October fun.

Every year, Pendleton puts on a few really great festivals that have really grown to be a big deal.  (Meaning- they are very crowded.)

This year, the high school hosted a historical scavenger hunt.  We visited 13 historical places in Pendleton and even got some cool t-shirts to show for it.

The little ones didn't make it to all 13 (it was really hot!), but John and Henry held on and were rewarded with treats from the bakery and candy apples.

 Georgie is learning to love being an "only kid" while Henry and June are in school all day.  Mostly, she's bored and begs to leave the house to do something.  So we've had to set up weekly playdates for Tuesdays and dance classes for Thursdays when she doesn't have school.  She also gets to tag along on the occasional lunch dates we have with papa after preschool.  Not that she ever eats anything, but she does like being a big girl in the restaurants.  She's now probably gone out to eat at sit down restaurants more than Henry and June combined.  That really has more to do with the fact that we NEVER take the kids out to eat.  First, they are incapable of sitting quietly anywhere.  Second, they don't eat anything, especially if I pay restaurant prices for it.  Sorry, guys. 

 Georgie is turning into a fun kid.  There's not nearly as much crying as there was last year.  And she's pretty funny too.   Doesn't everybody want to strike a sumo pose when they don a pair of tights?

 June surprised us all by agreeing to dress up in Henry's army uniform for Veteran's Day.  That's Colonel June to you.

 The Botanical Gardens hosted Friday night concerts in the fall.  We employed a "grab a pizza and run around until it's dark" strategy.  And we always had a good group of friends there with us, so they kept an eye on the kids while I sat in my lawn chair feeling crummy.

 Brandon was away at conferences for most of October, it seemed like.  So he missed the big fun.  We scored some tickets to a Clemson football game.  Henry and June tagged along to see what the fuss was all about.

 We arrived early and made our way through the tailgates and craziness.  Henry was very worried about not getting to our seats on time.  But it was a very hot day and I wasn't going to go sit in the sun until I had to.

But fear not- we still made it in time see the the most exciting 30 seconds in college football.

Nay- the most exciting 30 seconds EVER!

June watched the game for about 10 seconds.  Then she turned her attention to her dolls and crawling all over the dad's of one of her friends, who used our 4th ticket and was a good sport about hanging out with a pregnant lady and some kids.

Did you spot June's vintage Strawberry Shortcake dolls?  She inherited those from one of Brandon's colleagues.  

Henry was very interested in the game until he succumbed to heat exhaustion that could only be cured with some ice cream.

Blue ice cream.

June did perk up when the band came out for the halftime show.  Everyone knows the marching band is the best part of college football!

We bailed halfway through the third quarter so we could miss the traffic of getting off campus. (You laugh, but it takes time to siphon the extra 100,000 people out of town!)  And it's a good thing we left.  My bad luck for sports teams had kept Clemson from scoring during the first half.  They scored two touchdowns before we even made it out of hearing distance.

Fight Tigers!