Fall Festival

We went to one of the local fall festivals and had a pretty good time.  Although, I remember them being a lot more exciting as a kid.  It's mainly just a lot of people selling stuff and walking around in a crowded area and a bunch of fried food.  Chess enjoyed it, though.  I guess we do this kind of thing for our kids anyway, right?


Hugging Sparky, the fire dog.


Letting Lera take a break from the stroller.


Eating homemade ice cream.


First pony ride on Rambo.


She did awesome and loved it.


Waiting on Chess and I to finish with the petting zoo.

Randoms

Chess helping wash the windows.  I now use vinegar and water for most of my cleaning, so I love it that she can help and I don't have to worry about hazardous chemicals.









What a sweet and gorgeous baby she is.






First thing in the morning.

11 Months Old...

and in less than a week, she'll be ONE.

W.W.

Dollars for Darby

Many of you may have heard this by now, but if not, I am part of a group helping to raise money for a friend of ours whose little girl has cancer. Darby was diagnosed in April with APL Leukemia. She was only 13 months old at the time. She is the youngest person ever to be diagnosed with this type of Leukemia.

Darby and her mom have spent the majority of the past 6 months at the hospital, undergoing chemotherapy. She is responding well to the treatments, but she still has a long journey ahead of her, especially to be such a small and young little thing.

A friend of mine suggested we do an fundraiser to help the Farnsworths with their ever-growing stack of medical bills. We brainstormed and have decided to organize three events we think will really help Darby's family.

First, a community garage-type sale will be held at a local elementary school on Saturday, November 6 from 8-3. We are getting a ton of donations from dozens of families. It will be huge.

Second, Rita's Night, at Rita's Italian Ice. We will be personally scooping and serving up ice cream to everyone from 6-9 pm on Monday, November 8. Rita's will donate 20% of the proceeds and all tips we receive (I hope we are some good scoopers!).

Third, a series of online auctions. This is the part that all of you who do not live nearby can help with! The first auction begins November 8 and lasts one week. The second one begins the following week. Depending on how many more donations we get, we may do another auction after that. If you or anyone you know owns a business or makes handmade items, please let us know if you'd like to donate. We already have some impressive stuff from some very generous people.

All information can be found at dollarsfordarby.blogspot.com. That is the site for the auction, as well. You can get there by clicking the link on the upper left corner of my blog with Darby's cute picture on it. You can also add the same button on your blog to help spread the word by going to the website and copying and pasting the HTML code onto your blog design layout.

I am so excited about the response we have gotten so far. There are so many generous and caring people out there. If you want to help, please email us at dollarsfordarby@gmail.com.

W.W.

Hillcrest Apple Orchard

We went to Hillcrest Orchards last weekend and it was so much fun! They have so much to do there, for kids and adults. I made the girls some fall shirts - a pumpkin for Chess and an apple for Lera.

Wagon ride:




Cow milking:


Jumping:


Petting farm:







Apple-picking:



Pig races:

Giant slide:



And more:

Brasstown Bald

At an elevation of 4,784 feet, Brasstown Bald is the highest point in Georgia.  *For some reason, I have never hiked to the top until a few weeks ago. You drive up the majority of the mountain, then walk a nice, paved 0.6 mile trail to the top. It's short, but very steep. There was a beautiful view, although somewhat cloudy. They say that on a clear day, you can see Atlanta from up there. Also, because of the elevation, they said the weather up there is more like that of Massachusetts than of Georgia.

*My mom informed me that I have hiked to the top, several times, when I was little.


All set to hike.


Chess did hike a good portion, but needed a little help from Daddy. A very strong and nice Daddy.


View from the top.


There is a little museum and video up there.








Attempted family photo.


This is at Pappy's - a little general store-type area near the mountain.



It was a very fun day trip. We have been loving getting out and hiking in this late summer/early fall weather.

W.W.