A Fresh Rain

The other day, we got a little bit of rain. Adam got home from work shortly after it stopped. We were outside enjoying the clean fresh air and found a butterfly with a broken wing that had not faired the rain so well. So I, being always in search of the perfect picture, wanted to snap some. At first, we had a hard time keeping Ben's eyes on the butterfly. Finally we let it crawl on his finger which got his attention because he tried to squeeze it! So I took it back, but this time, his eyes were on the colorful wings. So Adam was able to snap a couple of pictures before Ben lost interest again.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

I just LOVE this time of year! The cooler weather, leaves beginning to change, all the fun fall festivals and events, not to mention Halloween and the search for the "great pumpkin". On Saturday, we took a little day trip to Calera, AL (between Birmingham and Montgomery) where we rode a 97-year-old train complete with red caboose out to a pumpkin patch and hay ride.




Ben wasn't even scared of the whistles and screeching; he was just really curious about what was going on. He even got to meet the conductor and wear his hat! (Naturally, the conductor's pocket watch went straight into Ben's mouth just after the picture was taken!)





When we arrived to the patch, there were lots of people waving and welcoming us. We had a great time searching for the pumpkin that was the most round and smooth for carving and had the longest stem. It didn't take us long to find the perfect one.





Ben had fun seeing all the bright orange everywhere. Adam would say that is to be expected from the littlest Vols fan though! :-) He took a little taste of some hay and met a scarecrow in the patch too!




While at the patch, we also rode the hay ride around a field and got a nice view of the grapevines.




Then it was time to go! On the way back to the station, we rode in an outside cab of the train. Ben took in all the sights and sounds and just seemed to thoroughly enjoy the ride. It was so cute to watch him with the wind on his face swing his little bare feet while his Daddy held him tight!





The ride took us through some pretty scenery, including a pond and a golf course where we saw a bunch of turkeys. They ran as soon as the train went by. They must know what other holiday is coming up!




Fall has just got to be the best time of year!

Camping at Moundville Archaeological Park

This past weekend we had a nice little adventure at Moundville Archaelogical Park. We enjoyed the beautiful fall weather by going camping with our good friends and neighbors, the Holleys. It was all "firsts" for little Ben and he seemed to love the outdoors, especially the fire, but none of us enjoyed the train that came about every hour less the a 1/2 mile away. We did all the normal camping stuff--made smores (Ben watched), fought the raccoons and bugs off, etc.



Saturday morning we hiked up one of the mounds for a beautiful view of the other mounds. Unbeknownst to us, Moundville got its name from these mounds which were built by southeast Native Americans around A.D. 1000-1500. Apparently, the mounds were used for civic and ceremonial structures and homes of nobles. If you'd like to know more, check out their website at moundville.ua.edu.




After that, we took a hike to the Black Warrior River
and even saw a couple of deer. (They were too fast to snap their picture!)



This past week, Ben also experienced solids for the first time. He loved it and kept trying to grab the spoon out of my hands!