Fall

Gosh, I need to get in the habit of posting more often so I don't have a month's worth of photos to go through when I finally get around to it.  About a month ago, Ryan and I had a much-needed date night and saw Jim Gaffigan downtown.  It was a nice getaway with lots of laughs.

 

We had LOTS of hot days this summer and the kiddos stayed cool with water balloons when not at the pool.

We spent a Saturday morning at an inner-city church helping clean up their grounds.

The kids did a great job and continued to work even when it poured down rain!

Sunday after church we had a very pretty day and decided to try out a new park.

There was one week in August where we had horrible weather.  There's nothing like being on the 24th floor when a tornado warning goes off and you can watch the entire system roll in.

The very next day, this storm went through.  CRAZY.

Big guy was getting so hot and sweaty he asked for a haircut - he even let them style it for a picture and then promptly messed it up.

I picked him up from school and he was SO proud he finally lost his wiggly tooth!

He even bragged about it to his pediatrician at their annual exams.

Labor Day weekend, Alan came for a visit and to help Ryan get started on our deck.

Phoebe found ways to entertain herself while the boys were hard at work.

YiaYia celebrated her 63rd birthday over the weekend as well.  

The kids LOVE to celebrate - especially when a cake from Dairy Queen is involved!

It was fun to have the WHOLE family together to celebrate.

While the boys were busy with the deck, we tried out a brand new park.

It was beyond busy but the kids had a great time.  This one couldn't even stop long enough to look at the camera!

It was quite toasty out so we took turns keeping track of the kiddos.

Progress!

Maverick had a blast playing with the drill.  Note he was wearing my sunglasses for "safety."

He lost his second tooth over the long weekend.

Even though it was sweltering outside, these two take after their parents and are ready for some cooler weather!

We hit the Zionsville Fall Fest and played a few games.

Phoebe came out the lucky winner!  Those beauties are named Arthur, Baxter and Buddy.

Sunday afternoon we got a very special visit  from our favorite people in Ohio.  This is Miss Avery and Phoebe was instantly in love!

She asked for a baby sibling but then said she'd settle for an older sister or someone who could "do her hair."  Ouch.

Here's a fuzzy pic of the fishies in their new home and Phoebe is modeling Maverick's prize from the festival - not quite as nice as a fish, but we're grateful we just won 3. 

More progress.  You can see Ryan is thrilled with all the manual labor!

We got a lot of rain the beginning of soccer season and in an effort to maintain the fields AND get games in, the younger teams got to play at the new indoor facility.  Phoebe's games got moved to the turf fields but when she heard that Maverick was inside and she was outside, her pretty little face turned into a pout.

Ryan was helping a friend prep his home to go on the market so once the ground dried up a bit, we went back to the new park and enjoyed having a little more personal space on this visit!

They even ran through the new water feature.

The following week, Maverick was the "Captain" in his class.  He got to pick his special task and each day got to present something different.  He enjoyed being the center of attention!

We've loved having two practices a week for Phoebe.  On Tuesdays, Maverick and I take a walk (while he rides his scooter) through Grand Park while Phoebe plays.  I wouldn't necessarily call it "together" time but he does slow down by the end of our walk so we can talk without me screaming!

We like to take breaks and watch the teenagers practice.

Or just goof off.

While waiting for his soccer picture, I tried to capture the leaves beginning to change.

The first weekend of Fall, we headed out for brunch.

It was only a whopping 91 degrees but we made the most of Fall by picking up some hay bales and cornstalks at the orchard.

(Isn't he handsome?) Hubba hubba.

The kids were out of school on Monday for a teacher in-service day.  We had quite a bit of rain so got creative inside.  They were SUPER helpful with recycling all our plastic bags!  Good thing we got out in the afternoon and saw Pete's Dragon with our neighbors!

We've been suffering from puppy fever in the Wallis house for awhile now.  Our next door neighbor came home with a golden retriever a little over a month ago and the kids often play with Aslan in his yard.  We'll continue searching for the perfect addition to our family as Phoebe is often distraught we don't have one to call our own.  The whole excitement about the fish lasted almost an entire week and now we're back to wanting a puppy (or two).