Fall fun: Halloween Safari and Camping

Last weekend, the boys headed out on a camping trip with the scouts.  

This was B's first campout since moving up to boy scouts.

They had a BLAST.

They played capture the flag and ultimate frisbee.

Enjoyed lots of quality time around the campfire.

And got up close and personal with the wildlife.

Yikes.

The girls and I also had some close encounters with wildlife.  Luckily, nothing as creepy as that GIANT spider.  We ventured over to the Piedmont Environmental Center for their Halloween Safari.  Such a fun night.  We met...

a box turtle, 

a firefly, 

a cardinal,

and a beaver (that was actually in the lake! which

made it too dark to take his picture.)

And then we hung out around the campfire, too.

 So cozy!

I'm willing to bet we had a lot more dancing

around our fire than the scouts did.

All this fun in the woods on a beautiful night.

And we got to go home to our beds.

After I woke the girls up from their naps in the van.

I wore them out!

Another Time Out

 What could make two grown women jump for joy like this???

Time Out for Women!

At the beginning of this year, I had several trips I wanted to take.  One of them was a trip to Denver to go to Time Out for Women with Amy and Barb.  But it was too soon after my trip to Denmark.  And I decided to back out.  Boo.

But.....instead I got to go to Atlanta with Shelley.  Yay!  We had a BLAST.  For LDS women looking for a fun getaway with amazing, uplifting experiences, Time Out is fabulous.  The speakers have this amazing way of making you laugh, cry, and feel the Spirit...all within a five minute span.  I love it!

With Macy Robison, a fun music theater girl

with a great story to tell.

"...four little, five little, six little babies of my own."

With Mariama Kallon,

a survivor of atrocities in Sierra Leone.

With Heidi Swinton,

author of President Monson's biography.

Look at all the bags I packed.

For one night.

Out. of. control.

Rockin' out with Jericho Road.

Oh, yes.

The Atlanta ladies were a little more hesitant to get out of

their seats and dance, but we eventually got there.  Woo hoo!

Jazz hands!
I'm taller than all four of these men.
Felt like a giant.

With Mary Ellen Edmunds.
This woman cracks me up.
I love her sense of humor.

Thanks to Andrew, Michael, and the seven other babysitters who helped make this weekend possible!

Oh, and I'm still waiting to hear Tony speak.  2013, maybe?

Fall Fun: Corn Maze, Laser Tag, Pumpkin Patch

We made our annual trip to the corn maze.  

 It officially feels like fall around here.

Andrew's favorite season.  He loves it!

We all had fun, but it wasn't quite the same experience as the last two years.  As we were pulling in to the parking lot, we saw some kids playing laser tag in the woods.  Brandon thought that looked AWESOME and had his heart set on playing.  They are hour-long sessions of outdoor laser tag.  The girls had no interest in that, so Andrew took B.  He LOVED it.

 They had sweet guns

with cool scopes.

 

Perfect 11-year-old-boy fun.

While B was shooting at strangers,

the girls and I found other ways to entertain ourselves.

 We took a tram ride around the property.

 The girls rode the cow train.

 Yee. haw.

 Whitney panned for gems.

 And was pleasantly surprised with what she found.

I had the girls pose for pictures.

 Cutie patooties!

And we checked out the pumpkins.

This was a hundred pounder.  Whoa.

When B's trigger finger was worn out,

we all met up at the corn maze.

We measured ourselves.

It was such a beautiful day and I was excited to see if we could solve the maze again.

We found the first couple of clues, but after doing all the other activities,

we didn't have it in us to finish the maze.  Boo.

We gave up and headed home before the meltdowns started.

Our lesson learned for next year?  Choose between the extras or the corn maze, but don't try to squeeze it all in.  I was just happy to have some fun family time on a beautiful fall day.

Girls' (and Brandon) Tradition: Conference party

Every six months, during our church General Conference, there is a session on Saturday evenings for Priesthood holders (men and boys ages 12 and up).  I use this as a great excuse to get together with some of my church girlfriends and our kids.  We eat, chat, dance, sing, and laugh.  So, so fun.  Here are some photos from this year's shindig.

Father/Son Tradition: Panthers Game

If there is a non-Sunday game on the Panther's schedule, Andrew wants to be there.  And who does he want by his side?  Brandon!  This has become an annual tradition for the boys.  They love it.  Here are some photos from their big night..

If you'd like to read Andrew's recap of the game, you can check out his Yahoo article.