Pre-Christmas

 A few weeks before Christmas, Rudy and I went out to look at Christmas decorations. We visited a local house that always has a big display.

Rudy pretending he doesn't like the lights.

Then we went to Smithville and looked at the lights on the lake.

While there Rudy got placed in the stocks. I think his crime might have been bubble blowing.

The talking tree wasn't working but he went over to look at it and actually posed for a picture!

 We were very late getting our tree this year. But the weather was just a little cold the day we got it which was the most Christmas-like it's felt.

Rudy (photobombed) by our chosen tree.

Pretending to be Santa.

This is the first time we've had to put the tree on the roof. I don't know if this tree was that much bigger or my new car's trunk is that much smaller, but it survived the ride home.

I didn't get any tree decorating pictures but Rudy's friend, Jaedyn came over to help us (seemed fitting since Rudy helped decorate his tree!)

Halloween Fun

Recapping our fall and Halloween activities.
Saturday, October 25, we met our camping friends in Maryland at Milburne Orchards for a day of outside fun.

There were a lot of playground areas that we spent time moving from one to another.

We took a walk through a corn maze.

There were animals to pet and feed.

We actually got (almost) all of the kids into a picture.

This was an old school house. The figure behind the fence spoke and told about its history. Rudy decided he would stand up front and pretend he was the one talking.

Sunday evening was the Zombie Walk in Smithville. This year we had three zombies participate.

There was the usual parade at the boys's school.
Our second grade werewolf...

...and our third grade werewolf.

And then there was trick-or-treating. Two werewolves and an Elsa...it wasn't a particularly creative year for us.

Father's Day Weekend

Saturday this weekend, Paige came to spend the night with us. We decided to head to port Republic to the beach. The water was a little cold but neither Paige nor Rudy seemed to care.

Sunday we went to brunch for Father's Day with my dad and Bill and Renee.
The fathers.

The fathers and the little ones.

All of us.

The moms and kids

After brunch, we had to walk past the carousel to get to our car, so Rudy and Paige (and Bill) took a little ride.