Whitfield Pumpkin Patch

We wanted to get some pictures of the kids with pumpkins, so we dressed them up in cute, matching Halloween outfits, loaded up, and headed out to Whitfield Farms, which is about 20 miles north of where we live. We had a good time, and each of us got a few pumpkins to take home. We'll definitely return next year!
Brett has been out of town since Thursday, so it was all of us, minus him. He went to Dallas for the Neil Diamond concert. That was his birthday present from his parents. Today, he went to the Stars game. Except for the fact that he hasn't been with Ayla and me, it's sounding like it was a great birthday weekend for him!
Since placing these tiny pumpkins out, Ayla continually goes over and takes them all out of the basket that's on the floor. The other one is higher than she can reach. Another day or two of this and the existing one that's on the floor may be too high to reach, too. :+} She tries to say pumpkin, but it sounds more like "umpin."

They had horses, a donkey, geese, goats, and a variety of other animals. The horses were close enough for the kids to touch.

The long road beside Whitfield Farms. Obviously, not a heavily traveled road or else we would not have allowed our children to wander aimlessly down it. :+]

Jackson was sweet and wanted to hold Ayla's hand!

One of the few pictures we have that both of them are actually almost looking at the camera. Gone are the days when we could place them some where, and then just make funny faces to get them to smile for the camera. They now have a mind of their own, and they are able to get up anytime they are "over" our photo session, which happens quite frequently I'm afraid! :+}

Picture #2 where they are both looking at the camera. :+}

After the pumpkin patch, we had dinner at a recently opened cafe in downtown Milton. As you can tell, the kids had their dinner in their strollers. Don't mind Ayla with her leg propped up... she's going to be comfortable while she eats her grill cheese sandwich!

They were having a "Music in the Park" night off the boardwalk that fronts the river. We headed down there for a little while, but it was much cooler than we anticipated and the kids were pooped, and so were the adults!

Ayla is trying to "figure out" her glow stick!

Here she is "rockin" with Uncle Justin, who decided tonight that he was going to be the one to take her to her first concert! :+)

Ayla's 1 Year Pictures

These are the 1-Year pictures we had taken of Ayla when we were in Texas this summer for our visit. It was a week before Ayla turned 1. We just love the photographer, and we try to schedule an appointment when we're back for visits. Ayla wasn't in the best "picture" mood this day, but Terri was patient and able to get some really cute shots. As I've said before, this past year has flown by, and it's so hard to believe she's already a year old and growing more and more independent by the day!

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The above was the face we were getting most of the morning.
She was being a little toot!

One Sunday Afternoon

Ayla, almost 13 months old, and Jackson, a little over 21 months

Sarah and Justin recently bought and moved into a house. It's a few miles from us, and it sits on 2 acres. There are a few pictures that I happened to take while we were taking a walk on this particular day. The house sits in a small neighborhood, and most of the houses are water front. It'll be a great neighborhood for kids, taking walks, and riding bikes. It also feeds into the same schools that our house does, which thrills me. I am bound and determined that Sarah and I both need alternate "ears" when the kids are in school. Ayla may not tell me things, but by golly, Jackson's going to. :+}
Their house is a great, open floor plan, with plenty of room for their family to grow, not that it's growing at the moment, but when that time comes. ;+} Baylie's favorite part of their house is the pond in the front of their house. It's stocked, and I'm sure the fish are quite annoyed by the two brown monsters that occasionally take a dip. :+} Another great feature of their property is the great backyard that includes a really cute playhouse. It's the perfect size for the two of them to play in, and although they don't show much interest in it now, I am sure as they get bigger it'll become more and more exciting to them. In the meantime, we sat them on the playhouse porch for a few pictures, not to mention the fact that they happened to be matching quite well this particular Sunday. I would've loved to have had a playhouse like this when I was little!

Here Ayla is walking. She is still so wobbly.

She's even cute from behind. :+} I just love those little rolls on her legs!


I guess she was a bit hot after being outside for a while. Okay, so we're working on the "lady-like" tendencies, but at what other time in life is this type of behavior not only going to be acceptable, but so stinkin' adorable, too?!
After all, she's wearing a diaper cover! ;+]

This is the view looking down their street, that leeds to the houses that sit on the water. Justin and Sarah's turn in is just past the mail box you see in the photo. They've got a long, nice driveway, and their house sits way off the road. It's got really good curb appeal.
These two picturs were taken from the front yard of the vacant house next door. We were over there looking through the windows. It's a fairly new, really nice house, and I think Sarah is still trying to convince her mom or grandmother to buy it so Jackson can have his nana and gigi nearby.
You can see Brett's truck and my van in the drive way. They've got a two car garage, and that's a detached garage/work area. This isn't the best photo, but it does show how large their property is. The fence you see in the foreground begins their property line on this side of the house. Their property is just about completely fenced in on all sides.

This is a picture of part of the pond that sits in their front yard. There is a lit fountain that is really pretty at night when it's lit up and running. The pond is a nice feature and even with the pond taking up all that area, the grassed part of their front yard is still really large. Jackson loves feeding the fish. When you drive up the driveway or walk up to the pond, you can see all the fish swimming in your direction, so I guess that means they're trained fish! :+}