October 2026

 I would offer that October is the best month of the year; with crisp fall days, changing leaves, and pumpkin spice everywhere, I think it's hard to beat! So we planned lots of wonderful fall activities to enjoy as much as we could this month.

We had lots of band activities this month!

Including parades...Rose walked miles and miles

Lots of football games, some were won, some were lost, but the band was great every time :)

And a showcase where Fleetwood High School earned the rating of 'Outstanding'! 

This was a great year for marching band and Rose is looking forward to doing it all again next year. 

On weekends we made the most of fall and got outside.

We took a weekend trip to visit the Kinzua Bridge. This old railroad bridge was hit by a tornado and now the remnants show the destruction. The leaves were also starting to turn and the sun was shining, so it was a great day! 

Instead of parking at the bridge we took a bike trail a few miles to the bridge and back, it was really fun!

We also headed out for a quick camping trip, since the weather was going to be rainy we booked a cabin at one of our favorite spots. 

We stopped at Trader Joe's on the way out for some snacks

And got lunch at a favorite brewery 

We had a great time at the cabin and took our pumpkins along to carve, of course, with power tools!

We headed out to dinner at another favorite brewery with pinball!

Rose found a comfy spot staying warm and cozy inside

While mom and dad enjoyed the moody fall weather outside

We also made it to Knoebels to enjoy rides and all the fall decorations. We met up with some friends and had a terrific (and long) day :)

When we weren't busy on the weekends, we were doing fun things during the week too. 

Rose had 'anything but a back pack' day and took her dad's packout

We got some yummy things from another trip to Trader Joe's...we really need one of those closer to home.

And we went to the Lego Store where Rose parted with some of her Summer money to buy a set she's been wanting for a while...she hasn't finished it yet, so I'll post pictures next month, any guesses?

Our three little kittens are not so little anymore and next month it'll be a whole year of having them :)

Justin also braved Dunkin really early to secure this cute bat koozie

Rose also painted pumpkins and had a little helper

And we celebrated an excellent science test with a trip to a favorite restaurant :)

We passed out candy on Halloween

And celebrated another birthday :)

Cheers to October!!! 

 Here comes Fall :)

We enjoyed the final few weeks of summer!

At the end of summer Rose gets fresh highlights in her hair and from the evidence below you can see she's pretty happy with how they turned out ;)

Our kitten crew is growing so fast and we love seeing them hang out together

Since we had most of the yard dug up anyway, Rose decided to plant some pumpkins and we got a great crop compared to previous attempts

Speak of yard work, Rose got to drive little bobby the bobcat again as we finished up smoothing out the driveway and yard. 

After several months the firepit area and most of the backyard project is complete!!

Now we get to enjoy it :)

And football season which means marching band in our home, started!! 

Rose is loving playing with the band and we love watching our girl :)

Rose had dental surgery so we can complete the final step for her braces to come off!!

Rose was an amazing patient (it helps to have a nurse mom) and her recovery has been awesome. Rose requested no pictures, but she really didn't have much bruising or swelling. We all took it pretty easy during her recovery. She built some legos, painted pumpkins, and snuggled kittens :)

We took a day trip to Shenandoah National Park! Although this is the national park closest to us, we have never been :( We planned a quick day trip to just get a few things done. Rose doesn't love hiking, but was a good sport about it and chose a trail with a waterfall. She also completed another Jr Ranger book and received her badge. We all had lots of fun and we'll definately be back. 

And since we were kind of close to a Buc-ee's we had to stop there too ;)

We spent our last September Sunday with a short trip up to Norwalk CT. We had briefly passed through when we came back from the Boston Aquarium to stop at a brewery. We discovered they also had an aquarium and the brewery was definitely somewhere we wanted to come again, so we made it back!

We all loved the Maritime Aquarium. Justin and Rose especially loved the seals and I was fascinated with an octopus! Rose touched lots of sea creatures including some jellies and sturgeon. 

We ended the trip with another visit to Spacecat Brewery and all had some yummy beverages and food before heading home.