Summer Blog Wrap-up

Just yesterday as I was walking up the driveway, I looked at Louie and said "Stop a minute. It smells like FALL!"  It was at that moment that I realized I was crunching orange leaves at my feet and summer was officially over. 
Autumn is by far my favorite season and it's even more special this year.  The first summer in our new house was great, but it felt a little harried and frantic. Looking back on our first three months here, it's a blur of boxes, weeds, and chaos. We're all really looking forward to things slowing down so we can settle in this fall and completely nest all winter in preparation for our new little one just in time for spring to begin.
As I was looking back through our summer photos, I realized there were a few that got lost in the shuffle of the last few weeks.  So, here it is - our Summer Blog Wrap-up.

We love having a yard. Most of this summer was spent trying to clear out the old so we can make it new in the spring.  It's still a work in progress, but we'll get there. The big news this summer was that we planted pumpkins. Actually Josie planted them in gardening class and when it was clear they were thriving, we put the vine in the ground. And my oh my how it has grown. Here they are tending to the pumpkins.  Note the cute little "Planted by Josephine 2010" tags that Tia made Josie!

These guys are now about triple the size of this photo and it looks like we'll have our own pumpkins by Halloween!

We do love our yard - especially our little bird buddies.  Here's a milk carton we turned into a bird feeder. 

And here's Josie going on a ride to fill it up with birdseed. I think that smile is a little devious, and you'll see why in a minute:

And here's Josie pouring birdseed in Louie's hair:

More fun with the Tonka Truck (and Polly Pocket drivers this time):

A view of the sideyard, complete with the "play park" transplant from Grandma & DD's house:

And looky here - we have a whole bed of Black-Eyed Susans that just sprung up out of nowhere:

Meanwhile - back inside - Josie asked me to peel her a mango one afternoon. So, I peeled it and left her on the counter while I went to answer the phone. Normally we cut it up into big chunks, but this is how I found her moments later. I guess she just got tired of waiting and went for it.  (You wouldn't have believed the sticky mess! So worth it though. We both decided a mango tastes even better this way.)

Here are a few pictures of Josie & Louie clowning around. This was actually from the weekend that I was on bed-rest because of the bloodclot. They kept me pretty entertained! If I remember correctly, Josie declared that the ottoman was a boat and Lou was rowing her to St. Thomas.

On the way there, they turned into pirates.  And here are their "pirate faces" to prove it.

It's apparent that pirates also giggle quite a bit:

(I should also mention that the last photo highlights another summer standout which is Josie's perpetually-skinned knees!  She's one "rough and tumble" little lady. And she's got all the bruises, scrapes and nicks to prove it!)
Last but not least, here are a couple of photos from Josie's first week of school. Her teachers sent us several photos, but I didn't feel comfortable posting any of the ones that pictured other children.  As you can see, Josie loves it!

So, with that, Summer - I bid you adieu.  Autumn, bring it on! We're ready for your leaf piles, apple farms, Halloween costumes, cool evenings, and all the sights and smells you have to offer!