So Long, Fall!

 

So, I haven't been doing a great job of posting all of our adventures these past few months, so here's a run down of our October and November, in photos!

We had a wonderful Connecticut fall full of visitors! At the end of September, the Humphreys came to visit.  We visited Sherlock Holmes' (well, the actor that played him) castle, hiked a bit, ate delicious lobster, kayaked and paddleboarded (yes, you can fit two adult women into one kayak!), then joined them in NYC for a short day trip!

In the beginning of October, Daniel's parents came to Connecticut to watch him graduate from Submarine Officer Basic Course and we visited our favorite nearby farm, Scott's Yankee Farmer, rode a Clydesdale-drawn wagon, ate apple cider donuts, and tried to get some pumpkin patch photos with our newly-sitting-up Cooper.  It looked a little like this:

 

We had a lot of fun and love time with Lolli & Pops!

Next, sweet Angela came to visit!  We talked, walked, and ate apple cider slushies and donuts from B.F. Clyde's Apple Cider Mill, lobster, delicious Panang curry.  I so enjoyed my time with her.

 Then, Cooper & I tried out our first solo flight to visit Michelle & new baby Max!  Since we're pros at flying solo now, I'll post specifically about flying with a baby in the next week or so.  It was wonderful seeing mama Michelle (and what a wonderful mama she is!) and holding that sweet, snuggly baby boy! 

 Cooper likes hugging, patting, and hand-holding.  It's really adorable, but is usually followed by him trying to eat (kiss?) the other child...

Exhibit A

Cooper got to see all of his grandparents in October - our next visitors were my parents!  We hiked Devil's Hopyard (way to go Mom & Dad!), ate delicious food (it's a theme), toured Mystic, toured the Nautilus (first nuclear-powered) submarine, the men kayaked, and we enjoyed having them in town!

We also got some better pumpkin pics, now that Cooper was more practiced at sitting up:

 

After Connecticut, we packed all of our belongings into the Honda (a much tighter fit this time without the hitch basket!), drove to New Jersey, rented a car, moved said belongings into rental car, dropped off the Honda to be shipped, then drove to Tennessee.  We spent a few days in Tennessee visiting with family, shooting things in the woods (I impressed Daniel with my skills, learned from the Indian Princesses Turkey Shoot when I was like 8 years old), goin' ridin' in the Ranger (sort of a luxurious version of a dune-buggy), and eating barbeque with lots of family and friends.

Somewhere around 6 months we started trying solid foods with Cooper, which started with a lot of this face:

One of his first foods: avocado

and was accompanied by lots of dramatic gagging noises.  Since then, we've progressed a bit, but he still gags at just about anything with fruit or any sort of sweet flavor.  He likes anything with chicken, and green beans.  For being such a chunk early on, he's sure surprising me with the relatively little interest he has in other foods!

Some progression: green beans at 6.5 months

 

After Tennessee, we both flew out of Nashville.  You thought packing all of our belongings into a car was crazy?!  How about into suitcases that you fly with, separately!?

I flew into San Antonio, met Angela (thank you, thank you, thank you), who helped me play tetris to pack her car, then ran a half marathon and hung out with Lindsey and her family!  It was so good to see Lindsey, Norah, Caleb, and the rest of their fam!!!  And... 13.1 miles... DONE! 

After a short day in San Antonio with my momma helping me decide what to pack (again), I flew to Ft Worth to visit with my sister and her fam for a week.  There were baby hugs in the airport, days at the children's museum and public library, and orange stroller parades to a nearby ice cream shop.  Yup, it was warm enough for ice cream in Texas!  In fact, we ran the half marathon in an 85 degree, humid swamp.  Later that day it topped off at 90+ degrees!  In November.  Oh, Texas.  It was so good to spend time around my awesome nephews and niece... I miss those kiddos like crazy!  And I soaked up lots of good sister time!  :)

Alright, that catches us up with Fall travel up until Thanksgiving.  More to come, soon!