Pumpkin Patch Fun!

Saturday, 10/18, we headed up to Bert's Pumpkin Patch with some of our friends/kids from our church small group.  As usual, it was really busy with LOTS of pumpkins!  Connor loved running around with his friends touching all of the pumpkins.  What a challenge it was to get some pictures of them standing still!

After we picked out our pumpkins, we headed to downtown Dahlonega to the gold rush festival that included tons of people and great gifts!  We lunched with everyone at The Smith House - which has amazing southern food!  I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone venturing through north Georgia!

Here are some photos from our day excursion!

Chattanooga Trip

Keith, Connor, and I headed up I-75 to Chattanooga for 2 days/1 night for a mini-vacation!  Connor slept the whole ride there (1 1/2 hours) so he was ready to play when we got there!

We started out at the Creative Discovery Museum where Connor climbed in the slides, played with water, and explored throughout different exhibits.  One of the exhibits even took us up an additional 3 floors to an observatory where we could see all of the surrounding mountains!  

We then headed to the Tennessee Aquarium, which is divided into two buildings - River Journey and Ocean Journey.  I won't lie - I had super high expectations for the aquarium, based on what I had heard from people, and I was a little disappointed.  The only big fish at the ocean journey were sharks (no dolphins, whales, etc)... Maybe we are just spoiled with the Georgia Aquarium nearby?  Either way, we had fun!  Connor enjoyed learning to say "fish" and liked to stand right next to the glass and try to pet the fish as they swam by.  In one of the exhibits, you could touch the big fish!  Keith and I were a bit scared but Connor LOVED it - he kept touching them with no fear!

After dinner at a local brewery/grill, we walked around downtown Chattanooga - what a quaint big/little city!

The next morning, we walked to and across the Maple Street Bridge to an awesome donut shop, Julie Darling Donuts, where we sampled a few delicious donuts.  Connor's favorite was the oreo donut - specifically, the icing and oreos... not so much the plain donut part.

I would definitely recommend Chattanooga for kids Connor's age - we had so much fun and it wore him out (yay)!  We hope to go back in a few years when we can hike and do the train stuff with him!

18 months!

Connor is 18 months old tomorrow!  What a crazy, wild ride it has been!

Since I last posted, he got Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease - which is 7 days of fevers, soar throat, body rashes, and being stuck at our house since it's super easily spread to others.  What a blur that week was! :)

18 month milestones:
Favorite Words: Mama, Dada, BALL, doggie, bubble, bye bye, hi, night night, outisde, slide, MORE, and throw "frow"
He is starting to give hugs and kisses and loves sitting on laps.
Fave Foods: Eggs, beans, rice, bread, crackers, yogurt, shredded cheese (what a mess!), hot dogs
Activities: Going on walks, playing outside, hiding items throughout the house, reading books, throwing anything he can get his little hands on!

We go to the doctor next week for his 18 month check-up where we will find out where he falls for height and weight.  He is ALWAYS on the move - which is making it hard for him to gain weight!

Here are some recent photos of Connor Russell:

We headed north to Chattanooga, TN for 2 days to see the aquarium, children's discovery museum, and check out the city.  I will post about that next time! :)