Trip to the pumpkin patch

This past Wednesday Ella's Pre-K class had a field trip to the pumpkin patch. Ella was so excited, and it ended up being a great trip!
Ella of course had to have a pumpkin shirt for the pumpkin patch. Adam's cousin, Erin, was nice enough to make one for Ella. It turned out cuter than anything I could have found on etsy. I'm glad to have crafty friends:) 

I am so thankful I'm able to join Ella on field trips and leader days. I love to see her in the classroom and around her friends. She is super quiet, but I can tell she enjoys herself when she is around kids her age.  Mammy was also able to join us since she is retired now.

First up at the patch was the castle and maze. There is a bell to ring in the middle. Ella took a few short cuts and crawled over the hay bales. 

Next up was the "duck race" and"rat race."  Ella waited patiently in line for awhile to get her turn at the duck race. It took her a bit to get the hang of it, but she finally got her duck going! 

 Ella was smart and waited until all the kids had moved on so she could have another turn. 

 The "rat race" was so cute to watch. Ella had her first turn with her little friend, Wesley. She waited again so she could have a turn by herself. 

 Nick and Jude started racing her, and Ella was ahead until the end. 

Once this was over we headed to Ella's favorite part of the pumpkin patch, the corn maze and slide. She loves that slide and could probably go down it all day long. 

Before heading into the corn maze the kids got together for a picture. Ella has such a big class this year. There are a couple of siblings in this picture, but altogether she has 21 in her class. 

 After a walk through the maze Ella finally got to go down the slide. 

Lastly, we got to take a hayride to pick a pumpkin. This is my favorite part. 

 

It was a great day at the pumpkin patch. Ella is so lucky to have such a great group of kids to call her friends and great teachers too. I'm excited to see her have fun and grow in her last year of preschool. 

Evansville Half Marathon 2013

This past Saturday Sarah and I ran the Evansville half marathon! We have been training since July for this one run. There were MANY early morning runs where we were up and running by 5am. If you know me you know I am not a morning person so this was a stretch for me. I want to apologize to Adam for being tired and cranky on these days. Sorry:) 

The weather was not ideal. It started out cloudy and humid and about three miles in it started raining. I wasn't sure it could get much worse until it started POURING. Our clothes were soaked. My socks and shoes were drenched. It was not easy to run with heavy, wet shoes. The only good part was that the rain did cool it down. 

Here we are with the finish line in sight. I was so tired of running by this point. I was thrilled to see the end. My legs were hurting, and I still have a side cramp that has not gone away. Was it worth it? Of course! It is a great feeling to know you can accomplish this. 

WE DID IT!!

Since one half marathon in a month is not enough, we will be doing this again in two weeks. Fun times! 

Florida 2013

We spent last week in Destin, FL for a much needed vacation. It was a fabulous trip, and I took over 1200 pictures to prove it! It was definitely bittersweet, because this was our last September trip to FL. Since Ella starts kindergarten next year we will not be able to take her out of school for our annual trip. 

We left bright and early so we could get there at a decent time. It was a pretty uneventful ride down. You just never know how things are going to go with a four year old and two dogs. The boys are the best travelers. Ella has come such a long way since our first trip with her.  

Once we got there Ella wanted to head down to the beach. Luckily it stopped raining long enough for us to do that. She was not fond of the wet sand and was pretty much done with the beach until about two days later. 

I can't think of a better view. 

Our trip would not be complete without the golf cart. We started this last year and had to continue it this year. It is so fun to ride down scenic gulf drive on it. We also enjoy taking it to dinner and the outlet mall. What better way to cruise around the outlet stores!

This is my favorite part of scenic gulf drive. It kind of reminds me of California, or what I imagine California to look like. 

One of our favorite dinner spots in Destin, The Back Porch. 

Adam, Ella, and I made our usual trip to the aquarium. Ella LOVES the dolphins there. We also really enjoy the dolphin show. 

I love watching these dolphins do tricks and flips in the water. I think in my next life I want to be a dolphin trainer. Dolphins seem so sweet and gentle. It would definitely be a fun job!

After the dolphin show we checked out the rest of the aquarium. They have sharks, penguins, and sea lions. There is also an area where you can touch different things. Ella was too scared to touch anything. 

Did you know Adam could talk bird talk? I seriously thought this bird was going to start talking to him after awhile. They do have a bird that talks, but we couldn't remember which one it was. 

That night Adam and I took the golf cart to a restaurant called "Miller's Ale House." I think my favorite part of the trip is driving the golf cart to go out to eat. 

The boys fully enjoyed their vacation. I think they were wore out from all the excitement most days!

On our way to dinner...

Kudos to my mom for this picture! :) 

Ella favors the beach at night. I don't think she is a fan of the sun or heat (just like her daddy). She loved building sand castles in the dark. I was just happy she was having fun on the beach. 

Wednesday morning I finally got Ella and Adam to go out on the beach with me, and they both stayed out for quite awhile. This is when Ella would finally touch the water. She will only do things that scare her when Adam is around. 

Beach beauty!!

We went to "The Track" for the first time. It was a lot of fun. I think we all had fun riding go carts!

I think my mom was driving a little too slow for Adam's taste. 

Another night at the beach. I had never been out on the beach much at night, but I think it's my favorite time too. 

My mom was being silly, and Ella was laughing so hard in these pictures. Ella thinks Mammy is hilarious!

We finally got a little bit of pool time on our last day. Ella enjoyed laying out by the pool more than she did swimming. I think the water was a little too cold for her. 

One last time out on the beach before it was time to go home. It was a great trip!

 A perfect end to a perfect trip...