Trick or Treating at Stonebridge

One of our favorite activities is the early Trick or Treating Stonebridge and Wegmans do about a week before Halloween!

Vampire R2-D2 from the back...

...and the front!

Photo op with a pea pod in front of Wegmans

Happy Early Halloween!

We ran into Lillian!  So fun to see friends wherever we go :)

One of the stations set up in Wegmans and run by Milton from "Office Space!"

Taking a turn on the fire truck!

Jr. Firefighter on a firetruck!!! 

I love these boys and their loves for trucks :)

Firefighter Graham and Vampire R2-D2 in front of the big firetruck!

The boys had an awesome time still, but I was a little frustrated at the longer lines we experienced.  Not as many stores participated (or ran out of candy early), so the lines got longer at the places that were stocked and ready to go.  We skipped some of the long lines, which the boys were sad about at first, but they got over it ;)  Can't wait for "real" Trick or Treating...

A Bear for Baby Madelyn!

As of September, 16th, Josh and I have a niece and the boys have a first cousin!!!

Madelyn Riley was born early in the morning and was 7 lbs 3 oz and 20 inches long!

When each of the boys were born, Aunt Michelle and Uncle Larry made them Build a Bears and dressed them and named them in a Minnesota-themed fashion.  Jackson's bear is named T.C. (Twin Cities) and sports a Timberwolves basketball jersey.  Graham's is named Paul (Minneapolis/St. Paul) and sports a Wild hockey jersey.  SUCH a special gift when we live in separate states!  So, Jackson decided Madelyn needed a special bear!  And, who doesn't love a reason for Build a Bear?!

This was the first time Graham helped!  Jackson was all about choosing the bear designed for babies since it has its features sewn on and no choking hazards.  Then, it was time for the stuffing...

Testing to see if her stuffing level is just right

Each of the boys got a special little heart to send good wishes to Baby Madelyn and tuck inside the bear.

There is a whole routine for this, of course.  Rubbing the heart on their heads, so the bear will be extra smart.

I can't remember why they rub the hearts on their cheeks...

Rubbing the hearts on their tummies, so the bear will always have enough to eat.

Making a wish and giving the hearts a kiss before tucking them inside

Time to give the bear a bath!

Then, it was time to dress her and take care of her birth certificate.  Jackson agreed we should look for a UVa shirt for her.  We found a UVa t-shirt, paired it with a jean skirt that had some silver sequin trim, Olaf slippers, and little hair bows to complete the look.  Jackson wanted to add shoes to the ensemble, but I showed him how lots of the shoe choices were either made out of a hard material or had glitter or sequins--not baby friendly things!  Graham approved the Olaf slippers, and Jackson thought they looked much softer.  I loved watching the boys put together a bear for this sweet baby girl they hadn't met yet, but were so excited about!  I also just was so amused watching the two of them make such a girly bear ;)

Here are the three cousins and their special bears!  

Pumpkin-ing at Great Country Farms!!!

After our really fun time exploring Great Country Farms for Pancakes and Potatoes before school started, we decided to take a break from Cox Farms this year, and see what else GCF had to offer!  The boys were super excited to go back :)

Posing by the cow at the entrance while Daddy waited in line for admission.

A cool spider decoration,

and, cool farmer skeletons!

We decided to try to fit in apple picking too.  The boys study the map of all the fun things to do while we ride the wagon to apples!

While we did find enough good apples for a little baking and eating at home, there weren't too many good choices left.  That's ok--we knew were late in the season, and it was fun to do a little picking.

Of course, lots of good ones were hard to reach.

Graham had to stretch up too!

It was a gorgeous day!  

One fun attraction this time was this T-Rex chomping on pumpkins!

This was a great show, and the boys all of us loved watching the farmer feed the T-Rex more and more pumpkins for him to squash!

Graham wanted his picture with the Pumpkin Princess!  LOVE it!

Off to see the pig races next!  Graham had a prime seat!

Off they go!

We stopped to roast a few marshmallows by the huge fire pit.  

Serious business

Jackson used some of his birthday money to buy rides on the cow train for himself and Graham!  They were SO excited about this, and we loved watching the whole experience!

Taking a turn in medieval Time Out ;)

Rope swing fun

Hanging out in the Bobcat

Seeing how he measures up!

We had such a fun day!  We did some of the things we liked best from our last visit, got to try some new really fun things, picked apples, bought baby pumpkins, and enjoyed Fall :)

Williamsburg

Well, didn't I feel like the most attentive parent when I wrote notes to the preschool two weeks in a row explaining that Graham would not only be picked up by someone else, but also dropped off by someone other than me?  LOL  At the most, we've snuck away just the two of us once a year.  Anyways, MORE awesome friends agreed to keep the boys for a couple of nights, so we could spend some quality time together :)

A couple of summers ago, we did a staycation in DC, and one of the things we loved most about it was we didn't waste much of our time with the actual travelling.  Josh mentioned the idea of Williamsburg, and that just sounded perfect!  It was pretty close, and there's tons to do!  We got Jackson on the bus and Graham dropped off at school as well as the boys' stuff down the street, and off we went!  After some caching and stopping for lunch along the way, we checked into our hotel and relaxed a bit before heading back out to explore William & Mary and Williamsburg.  For our first night, we ate at Berret's Taphouse in their patio area.  It was a beautiful night, and the food and drinks were perfect!  After dinner we wandered around Duke of Gloucester Street, which is full of shops, restaurants and historical buildings.

Standing next to the answer to a geocache.  You can hear water rushing under this metal covering.

Still has such a strong imagination... ;)

We walked around William and Mary for a cache or two earning our dessert at Retro's Good Eats!

We enjoyed sleeping in and not having a true schedule!  Ahhh...!!!  We got ourselves ready, and it was lunch time already!  Based on many recommendations, we headed to The Cheese Shop, again on Duke of Gloucester St. (DoG St.)  It was pretty crowded, but we snagged a seat outside and definitely enjoyed our yummy sandwiches!  The Colonial Parkway was our next destination.  

The drive really was beautiful!  We started in Yorktown at the Visitor Center to get a sense of what we wanted to see.

The water was a beautiful shade of blue.

This cave was part of finding a geocache.  Josh and I love completing Earth Caches because you get to learn about something you probably never would have seen otherwise.  In this instance, these caves are where some British troops hid (unsuccessfully) while under siege from the colonial army at the end of the war.

We wandered along a beach enjoying the fresh air and scenery.

We drove back down The Colonial Parkway to Williamsburg to walk around.  We parked the car and walked along a very pleasant walkway to the actual historical area.  We didn't go into anywhere specific, but we enjoyed just walking around checking out the historical buildings.  After getting our fill on history, we ate an early dinner at Green Leafe Cafe before doing some more wandering around William and Mary.  The first night's wandering was in the dark, so it was definitely more to look at this time!

A little fun with Halloween decorations on DoG St.!  We headed to the same ice cream shop for dessert to round out our day :)

Did a little hiking and caching on the way home to pick up our Buddy Bears!  We had SUCH a fun time, and again thoroughly enjoyed the fact that our getaway time wasn't spent driving somewhere.  We are really lucky to have such wonderful destinations so close to our home!