Fall break

She loved taking a nap in this hammock.

 For Bryce's Fall Break we went camping down in beautiful Brown County. The trees were probably a little better the weekend before, but it was still pretty amazing. The weather was great the days we were there and the ground was dry so Daphne's rolling around in the leaves wasn't a problem. We were joined by our new friends the Dawsons, and had a really fun evening with them. Even though our darling girl decided none of us should get any sleep that night, it was still a good time. We didn't hike this time around, but we drove to some of the good vantage points, played with leaves and sticks and enjoyed the beauty of fall.

 On the way home we stopped at a pretty fantastic pumpkin patch. It was just on the side of the road, there was no hay ride or hike to get your gourd. Just plenty of beautiful, (and beautifully priced) pumpkins right there to choose from.

check out all those colors!

 

We also hit up Zaharakos Ice Cream parlor for lunch and made a stop at the outlets. I continue to be disappointed in the options for baby boy clothes. Every time I go shopping for little brother I come home with a new wardrobe for Daf.

October

There are so many things to love about October! Firstly, the weather.  It was 85 for more than a week here. You just can't stay inside when it's that nice.

At the beginning of the month the canal downtown is dyed pink for breast Cancer Awareness month. Of course we went to see that.

It was a lot easier to see the pink in person, here it just looks like dirty water.

We went to Kelsay farms with some friends where I fell in love with the Corn Crib. What a genius idea!

Jenna Gunnel & Jamie Thompson

 We played on the Hay bale mountain and network of tunnels

 Daphne and Macy did some pumpkin bowling

 We rode the Moo Choo Train

 And took a hay ride through the fields.

 This was a really fantastic farm, and totally worth the groupon.

Then of course there are the fall leaves. Usually I don't relish yard work, but I was looking forward to taking a picture of little missy in the leaves. As it turned out, I couldn't keep her out of them She just played and played while I raked and raked.

There's also general conference, apple picking and Halloween projects to love about October. I seriously think it's my favorite months.

Canal & kilts

 This weekend was Indy's Irish Fest. We're big fans. but before we went to the festival we took a little walk on the canal.  Daphne is usually content to enjoy our walks from the stroller, but this time she was determined to do all the walking herself.

 

 

 From her new vantage point she could much more easily check out the fish, pet the passing doggies and just be more cute in general.

 Then we headed to Irish Fest where we listened to Irish music and tried on some kilts,

 looked up our family Coat of Arms, won some silly prizes from a radio station, played robin hood,

 We watched a dog herding demonstration and petted some doggies,

 but then we had to head home early because those Irish with their drinking ways were a bad influence on our little girl. We didn't even get to see any Irish dancing this year. :(

Irish fest is definitely one of the things we'll miss about this city.

State Fair

At the state fair the highlight for us was watching the draft horse competition. Bryce has a thing for giant horses.
We also enjoyed:

helping Daphne pet some animals

Going on a couple of rides

And of course, seeing the giant cheese sculpture.

Last year, during my first visit to a state fair I was 8 months pregnant, and couldn't stomach the idea of trying crazy deep-fried fair food. This year at the fair I was 12 weeks pregnant and totally couldn't stomach fair food. Hopefully someday I'll go to a state fair when I'm not pregnant, or at least somewhere in the middle of a pregnancy so I can finally see what all the hype is about over deep-fried oreos and snickers bars!

Museum of Miniatures

There is a doll house museum up in Carmel I've been wanting to go to for at least a year now, I just never wanted to go by myself, and it takes a special kind of person to stare at tiny knitting baskets and umbrella stands for over an hour. My husband is not that person. I love him too much to subject him to what he would undoubtedly see as torture.

Luckily, Meghan came to town.

After a delicious stop at Red Robin we arrived.

I know the pictures aren't great, but this place was amazing.

And I just love this picture of my tiny friend standing on the stool put out for children, so she can see the tiny things.
Look at how perfect all this stuff is. It was so fun. I recommend this place to any girl who loved doll houses as a kid or has little girls of her own.

Meghan's visit was too short, and It's devastating not knowing how long it will be before I see her again. Our other adventures on this trip included the Children's Museum, the Drive-In and lots of lounging around talking. I miss you girlie! Have fun in Dallas!

Turkey Run

We have exactly one year left in Indiana, and there are so many neat places we still need to see before we go. This weekend we spent a few gorgeous hours at Turkey Run State Park.
Lots of beautiful scenery and some good hiking trails.
There was this delicious little gully trail called the "ice box." As soon as you take a few steps down a bridge, the temperature immediately drops 20 degrees. It was misty and quiet and felt amazing on the humid day.
Daphne was such a trooper for the first hour and a half, but she decided she needed to be held for the last mile or so.
It was so humid the camera lens fogged up every time we tried to take a picture, and it looks like my hair is wet. Nope, just moist and frizzy.

Having fun as a family
We encountered some wildlife...

And really enjoyed the day. One more Indiana adventure checked off the list!