambalaya.  Unfortunately, our little boys did not enjoy this place so Matt and I decided a random trip to Destin Florida was next.  Off to Destin.

Beignets in New Orleans

Riverfront in New Orleans

Garden District, New Orleans

These trees covered in moss were amazing to see

Cemetary in New Orleans.  All graves are above ground because the city is below sea level

On our way to Destin we stopped at an alligator swamp tour place.  Sadly they would not let us take Porter on the boat (they were afraid of him I presume) and so we walked around the little area and just looked at the Alligators.

Gator park on our way to Destin Florida

 Once we arrived at the beach the boys could not have been happier.  We had so much fun playing in the sand, looking for seashells, and playing in the waves.  The beach was beautiful.  The sand was so white and fluffy and soft.  The water was surprisingly warm and everything was perfect.  We played two days here having the time of our lives trying to catch fish, jelly fish, and destroying all sorts of castles that we would attempt to build.

First steps on a beach for this little man

Immeditely destroys anything resembling a tower or castle.

Had an absolute blast looking for shells and playing in the waves

Jumping the Waves

 Atlanta was our next stop.  It was just a 5 hour drive from Destin so, why not?  Here we enjoyed The World of Coke, the best aquarium ever Georgia Aquarium where we saw a dolphin show and saw the largest fish tank I have ever seen.  The zoo was of course a stop, along with a natural history museum and an Atlanta History museum.

World of Coca Cola

Porter loved his first sips of Coca cola and can now actually say Coca Cola

CNN Studio tour

Preston was asked to demonstrate the weather.

Look at that cute weather man!!

Ahhhh!  The weather man has no body!

Atlanta Georgia

Atlanta Museum

Natural History Museum

Crater of Diamonds state park in Murfreesboro AR

All together we drove and made stops in Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.  It was my first in all of those except florida and I think one of the most interesting thing I saw in a couple of these states was the amazing cotton fields in bloom.  It was quite the sight.

Showing off their bike skills for Mississippians