Recap.

Yesterday was the first day of fall... celebrated with caramel cinnamon rolls and bacon for breakfast for my babes. Second day of fall... slow cooker bbq pork chops for dinner. We plan to visit home next month... it's already pretty cold there, so I am definitely looking forward to hoodies and crunchy leaves and cider at the pumpkin patch! I think it's the only thing that will make the Texas faux-fall tolerable. We will have one chilly morning with nice breezes and leaves falling, get out fall clothes and by the afternoon it's almost 100 degrees. Not cool at all, mother nature. Very much looking forward to seeing family and close friends, and especially how beautiful it is there this time of year. Our post is brown, colorless (and I'm serious... everything is brown or tan and it's either dead grass or dust).. I'm ready for trees in different colors, beautiful buildings, bricks.

I never thought growing up that I would miss Leavenworth, KS if I left.

The funny thing is... that while I'm anxious to visit there, I cannot imagine moving back. It makes me sad to say so. It just feels like it would be living backwards, not to say I couldn't imagine living in the area. Even the thought of it makes me feel claustrophobic. MY ideal would be spending 9 months out of the year in a different state, then spending fall and the first part of winter at home.

Little man started school. It's going well, I miss him during the days but we have finally gotten past the rough adjustment patch and developed a routine. Loving lunch with him every Friday... kindergarten is cute. :)

 Our first day of school tradition. :)

This followed our first trip to the Gulf! 

And then our little girl turned 4 years old! How time flies... we celebrated with a much smaller than normal party, but it was perfect for her. She wasn't feeling overwhelmed, it was just us, her best friend and their family and another couple who are family friends. Taco bar, Dora theme... sopapilla cheesecake. 

Individual 7-layer dip.

My princess, her bff and their matching "Best friends" necklaces. :)

The day after the shin-dig, we celebrated our baby's birthday and said goodbye to summer and made our yearly trip to Sea World!

                                   

                               

And now we are back to reality... till it's time to go home and visit. I am so ready for our pumpkin patch trip! I found my kid's first year scrapbooks yesterday... including our first trip to the pumpkin patch when my son was just 5 months old. I think it's my favorite of our family traditions. :)

And I've really got nothing else. Sorry for the vague recap that relies almost completely on the "one picture is worth 1,000 words" thing. So I'll just leave with a cute picture of my kiddos and my sweet girl with her bff at story time this week.

Can you tell we're ready for a season change?

Our sweet girls in their matching bff shirts and necklaces.