Octoberpalooza!!!!

When I moved to Pittsburgh five years ago, Chris created a fall holiday called “Octoberpalooza”!! We’ve celebrated every year since by doing some sort of fall activity one weekend in October. It’s a fun event and I look forward to it every year. We’ve done a variety of things including camping, Hershey Park, Haunted houses, and even a corn maze. This year I decided I would take charge and plan our weekend! Lucky for me I had earned two free southwest airline tickets that needed to be used before the end of October so now all I had to do was figure out where to go!

I surprised Chris by planning a mini family vacation to Boston this past weekend. The weather was chilly but beautiful, basically just what you would expect from New England in the fall. We spent Saturday in Salem, MA where we watched scary movies and walked around the town. On Sunday, we toured Fenway Park, Harvard and went on a ghost tour. It was a wonderful weekend that went by too fast. We got to spend the weekend with Chris’s cousin Dan and his girlfriend Danielle. It was a great first “family vacation” and I can’t wait to see what we do next year for Octoberpalooza.

Our first Octoberpalooza (2006)

Fall Family Fun

 

Last weekend, our whole family loaded up the cars and headed to Seven Springs (it’s a ski resort about an hour away) for Autumnfest. It was very important for Chris and I to have everyone together for Brody’s first fall trip. Chris and I have been going to Seven Springs every October since I moved to Pittsburgh in 2006.

While the rest of the boys went clay shooting, Grandpap thought it was very important to introduce Brody to skiing. After picking out skis and trying on helmets, Grandpap is sure he’ll be ready to hit the slopes next ski season.

It was a wonderful afternoon hanging out with family and making Brody pose with the pumpkins. After seven springs we headed to Ohiopyle for more pictures.

  It was really great that our whole family could make it and it really did mean a lot to us, so from Chris and I THANK YOU!!!

 

Also below is some pictures of Brody at the Kirkwood Farmers Market in St Louis.

Happy 4 months!!

Brody-

The only thing I can say is WOW! I cannot believe you’re four months old! You’ve gotten so big and interactive.

You love looking at yourself in the mirror. We tease you about hanging out with “your friend” Every time you see your reflection, you get so happy.

Another big change,  is my quiet baby is no more! You’re always talking and you have quite a set of lungs on you. I keep stressing “mommy” to you because I really want that to be your first word. I guess I’ll be ok if daddy is your first word. Your crazy Papa is trying to teach you to say “ I love me some Papa BOE” We’ve all explained to him that you’re just a baby .

Your daddy loves watching cartoons with you on Saturday mornings and I love it to because I get to sleep in. Your favorite is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and of course that make your parents happy! We knew you’d be a Disney baby and can’t wait to take you there!!!!

Not only have you discovered your hands but you’re quickly learning to use them. You can successfully take your pacifier out and can get it back in sometimes. Nana even said you grabbed your bottle yesterday. Not only do you like playing with your hands, you also love kicking your feet. We put rattle socks on and your grandma calls them “fancy feet”

We tried out your exsaucer and were surprised how much you loved it. You can even turn yourself around in it and love trying to put all the toys in your mouth.

Speaking of your mouth, no teeth yet but you sure do love putting things in your mouth especially your hands.

You got to meet new “cousins” this month. Daddy’s cousin Wendy had her baby Juliette and you enjoyed meeting her. Our good friends Caleb and Val had their little girl Joanna and you visited her at the hospital. Joanna is doing good eating so we tease that you must have had a good talk with her while she was in her mommy’s belly about how good mommy milk is!  When we were taking pictures of you and Joanna you tried to kiss her! The moral of the story is you’ve become quite a ladies man not only with babies but also with waitresses!!! You also met Daddy's cousins Adam's daughter Alayna and got to help celebrate Daddy's cousin Ashley's son Jace's first birthday. It was crazy seeing how big you looked with your newborn cousins and how little you looked next to a one-year old!!!

Its amazing to watch you get bigger and remember how tiny you were just a few months ago!

Don’t forget Mommy loves you!!!!