Autumn Activities

And we just keep chugging along!  Kendra had an opportunity to play with the high school marching band.  I think this was a way of trying to "recruit" the middle schoolers into sticking with band? and the fun thing is that the middle school band teacher and the marching band leader are MARRIED so they could coordinate it!  How cute is that?  Anyway, that day was FREEZING but Craig and I braved the cold and watched her play, which was very fun!

She's right in the middle, wearing a black vest over a yellow sweatshirt

I don't really think the recruitment part of the plan worked, though, because Kendra came home and announced that she had a lot of fun and now wants to join the color guard!  You can lead a horse to water...

Three of our kids got to go to Jump! for their church activities, and they had a fabulous time!

Bentley discovers that dunking is more fun with a trampoline

I feel like this sort of sums up Ryder's existence...

Camille walked into the living room the other day and announced, "I gorilla!" and began beating her chest.

I thought the gloves on her feet really sell this.  That and the CrAzY eYeS!

I tried to get over my fear of monkeys enough to appreciate this gesture.

And Ryder and Colton finished their baseball season!  They were undefeated, which made them very happy!  And they had a lot of fun, which made ME very happy!  So it was an all-around win!

Yay for the Purple Panthers!  (Colton and Ryder, in case you can't find them, are the two with jackets!)

That last game was pretty chilly, so I'm glad the season is done.  And I'm really looking forward to sleeping in on Saturdays again!  Also of note from the season, Camille became friends with another little sister who had to come to her brother's games:

Emma's parents were very nice, too, and offered to invite us to their homestead where they have chickens and goats, so I'm excited for that!  I love other people's farms!!!

AND, Ryder scored a run at that last game and Craig captured it on film, so that was great:

Unfortunately, the team's end-of-year party was held on Sunday at a brewery, so we decided not to attend.  This made Ryder extremely mad, so to try and make it up to him, I told him we'd have a family game night instead.  Since I generally don't really enjoy playing games, this was a big deal and I tried to make it really fun and not be my normal curmudgeonly self.  And, of course, we had a great time so now I have to try and do better more often.  {Groan.}  But-- really-- yay for family fun!

Playing "Watch Your Mouth"

(And Bentley was happy because his new sweatshirt finally arrived!)

After it being so cold last week, the weather warmed up again and we've been getting highs well into the 70s.  And I LOVE IT SO MUCH.  I've been trying to take the kids to the park and just enjoy it before it dips back down again.

How's this for idyllic?

Everything is just so pretty right now!  How was autumn ever not my favorite season?