Family Fun & Furry Friends

Fall is well under way and is off to a beautiful start.  It's already becoming quite a busy season this year and our little family has been enjoying all things autumn the last several weeks.  Before getting into an onslaught of pictures from apple picking, "fall fun" on the Fifer Farm (in a fabulous weekend trip to DE this past weekend!) and more pumpkin related festivities, below are some shots from some memories made back in mid-September and early October.

Just over a month ago, we enjoyed a trip to the Bronx Zoo with some of our good friends, Jay & Desiree Sholes and their boys, James & Ethan.  It was a great day for the animals who seemed to be enjoying both the sunshine and cooler temps. Here's a selection from that visit:

We could've watched these little tiger cubs play all day!

Praise God for that glass!

 Sweet kiddos :)

Our little prairie dog

 Maelee's favorite- feeding and petting the goats!

True animal lover :)

 

 Proud papas

Little teddybears :)

 Fun day!

And here are some more pictures from the Bronx Zoo:

 

The fun continued the first weekend of October with a special visit from Steve's parents, Mee-Maw & Grandpa!

 Looking excitedly out the window as the cab pulls up outside

   

 

Sweet morning stop at Alice's Tea Cup

Being read to by the grandparents is always more fun!

More goats!  Enjoying the "Children's Zoo" at the Central Park Zoo

 And again, enjoying ALL the animals- real and otherwise...

Playing with Grandpa

Helping mommy clean a pumpkin

Tickle, tickle!

What a great visit!  Maelee enjoyed many special moments with her Mee-Maw & Grandpa and loved having them around.  

Here are several more shots from their trip:

Tomorrow, our little ladybug turns 2 1/2 and we can't believe the 3 year mark will be just shortly around the corner.  She's growing so fast!  It's such a fun stage to have her participate so much more in things and she is loving all the fall festivities.  Many more posts to come with lots more pictures of those happenings!

Sweet September

September definitely flew by, starting and ending with fun trips, with more parks and play in between.  Maelee is becoming such a big "little girl" and while she has had her defiant, stubborn moments, she brings us more joy and laughter every day.  She'll sweetly say, "I love you" to her favorite people and animals, and when I cough will softly tell me "I got you" or "it's ok, mommy," or simply, "mommy has a frog in her throat!"  :)  So many funny sayings...

But I digress, and it's late, so here's a rundown in pictures of the past month:

Trying on mommy's shoes:)

Enjoying a short but sweet visit from Nana & Pop-Pop while mommy & daddy enjoyed a night away for some friend's wedding!

Beautiful wedding at a beautiful location, overlooking the Hudson River

Fun with Gracie, too!

Climbing around at one of Central Park's Playgrounds

And having a super fun time at a little amusement park in Central Park, Victoria Gardens

Enjoying the ride

The whole crew :)

 

Say cheese!

 

With sweet bud, Wesley

Learning about the game from daddy :)

Now she pulls up a chair for her and daddy whenever she sees football on!

Running around on our walk home from a dance class through Central park

At a friend's birthday party- loving the big bear...

especially loving the cupcake!

And loving the dancing :)

The last weekend of the month was spent in VA visiting Nana & Pop-Pop

Only Pop-Pop was allowed to comb her hair the first night!

Sitting in V.P. Nana's big chair

Getting bangs!

Not so sure yet!

Yeah, she likes 'em!

Walking along the waterfront

 

Helping with breakfast!

Taking in some of Baltimore's Inner Harbor for a special dinner with daddy after his meeting

A lover of all animals, real or not :)

 

Running around the farmer's market in Alexandria's market square

Best buddies :)

Enjoying some videos with Pop-Pop after dinner at the National Harbor

Beautiful views...

And interesting sculptures!

More fun at the playground across the street from Nana & Pop-Pop's

 And finally, some fun with the littler horsey before bedtime

What a great visit we had and the fun with the grandparents continues this weekend!!! Steve's parents, Mee-Maw & Grandpa are coming up tomorrow so we are looking forward to another fun weekend to start October off right.  More pictures of their visit to follow soon!

Here are more pictures from September in NYC:

And some more from September in VA: