October

Ryan's birthday weekend is always a good excuse to take one last fall camping trip.  This year, the girls and I were able to head out one night before the guys.  This is a horrible photo, but it captures a crazy memory:  We pulled in and set up the tent.  Just as we were finishing, it started to rain.  We'd brought a pasta salad for dinner, but by the time I realized our utensils and plates were still in the van, a massive storm had hit.  The girls were such troopers!  We ate pasta salad with our fingers by flashlight, checking the weather radar every now and then to see how long the storm was going to last, and playing a couple games.  It rained all night, we got a little wet, then the guys came the next day and the weather was beautiful the rest of the weekend.  I love that my girls are camping adventurers with me =)

Happy Birthday Ryan!!

We went to parent/teacher conferences at Rooke's school, then snuck in a happy hour day date

Big news for Big Red - he finally got his braces off!!

Bridgette and Ruth hosted their fourth annual Fall Feast - we like to make fun of them for how much planning they put into this event, but it's actually great that they create a fun way for our families to get together and enjoy an outdoor breakfast together.

Bridgette helped me harvest the last of the garden: a bunch of dwarf carrots!

I recently learned about VetTix - it's an incredible benefit from Ryan's military service.  We have enjoyed free tickets to some fantastic events, including a Lauren Daigle concert!!  The girls were THRILLED!!  I had such a fun night with these four enjoying a great show.

The next week, I got to take Rooke and friends to see a pre-season Wizards v. Hornets game where we sat as close to the floor as we could.

Gretchen joined friends at a dance our homeschool co-op hosted

I love these neighbor friends!

Happy Halloween!  These girls went trick-or-treating together as boba tea.  We hosted our traditional Halloween party, which feels different these days since the kids are older and not as many dress up, but the adults still have a great time getting together and hanging out on our porch to pass out candy