two day pass

it was a long weekend.

we had an extra day which we made sure to put to good use.

thursday night was what has become a biannual gathering of kathy's Gals, and just what I needed to get the weekend off to a happy start.

i love each one of these friends individually, but there is something bigger and better when we are all together.

friday i woke to a quintessential fall day.

the sun was shining, the breeze was warm and colors were peak.

i started my day off in the best possible way logging miles in the park.

t. bone spent the day with buddies playing football.

i took miss bit and her friend shopping and out for lunch.

then the girls carved pumpkins.

they are at the age where that can be a mostly independent venture.

mature enough to handle carving tools and immature enough to like the slimy pumpkin guts.

at the end of the day we made our friday trek to the farm.

ellie came to watch and jess too.

my brother and sil were waiting for us in the horse barn.

they had already met winston.

and admiral.

we savored happy hour on the farm.

 the critters too because i came with more than cold ipas.

i had a bag stocked with apples and kibble.

miss bit put on quite a show for her audience cantering around the ring like a pro.

on the way home, the girls decided it was not time to yet part.

so we had a girl's night in.

i ordered Chinese, opened a bottle of wine (for the big girls), and roasted the pumpkin seeds they gathered earlier.

ellie's mom came to get her, and joined us too.

the word for the day was spontaneity.

saturday the sky was saturated and the air cold.

t. bone had a soggy football game and miss bit had acting class.

then they spent the day with their cousins at another farm.

they did a corn maze and spent some time in a petting zoo.

miss bit was smitten with the baby chicks she got to cuddle.

ted had the attention of an angry, not amorous alpaca.

we came together for family dinner at my in laws.
sunday we decided to go back to sleep after a 7 o'clock sharp wake up call.
sunday school was cancelled.
that sort of set the tone for the day.
lily and i intended to see a performance of alice in wonderland, but we decided that we would rather have a lazy, cozy day.
shamelessly, we did just that.
we read, raked a ridiculous number of leaves, watched football and carved more pumpkins.
then i set the dining room table, lit candles, cued up frank and served chicken caprese with garlic bread for dinner.
the kids each confessed that they wanted just one more day.
if only.