Tractors and Pumpkins

Yay for fall! It is finally cooling down around here (a little bit), and we're soaking up every bit of fall fun we can. Last weekend, we went with some friends to Conner's A-Maze-Ing Acres, a farm that transforms into a corn maze, petting zoo, and pumpkin patch in October. We had a blast! It made us all very excited to be back at the Cabin for Thanksgiving in just a few weeks.

Sam had a great time playing on the tractors. His Papa Hal would be so proud to see him up there!

Sam, Kailyn, and Connor enjoying some tractor time...

Sam and Kailyn having fun in the corn maze...

Lots of fun to be had in the Pumpkin Patch... Sam is in this phase where he likes to point out and name everything he sees. This means that when he's surrounded by 1,000 pumpkins, he just walks around saying, "Pun-ka!" "Pun-ka!" "Pun-ka!!!" He could do this for hours :)

For lunch, Sam had his first hamburger. He loved it! It was hilarious watching him play with it and try to eat it.
Unsurprisingly, it took about 10 seconds for Sam to fall asleep on the way home. He was WORN OUT!

The Adventures of Sam!

Well, kids, FALL is officially here... even in Jacksonville! But we're a couple months behind on our posts, so before we get into Fall, let's recap the end of our adventurous summer... (and be sure to read all the way to the end for our BIG NEWS!)

For starters, back in July, Mom & Dad took a trip to California for Nick & Angie's gorgeous wedding amongst the redwoods, while Sam hung out with Chip and Phy at the beach.

Then Mom took a solo trip to PUERTO RICO for Dimitri and Viviana's amazing wedding. Puerto Rico was pretty awesome, the wedding was stunning, and it was fabulous to spend a weekend with some of my oldest and dearest amigos. I sure missed my Snuggleman, though!

Then, we jump ahead to late August/early September and our trip up to the River for Labor Day weekend. Sam was barely taking steps last time we went to the River, but this time he was all over the place! He took plenty of nature walks, and he loved spotting all the boats from the pier (and saying "boat - vroom! vroom!"), but then he slept through his first boat ride!

Sam had a big time playing in the water and sand along the shore...

...and playing with his sweet buddy Frazier! It was so nice to be up in NC for the weekend and to spend time with the Joneses, who are always gracious about sharing so many holiday weekends with us hooligans.

Then Sam and Mom trekked back up to the Carolinas the next weekend for another weekend of fun in the sun with Ashley and Brady and Ashley's family. Little Brady is growing so fast, and Sam really had fun playing with him (and dropping Cheerios all over the beach house).

After a day of playing too hard, Sam found some R & R in the hammock.

Sam's VERY favorite discovery of this trip was the joy of playing in the water from the waterhose. His happiest moment of the day was when we came up from the beach to rinse off and he got to sling the waterhose around and soak himself...and mom. :)

We're not done yet, folks! The NEXT weekend we were up in Boston to see Uncle David in his new environs. While we were there, Sam took in a few sights, starting with his Dad's old stomping grounds at Harvard.

Then Uncle David took Sam to the Boston Aquarium. Words cannot really describe how much Sam LOVED this experience. He had just learned to say "fishie" and make fishie sounds (imagine the little fish face kids make and then a sort of kissing/smacking sound that accompanies this face... Somehow Sam decided this is the sound that a fish makes... SO adorable). We spent hours looking at all the fish in the enormous tanks, the seals, the penguins, EVERYTHING. A highlight was the starfish, which Sam actually got to TOUCH!

Then we journeyed over to Charlestown to meet Sam's newest buddy, Evan Brennan. Evan was napping while we were there, but Sam got to meet Aspen, the Brennans' first-born :) In case you were wondering, doggies say "woof, woof!"

Before we left, Sam made a visit to the Boston Commons, where he explored the gardens and said hi to the ducks and swans (and make lots of quacking sounds!).

After Boston, we went down to St. Augustine for Megan and Trey's beautiful outdoor wedding, but we forgot our camera, so we'll have to wait for some friends to share some pics! The wedding was really special and a lot of fun! THEN we all traveled North the next weekend, where Sam stopped in NC to spend a weekend with Nana and Papa while Mom & Dad journeyed on to Charlottesville for Steve and Kelly's fantastic fall wedding. It was a great weekend, and I definitely got my fall fix!

WHEW. I'm tired just recounting the traveling tales, but there were still some adventures ahead of us when we got back to Florida...

Last Monday, Sam got tubes put into his ears. He's had approximately one thousand ear infections, and although we kept hoping he would grow out of it, it just never happened. So, we got the tubes before cold season starts again.

Sam was a trooper and enjoyed the wagon ride through the hospital (though, to be honest, he did NOT enjoy waking up from the anesthesia...). A couple hours later, he was back to his old self!

In the hospital, Sam had to wear one of those hospital bracelets, and Mom and Dad got matching stickers to show that we belong to Sam. The only thing possibly half as cute as Sam in that hospital gown is the cute sticker his teddy bear got, to show that he belongs with Sam, too...

Our traveling adventures over, we finally got to enjoy a weekend in Jacksonville this past weekend! We made a trip to the pumpkin patch to pick out some gourds. Sam had a blast. I think he loves Fall just like his Mama.

And, as promised, we have some NEWS to share. We're expecting another snuggler in April! I'm 12 weeks along, and our due date is April 23rd. No word yet, of course, about whether it's a boy or girl, but we do plan to find out - so we'll keep you posted. Ultrasound pics and belly pics will be posted soon (yes, there are already belly pics because I am definitely already showing...I think I already look about as big as I did at 18 or 20 weeks last time). We can't wait to welcome another member to our family!

Hope you are all having a wonderful Fall. We are grateful to have had a chance to see so many friends and family this summer, and we already miss you all. Come see us in Jacksonville soon :)