The Perils of Fall...

(First of all, before I get started, let me just say that I chose this picture because, for whatever reason, I like it a lot. Some random lady shot it of us when we were in the mountains a couple of years ago. I have another version- probably a better version so I don't know why I didn't choose that- and yes, I could go back and change it, but quite frankly it takes a long time to upload pictures on this site and I'm too lazy awesome. Now that I think about it- the other version is way better. We look better and you can see more of the mountains and the fall colors. I really should have chosen that one. So, just pretend it is a better picture. Looking at this one I don't even like it. So, yeah, pretend it is a better picture. Secondly, at the moment, it just seems pretty cool that at some point in my life I was able to fit in a pair of jeans that didn't have a gigantic elastic waistband that came up to my shoulders... Now on to the post!!)




Sooooo.... I do it every year.

Every single year.


In the midst of summer I yearn for fall. As I'm out sweating buckets while dealing with the animals, or trying to peel my melted skin off the scorching hot seats of my car I think of the cooler days autumn will bring and I smile. And I must admit, I was exceptionally nostalgic for cooler weather this year as my body is pumping an inordinate amount of blood through my veins thereby increasing my internal temperatures to that of the sun. Plus or minus a few degrees, of course. Anyway, in reality I've never really been able to fully appreciate fall. Because, as beautiful as it is, it means that winter will soon come screaming like a madman from around the corner and knock us all out. I do not love gray days with naked trees. I do not like bundling up in layer upon layer of clothes until I am scarcely able to move my arms and they just hang from my body at a 45 degree angle... I just do not like it. But, during the heat of the summer I think to myself "You know what? Fall won't be so bad. It will be great to have cooler weather!" Then I go on about my merry way reveling in my optimism that the changing season will bring me great happiness and comfort.

And then it happens.

Fall arrives.

And I curse it.

Because, the truth is, we will have a few days of pretty, cooler weather and then the North Carolina weather patterns start kicking in. Which means reasonably nice days with absolutely frigid nights. Which means layering clothing less you want to turn into an icicle in the morning while walking to your car or, in my case, going to fend off 1000+ pound animals as they try to steal their buckets of food from me before I've had a chance to even walk through the gate. Which means constantly putting blankets on said large animals and then taking them off, and putting them on, and taking them off, and putting them on, and taking them off. I think you get the idea. Or, as the past couple days have been, it does not mean reasonably nice days with frigid nights, it means frigid days with frigid nights. And today it means frigid and rainy with a frigid night.

And so I sit here and yearn for summer. For the hot air that is so thick it is hard to breathe. For the bugs and the buckets of sweat, and the melted skin on the seats of my car.

Amusement

While in the mountains... we went to a little amusement park- to be discussed further at some random time in the future when I finally get around to it.



The boys (well, most of them) decided to hop on a ride or two.



This one was called "The Tornado" and it was basically a cross between the teacup ride and the giant swing ride you see at amusement parks.



You hop inside this little round pod which has a wheel in the middle. That wheel controls how fast your specific pod will spin. Meanwhile, the entire pod is swung around in a circle along the perimeter of the ride.



Did I explain that well? No? Sorry, I haven't had much sleep and, ummm, also I don't know how to explain it.



The boys loved it...



And it looked pretty fun too! As long as you don't think about whether or not the maintenance on a machine like this is up to date, whether your pod will unhinge itself and go flying over the edge of the mountain, etc. You know, things like that.



I'm pretty sure they weren't thinking about that.



They probably weren't either

Madeline

It's been a while since I've bombarded you with animals... so, there is no time like the present!



And before some of you start freaking out... she is not our dog!!



But she is quite precious, and she allowed me to snap a few photos of her before running off to find something better to do.



Not that I can blame her! I'm really not very interesting at all...



So, if you're having a bad day at work, take a look at Miss Madeline and hopefully her precious face will cheer you up!



Or eat an Oreo. Whatever works for you.

Kids these days...

The kiddos were playing with balloons-- blowing up balloons (which is difficult enough to be entertaining to those with minuscule lungs), throwing balloons, trying to pop the balloons that they were only able to blow up about 1/3 of the way (outcome? unsuccessful), making water balloons and finally........

putting balloons in various parts of their clothing in order to make themselves look like they had larger "parts" than they really did.



A. I wish I were joking and B. I wish I could say this was the first time I'd seen them do this.



At some point I realized that one of my nephews not only put two water balloons in the back of his pants.... but one in front as well. And then?



And then he decided it would be a good idea to pop the balloon in front. I'm not sure where else I can go with this story other than that. So there you have it.

Roaring Gap :: Kiddos

I tried to grab some shots of the niece/nephews... but seriously, how am I supposed to work with this mangy group of whippersnappers??



This is probably my favorite of the boys.





And this one? Well, it was sweet that they were sitting like that. I'm not so sure about that facial expression though :)

Backyard Football

Backyard football.... is actually inaccurate because it took place in the front yard. Speaking of which, why is "backyard" capable of being one word while "front yard" must be two? Someone please explain this to me. Thank you.



My eldest nephew, F , is quite the little athlete so he and DM tossed the ol' pigskin around for a little bit.



And see that garden in the background? The one with the deer fence surround? I'm pretty sure DM only had to lift the little guy in there once to retrieve a stray pass. Let's count that as a win, shall we?





Meanwhile, I'm pretty sure DM had to retrieve the ball from the "woods" a few extra times...



Eventually, little H decided he wanted to play. Unfortunately for him he ended up playing Monkey in the Middle for the first several minutes.



He's running!




He's ready!



And?




Yeah, ummm, no dice.




But look at that determination!!



Finally it is his time to shine.



It is possible...



... that he might need a little help on his technique.



But he still gets an A+ for cuteness.

Roaring Gap :: Two

While in Roaring Gap, I tried to snag a few pictures my youngest niece Miss L. But, she pretty much wanted nothing to do with that idea. We were able to coax her to stand and look towards the camera but our attempts at making her smile were futile :)



But as you can see, she is super cute! The entire thing only lasted a couple of minutes, if that, and while she did not smile once for the camera... she definitely did entertain us!






At one point Mama asked her to "show us your teeth"... meaning smile. Well, she opened wide and literally did show us her teeth!







And then she was finished indulging our fantasies of smiling little girls dressed in pink... On to more important things. Blowing up balloons!