Fall Happiness

It's Fall. The leaves are turning bright red and orange. There's a slight chill in the air and I'm loving the season. We have pumpkins & fall decorations in the house and pumpkin snickerdoodles in the cookie jar. Oh, yes. It's Fall!

Jack started off the weekend by waking up at 4am to run a half marathon in Akron. (He ran a PR, 1:45! So proud of him. "Did he win the race?" - C) We didn't wake up with him, so once the boys and I got going, we headed to the FarmPark. They had a Fall/Tractor fest this weekend and we had a great time. Sarah, Scot, Evan & Drew joined us too! Lots of tractor-wagon rides, animal petting and tractor viewing.

They have a special balloon exhibit going on. Everything in the room was made out of balloons. Pretty incredible. And while looking in awe of the display, I was thinking, "Oh please don't let my child be the first to pop one of these. Oh please." Proudly, we left the exhibit in the same condition as we entered it.

 Colin making apple cider. This was pretty cool. Both boys could drop apples in the top, and Colin got to turn the wheel to grind the apples.

 This is what Justin thought of the pigs. He's turning out to be quite the city boy.

Sunday, we were off to the Safari Park. Checked out the small zoo area and pony rides for everyone! Tami, Nick, Reagan and Brooke met us out there and we had the best time!

Then it was jurassic park time. My strategy was to drive the car so Jack would have to feed the animals. =) "Jack, I get a bit freaked out, so you'll need to stay calm for the kids." - me.

And Jack really didn't have any fear. Just rolled the window right down and let the animals eat. After awhile, Justin started whining to sit with me and Colin. He wanted no part of this trip.

Jack did roll the window up when this thing walked by. (Note: Nick's car is in front of us and do you see that bison's head in Nick's window?!!! So thankful I wasn't in that car.)

A small sampling of the experience (turn down your speakers):


Have you ever seen a giraffe's tongue do this? Jack touched his tongue and said it felt like a cat's tongue. I had no idea that a cat's tongue was an okay place to pet. Who does that?

Then we all disinfected ourselves and went out to lunch. Good food and even better company. The boys had more fun than they look in this picture. We had a great time!