It's not every day that you get a text with a picture of your family with a llama! I was at choir practice when Darren texted me the picture below. Apparently the woman across the street has several llamas and she was taking one of them for a walk in our neighborhood. Darren drove by and saw her walking the llama and had to stop. Lilly was a little uncertain around the llama (as you can see from her face), but Darren was all about it. You can't get much more random than that!
This beautiful little smile has a way of making even a tough day or tough week melt away. I love my special "mommy/Lilly" time when Darren is working at the bar, and tonight was no exception. After a fun bath, Lilly had a special ice cream cone and we curled up with a little show before bedtime. I've felt pretty defeated at work this quarter, so to come home on a Friday night and get special snuggles from this little peanut is exactly what I needed.
Our wonderful neighbors hosted a Labor Day BBQ and it was such a blast. It was a beautiful day so the kids all played outside together while the adults enjoyed good conversation and drinks. I both love and hate my phone, and today I wasn't carrying it around all day, so I only had about 3 pictures. When these sweet girls all curled up on the hammock together, I had to snap a picture. There are girls ages 2-7 in this hammock all playing perfectly together and having the best time. I will continue to say it in every blog: I am so incredibly thankful for the amazing friends we have in our lives.
Our first stop was the "corn crib", which is always a big hit with the kids. We had the place to ourselves since we got there right when it opened. It was an Amber Ridge kiddo corn crib!
Lilly was having the best time running through the corn, burying herself and her friends, making corn "cakes" to share. Watching her play was so much fun for us!
Here is a picture of the entire crew :-)
Funny faces! Haha!
I think this is my favorite picture from the bunch.
One of the other favorite activities was the giant slide. We were lucky to get to this before large crowds as well, so the kids were able to go down over and over. Darren took Lilly a few times and then I took her. We learned that you could go a lot faster if you picked your feet up, but it made it hard to balance at the end! I love Lilly's face in these pictures; her smile is plastered on her face. I love that so much of my joy now comes from Lilly's joy, and I mean that in the most positive way possible.
Ryley and Lilly as the farmer and the farmer's wife :-)
Getting Lilly to stand still for a picture with so many fun things to do was not easy, but getting her to stand with Zoey made it better. Here's a classic Lilly/Zoey hug (i.e. choke hold).
They had a new activity this year: a pipe swing. It was a smart idea because a lot of kids could fit on it at once and it just rocked back and forth and could go very slow or really fast. The girls really enjoyed swinging together.
It seems like we timed everything perfectly because almost everything we went to was empty and our "Amber Ridge" kids just took over! The next takeover was the bounce pillow. It was hard for Lilly to get up at first, but once she figured it out, she was a bouncing machine! It was nice that it was so open so we could see the kids better than a normal bounce house.
They also had a new activity that looked sort of like hamster wheels! You climbed in and tried to walk forward and move the tube on a track. It was not easy to do and Lilly lost interest quickly.
Rare family photo! It really is hard to get good family pictures! We either forget, Lilly isn't interested or we have no one to take the photo. It was nice of Kate to offer; she got a great show :-)
While we were waiting for the train, the kids took another turn on the swing. Darren really has a knack for catching beautiful pictures of Lilly! I am so glad we got the nice camera and he likes taking pictures.
The kids were all very excited to ride on the train together. Of course, Lilly wanted to ride with Zoey and she has no interest in sitting with Darren or I, so she sat with Mr. Jason instead :-) Jason somehow ended up sitting in the back with all of the kids! Life doesn't get much better than all of these smiles (whether on the inside or the outside, haha!)
Lilly also sat with Mr. Jason on the hayride on our way to get our pumpkins. Having other adults that love Lilly around her all the time. It's amazing how comfortable she is with our friends and how we all end up helping each other and watching out for each other's kids when we are together. I can remember my neighbors growing up being very close with our family and I am so glad that Lilly is getting that same sort of upbringing.
While we were on the hayride going through the woods, Lilly was telling us all about big spiders or something similar and she was being so expressive and animated that Darren had to take some pictures. I wish I had a video of how she was talking because it was so adorable. She is so strong-willed and opinionated now, so she has a lot to say and wants to make sure she is heard!
We spend some time walking around the pumpkin patch and picked our family's pumpkins :-)
On our way back from the pumpkin patch, I got some cuddles with my Lilly :-) I could tell she was starting to get tired, so Mommy snuggles were a must.
I can't remember why exactly Lilly was not wearing any pants here, but she was dancing around on the back patio without pants on! It's a Kodak moment, right??
Our "cool girl" was shopping at Harris Teeter with us wearing her sundress and shades :-) No Harris Teeter trip is complete without a cookie.
It has been absolutely amazing to watch Lilly progress on her "big girl" bike. Once she moved from her tricycle to this bike, it felt like she was really a little girl and so much more independent on the bike. She picked it up very quickly and really enjoys going on bike rides now! I have been so impressed but how well she pedals, steers and maintains her balance. Going on a bike ride has become one of her favorite evening activities, especially if friends are going too.
Darren was at the Stotts with Lilly and the girls were drawing with chalk on the back patio. Lilly's face was covered in chalk, so Darren asked her if she was eating the chalk. She said, "No..." and he looked at her, and then she said, "Yeah..." It's kind of hard to deny it when the evidence is all over your face!
We had a great time celebrating Kristin's birthday! It's hard to believe "baby" Kristin is TWO! I remember bringing Lilly to the hospital to hold her when she was first born :-)
Kristin got a new dress up outfit for her birthday, so Lilly wanted to dress up too. Here is Lilly, Kristin and Margo's beautiful daughter Lydia.
After dinner, Lilly dressed up again with the "big girls" this time. Allie and Addie are always so sweet with Lilly.
It was a great month! We love fall and so does Lilly. Next month is track out so there are many more adventures to come!
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