October

I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. 

- Lucy Maud Montgomery

October was a month of adventure for us. We welcomed friends whenever possible, and we flew across the country to see another dear friend marry her beloved. Our trip to New Jersey was filled with, well, lots of praying Daniel would make it on flights (he was flying standby), entertaining our darling third wheel, and soaking in time with my college roommates. We are so lucky to get time with almost all of them (one of our honorary roommates lives many countries away). We've all changed, but stayed the same even more.

Then came our first snow of the year! It was heavy and wet, and Mlada refuses to wear gloves. We had 95% of the necessary snow gear... so really not too bad! 

In the proper Colorado way, the weather almost immediately became lovely again... at least lovely enough to go wandering out in the almost-melted snow in jammies.

Our reading and snuggling time has also ramped up in a perfectly wonderful way. Emílie's quilt gets pulled off the back of the couch a hundred times a day, and I love it. 

 Oh, and of course: dance parties. Mlada has been breaking out the moves. The time change and lack of light in our day puts us all in a mood at least a few times a day, so books and music are our go-to mood lifters. If all else fails, it's naptime or an episode of Little Bear.

We also said good-bye, or rather, see you as soon as physically possible, to one of our favorite families. As hard as it always is to see friends move away, they are going somewhere so wonderful that makes it a bit easier. 

We attempted the traditional pumpkin patch visit, but oh my, it was cold! We waited a bit too late in the month, our early freeze had destroyed most of the poor pumpkins, and the wind went right through these little sweeties. We came home with one lovely misshapen guy and a little one for each kiddo.

Anni had a two day "autumn intermission", so Daniel took the same days off to give us some extra family time. We made it to the zoo and it was really the best time I've had there in a long time! We explored some areas we hadn't been to, and with Mlada's newfound recognition of animals, it was just all joy. 

And finally, the month closed out with Halloween. Anni gets to dress up for school as anything they had studied, so she was autumn. The tattoos were probably a poor choice since we are still trying to scrub them off a week later, but it was such fun at the time!

Miss Mlada spent the day dressed up as her Aunt Tinie in one of  her namesake's shirts from her own toddlerhood, which was just fun.

The crowning jewel! Our little Moana (dressed for a chilly evening in Colorado rather than a tropical climate), a wee little elephant, and our very own Space Cadette Colette. 

And that. is that. Here's to the next month of adventure!

Pumpkin Patch 2015

Remember how I mentioned we like our traditions over here? Well last year, we somehow missed this one. I'm not sure why, because we're far busier and life is far crazier this year. Maybe missing last year reminded us how much we like our little traditions. Either way, this year, we came, we saw, we pumpkin patched.

The girls got a big kick out of finding "sister pumpkins" just like them. They also searched long and hard for their own perfect pumpkins.

Cider Days III

 

We are all about tradtion here at the Volk house. Or maybe I am and I force these things on everyone else? Well, either way, we are all about tradition here. And traditions of the Autumnal variety? Some of the best kinds. It's my absolute favorite season, so I'm all about dragging my rather good-sized baby belly off to festivals, patches, and as many crisp evening walks as possible.

This was our third year trekking off to Cider Days in our town, and it was an extra special one with three out of four grandparents there and the departure of several family members on the horizon.

 

This was Anni's third year getting to ride a donkey, but Colette's first. True to her sturdy little nature (despite her tiny stature), she hunkered down and held on tight. I know she looks scared, but she really wasn't, she was just set on hanging-on (she was safe, there's a "seat belt" wrapped around her).

There was the ever-popular petting zoo where a goat tried to trim my hair a few inches with his teeth. The girls have a "pat whatever's closest and run!" method that is both adorable and hilarious. 

Despite living 8+ hours away, my mom always fits right into our family when she comes to visit. She reads to the littles, helps potty train, cooks (my deep freezer is almost full, it's amazing!), and is generally a petite whirlwind of love and efficiency. In fact, Colette called her "grandma mama" or often just "mom" the whole trip. It was pretty confusing, but, don't worry, Colette then just called me "my other mama" most of the time, so that clears that up.

Colette's favorite part of our outing? This awesome train. I really should have taken her back later for a second time around.

After some significant Cider drinking, we settled in to watch a cowboy/lasso tricks show during lunchtime. It was significantly better than the magician (think super cheesy, not quite good enough for a birthday party magician). Anni was pretty concerned for the first three quarters of the show, because he had said he was going to include the kids, and she didn't understand why she wasn't on stage being included yet.

After several failed hand-waving-in-the-air volunteering attempts, Daddy got her down there for the "roping of all the kids". Sweet success.

Happy Fall! Next up on our docket? Well, the pumpkin patch of course!