Basking in the leaves

Most of the leaves have fallen off our trees, so we've taken advantage of playing in them before they get picked up.

Then we enjoyed some warm apple cider (apple spider, Esther calls it)

E drew on the a whiteboard on the fridge for almost an hour last night. If you have a toddler, you know that is a long time. Wouldn't it be great if your whole refrigerator door was whiteboard?

A few nights ago, Esther was very quiet, so Ben and I went to investigate. She was quite resourceful in using our MANY books to make a tower. It is so neat to see her come up with creative ways to play on her own.

Even though it has been quite cold the last few mornings, I've enjoyed some nice hikes in the woods. Yesterday, a few ladies from work enjoyed a refreshing hike on the Bot. Garden trails. This morning E and I went over to Lake Herrick to hike around after running some errands and letting it warm up a bit. Since the time has changed, our walks have been cut out and greatly missed. I need to make a point of taking these morning hikes, as they are very invigorating.

And lastly, preparations for the upcoming birthday (2yo on the 13th)! I'm not sure if I've mentioned Esther's obsession with the color orange. She loves it! She wants everything to be orange, right down to her birthday cake (I think we're going for carrot cake). So this morning we went and picked out some fabric for her birthday skirt (see corduroy below). I'm also going to appliqué a '2' on an orange shirt I bought her. And then (as if that wasn't enough orange), she will have an orange multi-colored felt crown like this one. I'm trying not to go overboard, but it is just so much fun now that she can get excited about her birthday.

And we still have Christmas to prepare for....

EMORY!!!

So, who is the incredibly smart, very handsome man that will be making his way to PA (Physician's Assistant) school at Emory next fall? That would be my wonderful husband! Oh, yes, the Director of Admissions called Ben personally today to tell him he was accepted to the program. We are so excited. He applied to 8 schools all over the country this year. Though living in a new, exciting place like Portland or Arizona would have been fun, we really wanted to stay close to home. Emory has always been the first choice.
It will be VERY sad to leave Athens. We absolutely love it here and have made some very special friends. Though bigger than what we're used to, Decatur is another hip town that we will quickly become acquainted with. It is nice to have a plan and to know where our paths are leading us next.
So to celebrate, we went to our favorite local vegetarian restaurant, The Grit. I got the Death By Chocolate vegan cake for dessert (sinfully delicious!) and, of course, Esther wanted a treat too. The cake has a lot of coffee and chocolate in it, which isn't the best thing for a toddler after dark, so we treated her to some soy ice cream and blueberries when we got home. Below is her excitement over the 'special treat' as she calls it and clapping a congrats for Papa. More to come as we prepare for this quite large transition in life...

Happy Halloween

Our little butterfly fairy had a magical Halloween. Ben had to work, so we started off the evening on our own. A neighbor down the street had a little cookout, so we went there for some fun play in the backyard.

On her royal fairy throne

Trick or treat! The first house she went to, she walked up to the woman and said, "Happy Birthday!" I had to correct her that it wasn't that kind of party.

Ben met us at the end of our trek around the neighborhood, so was able to have the Halloween family experience too. We then rushed home to meet Grandma (Ben's Mom). We were lucky enough to have an adult weekend while Esther enjoyed a visit w/ Grandma and Poppi. Ben and I dressed up as Earl and Joy from the t.v. show, My Name is Earl. We went to a friend's house, then went downtown to see our favorite local bluegrass band, Packway Handle Band (you may remember Esther dancing at one of there shows this summer). We had a great time!

We picked Esther up this morning and headed back to Athens for the Fall Festival at the GA Nature Center. Our good friends and great band, Dubconscious, played (they played our wedding too). All the bands played solely off of solar power. Esther had fun dancing and playing with the rocks. Ben and I enjoyed having E back with us and seeing many friends we haven't seen in a while.

We both enjoyed some cuddle-time after our time apart

Esther tickling me

'Mama's nose'

Boogie! (and, yes, Ben shaved the awful mustache)

Dubconscious (minus Scott, who we couldn't fit in the picture) - link to their website

Hope yours was fun and spooky too!