A Very Fall Weekend

We had such a wonderful weekend.  It was what fall dreams are made of, that’s for sure!  Friday evening my alma mater and Jacob’s current school was playing our huge rival in town in high school football.  It’s one of the largest rivalries in our whole city and it’s typically the biggest game of the school year.  It was at home this year so we grabbed a bite to eat at Panera and then we headed to the school. 

Lots of Jacob’s friends were there so he and Olivia ran off to play with them while we watched the game and chatted with friends.  There had to have been a hundred kids running around so it was hard to keep our eyes on the kids all night.  We spent a lot of time hunting them down.  After a while we bribed them with Ring Pops to settle down for a bit and then we left a little after halftime since it was getting late.  We ended up losing… a lot, but it was still a lot of fun!

Jacob’s soccer team was off this weekend so we decided to take full advantage of the day on Saturday.  We were up and out bright and early to grab donuts at Krispy Kreme and then after grabbing Mommy a PSL we hit the road. 

I have loved sunflowers since was a little girl, so when I found out that there was a farm with a field of sunflowers close enough to take a day trip to see, I was all over it!  The drive was a little less than an hour, so it wasn’t too bad at all.  The farm had a farmer’s market where we picked up some pumpkins for the kids’ rooms and some freshly picked apples, and then we set out to see the sunflowers. 

Last weekend was apparently the best weekend to see them in full bloom, and by the time we had arrived Saturday morning they were starting to wilt.  The farm had also held a you-pick weekend the prior weekend, so hundreds of them had also been picked.  There were still hundreds left, though, and a lot of them were still really beautiful so it was definitely worth the trip!  Next year we’ll have to remember to go before the you-pick weekend, though.  BUCKET LIST CHECK!

After leaving the farmer’s market we decided to head a little out of our way and we stopped in a little town called LaGrange to grab some lunch.  They have a diner that has been famous for their hot dogs since 1920, so we stopped there to grab a bite to eat.  It was packed so we ordered our food from the walk up counter and we carried it over to a nearby bench in the town square to eat.  After lunch I had to snap a picture of the big Coca Cola mural on the side of the restaurant wall because – murals – and then we headed over to the gourmet pops place to grab some delicious treats.  Brian and I got the s’mores popsicle, Jacob got the birthday cake, and Olivia got the chocolate one.  I don’t know if you’ve ever had a gourmet popsicle before, but if you haven’t, you should.  They are divine.  The s’mores popsicle was made from rich creamy chocolate, and it had big chunks of marshmallows and graham crackers in it.  They actually had a pumpkin spice latte pop that I was dying to try, but s’mores was calling my name and I have no regrets.

We arrived home just in time to watch Georgia kick off at Tennessee and we whooped their hineys 41-0.  Take that, Tennessee!!  Sweet, sweet revenge after they beat us in the last four seconds of the game last year. 

We lounged around, drank some pumpkin beers, had leftover grilled hamburgers for dinner, and watched a heap of football for the rest of the evening.  Saturday perfection.

On Sunday my MIL and step-FIL usually cook lunch, but they had other plans this weekend so we decided to take full advantage of another free day and we headed to a farm about 20 minutes away from our house to go to their fall festival.  The kids fed the goats, petted the other animals, watched the baby ducks swim, went through the baby corn maze, played a couple of games, road the barrel train that was pulled by a tractor, and road the ponies.  It was the first pony ride for both Jacob and Olivia and they both loved it.  Both of them wanted to ride the biggest ponies and nobody wanted to ride the tiny one.  Haha. 

Once we were done with all of the other activities we decided to tackle the big corn maze.  It was four whole acres and it looked pretty huge.  Jacob led the way and he did a great job getting us through there without getting stuck much.  There were a couple of other families close by so we hung close with them for a while, but eventually lost them somewhere along the way.  There is a big lookout tower right smack in the middle of the maze and we thought we would never get to it, but we finally did!  Once we got to the lookout tower the rest of the maze was a piece of cake and we ended up finishing the entire four acre maze in just under 20 minutes.  Not too shabby for my first corn maze experience.

Sunday afternoon was for lounging and then we got everything ready and headed to my Momma and Daddy’s for Sunday dinner.  My littlest brother turned 25 Saturday so Sunday evening was all about him.  My mom made white chicken chili upon his request – one of my fall FAVORITES – and then we had chocolate chip bundt cake for dessert.  Also his request. 

This weekend was filled with the very best things and I am just so thankful for the month of October.  It’s truly one of the best months of the whole year!

*Linking up with B Loved Boston for Weekending, My Glittery Heart for Hello Monday,  More Pieces of Me for Hello Monday Linkup, and HoHo Runs for Weekly Wrap.