DOVE FAMILY

The other day, I went to Kohl's to look for a pair of sunglasses.  Yes- I buy sunglasses on the cheap!  You don't want to know how horrible I am with my glasses.  I sat on them, lost them, dropped them and yes- I am that mom who lets their kids wear her glasses.  I have found my glasses broken and in pieces in my purse!  Really!   So I have learned that I need to wear inexpensive but very cool sunglasses!
Anyway...I went to Kohl's to hunt for glasses.  I walked in and WHAM--- what do I see?  Christmas decorations on October 18th.  The store was decked out with wreaths hanging from the ceiling, trees decorated with red, white and silver balls.  Then....I heard it.  CHRISTMAS MUSIC!
Now..don't get me wrong.  I am no Ba-Hum-Bug of a person.  I love Christmas. But I remember the days that Christmas started after Thanksgiving.  You would go through the Halloween season, then get geared up for Thanksgiving and that same weekend...the stores would be decorated and everyone was in the holiday spirit.You just knew that the holiday season started after Thanksgiving.  What happened?

I just think that October 18th is a little early for Christmas decorations!  Goodness my kids don't have their Halloween costumes yet!  Slow it down  and enjoy life.

We love going to Homestead Gardens.  Whether it's for their fall festival, looking at some of their arts &; crafts, holiday train garden or just walking around- its just such a nice place.  Some of their items are a bit pricey and honestly you can find similar items at Target, Home Goods and even local craft vendors.  But you can't beat the ambiance of the place at all!
They finally expanded their fall festival and after going there for almost 5 years straight, it was getting a bit tight with all the people wanting to come visit and check out the activities, fall decorations and more.  We are so glad that they expanded their fall festival because we had a blast! We had a great time with the jumping pillow, pony rides, tractor pulls, hayride, music, pumpkin decorating and so many more games and great food.  We look forward to going back again next year!

Homestead had these awesome hats/headbands with spiders on top of it!

Matthew tried on the black widow hat!

Julia hanging out in the pumpkin patch

Run free ...  Let your hair blow in the wind!

Here I coomme.....I just love how much fun kids have on a hill!

Inside at Homestead Gardens-- the walls are bare because  they  are getting ready for  their Christmas decorations!

They loved all the different types and shapes of the pumpkins

I just love this picture of Matthew.  LOVE

There is a story to this picture....This is how it started....guess how it ended....

Ride that pony!

Last week we celebrated Aaron's big birthday!  My sister made some yummy Italian sausages and one was an "old bay" sausage!  It was soo soo good and I believe it was made by Roma Italian Sausages?  Anyway, back to the birthday boy!  We had a great Sunday celebrating his birthday with yummy food, good seasonal beer, presents, ice cream cake and FOOTBALL!  Happy Birthday and may you have many many more!

Happy Birthday!

Dylan, Aaron, Maria and Daniel!