Wild Animal SAFARI!

We took advantage of having Joe and Sawyer home on Friday, and drove down to Pine Mountain, Georgia.  They have a cool place we kept hearing about called Wild Animal Safari, and we decided to finally make the trip (it's about a 1hr 40min drive)!  We're SO happy we did; it's totally worth it!  Plus it was a spectacular day to spend outside! :)

We rented one of their zebra painted vans, so we would't have to worry about our car going through (the animals are very slobbery, rub their horns up on the car, and the pellets we had to feed them were very messy all over the car floor- so we're VERY glad we made that choice)! 

Llamas, cows, giraffes, zebras, bison, deer...  it was VERY cool to get slobbered on by so many animals!

Hunter was generally timid, but Joe finally got Hunter to warm up to this nice white cow guy.  Then he was fairly comfortable with it (especially with the zebras- they were his favorite)!

The giraffes and zebras were my favorite- and I think most of the boys said the same.  SO FUN!!! :)

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving this year!  We got together with a group of other young families (5 families) at our friends, the Hilton's, home.   The weather was spectacular (66*, no wind, sunny), the FOOD was spectacular, and the COMPANY was spectacular! :)  All the 'guys' got to play football, all the kids had a great time playing, and all the moms had a great time prepping food and talking about Twilight.  Haha :) 

The Thanksgiving table: OUTSIDE!  It was beautiful. 

COLORS

The colors are SO SPECTACULAR this year!  These are just taken outside our front door. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

5.6

Me and my awesome friends, Brittany & Susie, ran a 5.6 mile trail race on November 5th!  It was almost all hills and rocks, but we did it!  With no injuries!  Hooray!  Before this, the only length I'd run for a race was a 5k.  It was fun to challenge myself, training the past 6 weeks or so!

I came in 7th in my age category, but I think it was only out of about 10 or so...  ;)  I had an 11 minute mile, which is good for me, since all I wanted was to be under a 12 minute mile (which had been my general trail running time, with all the hills and roots and rocks).  

Howdy, howdy, howdy!

Buzz & Woody had a GREAT Halloween!  Here they are at a very fun trunk-or-treat at church!

Sawyer carved his pumpkin, while Hunter opted to paint some little ones.

Hunter wasn't a fan of the SLIME, but Sawyer loved it.  Just mix corn starch with water until you get this strange mixture that changes from liquid to solid while you play with it!

Hunter and his best bud, T, trick-or-treating on Halloween night.

Hunter was not shy at ALL about getting up to the doors!

We forgot to have someone get a picture of us, so I took a quick shot... that makes Joe look like his eye is puffy... oh well!  Joe dressed in his 80s attire (acid wash jeans & members only jacket), and I was a butterfly (pretty decorated wings across my back & an antennae headband)! :)

End of Soccer...

 It went SO FAST this year, but soccer is officially over.  Sawyer was, once again, the star of the team (so proud- that kid is seriously talented).  I wish there was year round soccer so he could keep up his skills!!  Funny story: At the last game, one of the other player's 12 year old brother was sitting next to me on the sidelines.  Sawyer wasn't really getting in the game as much as normal, and both of us commented on it, and then tried to speculate if he was sick, or hurt, or why he wouldn't be playing as aggressively.  Then the boy says, "Maybe he's just tired of being looked up to as a role model."  Hahaha :) 

Coach Hunter (can't tell you how confusing that was, every time I yelled at my baby Hunter...), and assistant coach Joe!

Farm Fun!

We found a new touristy farm to go to this year called Jaemor Farms, NE of Atlanta.  It was really cute.  we loved the views, the duck races, apple cannons, big slide, and loads of goodies to purchase.  The only things lacking:  there was no hay on their 'hay ride' (we were in a cage on wood benches- it was weird).  But at least the views were beautiful.  Also lacking?  Apple orchards.  BIG pumpkin patch that was cool, but no apple picking.  But plenty of apple varieties to purchase in their store.  Overall a good visit, but we'll probably head back to Ellijay in the future! :)