A little fall catch-up post...

It's been far too long since my last post, so here's a quick highlights reel for far-off family and friends. (You know who you are!)

In mid-October we spent a day in Philadelphia. A big meal in Chinatown, a double-decker bus tour, plus an imax documentary to please the kiddos made for a fun outing. 

Josiah and Hélène check out a menu...

On the bus tour...

Later in October, Halloween pumpkin carving definitely brought out the personalities of both boys. Josiah was disgusted, William found it delightful—and even gleefully tasted the guts (while his brother nearly vomited!). But what they had in common was both beautifully drawing their own designs and sticking with the job until the end. Josiah did 95% of his own carving too. 

It's pretty obvious who's actually disgusted and who's feigning disgust, no?

William did a super job with his drawing.

Both boys' finished products graced the porch for a couple of weeks. 

Halloween weekend itself saw the arrival of the wonderful Miller family! Seeing as we hadn't been together since before France, it was a much-anticipated visit. Our five boys went around the neighborhood as Yahtzee dice for trick-or-treating.  :)

And there was a LOT of football and baseball playing during the weekend, what with two sporty dads and five sport-obsessed kiddos!

I love Marcus (age 3) and Jesse facing off here!

The weekend before my birthday we took a hike around Chickies Rock County Park. 

I had to put up with these yahoos...

 ...and they had to put up with me organizing leaves by color. 

Hm. Guess it was probably an even trade.

Don't worry, I only engaged in leaf organizing to keep myself amused while extensive bug-capturing and creepy-crawly inspections were taking place. 

(William stayed home with Mama Caz and Pop Pop; he declared walks "boring and stupid" that morning.)

My 38th birthday morning began with Jesse across the country and a hard frost in Lancaster. 

The boys had been wrapping little things for me for nearly a month. They were so excited to finally see their treasures opened! I was the happy recipient of, for instance, William's spare nightlight, a shell, and several very old loom band creations (circa 2013). Ha! Hélène also surprised me by making a lemon meringue pie, so even though my "real" family birthday party was slated for the end of the week (when Jesse would be back and my folks would be visiting), it ended up being lovely birthday evening. 

Mom and Dad arrived in mid-November, a few days after my birthday.

Later in November William was introduced to the wonder that is a root beer float. He approved. 

Thanksgiving weekend we enjoyed seeing Lisa and Jason, Jaron and Bryn. For Thanksgiving dinner itself, I provided the venue and Tillie produced the feast! We also had the privilege of hosting two international students from F&M for the meal. 

In early December we finally sampled the delightful patisserie from the new(ish) French bistro and bakery in Lancaster, Barbaret. Yum! Everything was delicious and it brought back happy memories (but yikes, the price!).

And...perhaps I'll leave it at that for now. I hope to be back soon with a Christmas re-cap. Stay tuned.  :)