Where Oh Where Has October Gone (Part 2)

So the Saturday after the Big Deadline, Deonne and I decided we needed to spend some time together as a family – seeing as I hadn’t been home at all for the better part of the past two weeks. We packed everyone up and headed out, determined to have a Fun Family Day. (See where this is heading?)


Our first stop was the new Farmers Market. It’s just starting to get up and running, so there weren’t too many venders there, but we were able to get a few flats of pansies, some mums for the front porch, some North Carolina apples (since we obviously missed our apple-pickin’ trip this year) and a chance for the kids to run and play around the pumpkin stands.

Next stop – the Scarecrow Exhibit at the Historic Hampton Preston Mansion in downtown Columbia. Every year local businesses sponsor a scarecrow and place them around the gardens of this historic home or the Robert Mills House – located across the street. It’s a fun time, the scarecrows are fun to look at – and the kids enjoyed running around the gardens. My favorite was the Forrest Gump scarecrow sponsored by a local florist – it was so cool – of Forrest Gump sitting on the park bench, complete with the box of chocolates, the curious George book, running shoes, and the tell-tale feather floating down from the tree above.

I forgot to take a picture.

We did get a chance to sit on the joggling board at the Robert Mills house – the kids liked that – especially Jack – he grinned and giggled like a hyena.


Isn't James' expression priceless???



Next stop – the Pumpkin Patch. One of the Methodist churches in town sponsors a pumpkin patch as part of their fund-raising activities. It’s the closest to our house and has the best selection of pumpkins, so it has become a part of our annual fall fun. Everyone got a chance to pick out their own pumpkin – even little Jack – who of course, wanted to pick up the biggest pumpkin he could find.

By this time, the kids were starting to tire, and truth be told, so was Mommy. I started getting that scratchy sore throat and stuffy nose on Friday night, and it rapidly progressed throughout the day Saturday, so that by that evening, I was a mess. Everyone started snapping and whining and protesting, so after a quick lunch – we called it a day.

And then the sickness prevailed - I ended up getting whatever random fever virus Jack had the previous week (oh yeah, did I mention he was ill with 103 degree fever the end of the dreaded Grant week?)  Great timing.  Poor Deonne had to stay home and play nurse to him.  And probably because I was so run down from no sleep, too much stress and worry over the grants, and too many late nights of painting ... I ended up getting ill.  Complete with a sinus and ear infection.  And I missed the entire following week of work.
 
So we're just digging out now, finally putting our house back in order, getting caught up on laundry, and trying to resume our 'normal' crazy life.