Rocktober

So it's November... and I haven't posted in six weeks! Probably because we took trip after trip AND I've actually been busy at work. These do not make for good combinations for an aspiring blogger. Anyway, if you want all the pics, you'll have to be my facebook friend, but in the meantime, I'll recap the following:

• Annual trip to Seven Springs
• Homecoming at Purdue / Chicago visit
• Pumpkin Patch Visit
• Halloween

So we kicked off the month with our annual trip to Seven Springs. Only Jim's parents and our niece, Kayla, could make it this year, but that didn't stop us from having a great time. I gave into Jim's whining on wanting to take the Jeep over my van which was a very bad decision in hindsight (he agrees.) Yes, it was fun to offroad all over the mountains, but the trip there and back...ay! West Virginia is hilly and windy. Jim drives 80. Do you know how LOUD that car is when driving through mountains with wind? OMG, it was awful. I couldn't hear myself think. It also cost a small fortune in gas (comparatively speaking) and I swear it meant at least an extra hour of drive time each way (unbearable enough with our "I'm not into TV at all" Audrey.) So anyway, I hope he enjoyed the trip. We had a lot of fun while there, but I won't be making that drive anytime soon!

Mary and Kayla riding the ski lift

The girls loved the petting zoo

Two weeks later we took the girls to their first homecoming. With the exception of our first year in Charlotte we haven't missed a Purdue homecoming yet. This year was the first we decided to take the girls. This proved to be a great idea, and fun was had by all. We also got to combine our trip into a Chicago visit since we flew in/out of ORD. We had dinner with Lucia's family our first night (can I tell you how excited Ava was to see her cousins?!), then spent the night downtown and shopped the mag mile the next day. The girls got to experience the American Girl store for the first time where Ava fell in love with the "Princess Doll" which was really "Rebecca the Jewish Doll" who had a beautiful blue/silver dress on. Another huge hit was the Disney store on Michigan which had the best selection of... well, everything princess and Jesse (from Toy Story).

We spent the rest of the weekend sharing our beloved Purdue with the girls, tailgating, and taking in a (rare) winning football game. Our great friends the Hopes and Varcas joined us for the game and dinner, and we got to spend a lot of time with our other great friends (and godparents) the Parkers. The weekend would have been perfect if we'd gotten to spend time with the Mathases, but they had to cancel day of because they were having their first baby that very moment!

We rounded out the weekend back in Chicago at our nephew Logan's baptism. Ava loves her cousins!

Last weekend we hit up a crazy-busy pumpkin farm. The kids loved it and it was 100% free, but man were the crowds heavy! The girls' favorite activity was feeding the farm animals. Too cute!

Last but not least... Halloween. I'll make that a seperate post. It deserves it, right?